Lance Stroll will take a lot of confidence away from his home Grand Prix after breaking into the points for the first time on Sunday, with the Williams Martini Racing driver securing ninth position at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after a strong performance.
Stroll became only the third Canadian to score points in Formula 1 after Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve, and made a number of good passes to put himself into the top ten, with Pascal Wehrlein, Marcus Ericsson, Jolyon Palmer, Romain Grosjean, Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso all being passed on track.
“I am just happy for myself, for the team, for everyone,” said Stroll. “The balance of the car was good all race. I was in a flow.
“I knew we had good straight line speed in the Williams. I chose my overtakes at the right times, sometimes I could have done them a lap earlier, but it was a bit risky so I did it a lap later and stayed patient.
“James, my engineer, was giving me good communications throughout the whole race about what was happening around us. We just stayed cool headed and took it to the end and P9. It was about things falling into place and getting everything to work with no issues and being able to do the pace we know how to do.”
Stroll was extra happy to make his points breakthrough at his home circuit, and felt proud to see the Canadian flags flying in the grandstands during the race.
“It means the world to me being able to finish a race in the points and be able to see those Canadian flags up in the air at my race,” admitted Stroll.
