Lewis Hamilton believes it is good for Lance Stroll to get mistakes out of the way before the races get underway, and says that it would have been a surprise to come in and be immediately consistent with the 2017 cars.
Stroll has suffered two spins into the gravel trap and a test-ending crash into the barriers at the exit of turn five at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in his two days in the car, completing 110 laps across Tuesday and Wednesday, but his final crash has ruled his Williams Martini Racing team out of Thursday final day due to chassis damage.
Hamilton feels that the 2017 cars are much harder to drive compared to the cars Stroll has been testing, and believes the Canadian teenager is making his debut in Formula 1 in a tough year.
“These are only the first stages,” said Hamilton on Autosport. “You can’t just jump in and drive from no experience at all to be consistent and not spin, and that’s to be expected. It’s actually good for him to go through this now rather than the first race.
“I feel for him in the sense it’s the toughest year to come in to Formula 1. I know he’s been travelling around the world testing with Williams, he’s definitely had more preparation time than any other driver coming in would have had.
“It’s to be expected, it’s not an easy car to drive at all. It’s so much faster through the corners. Precision is even more important than in the past – last year’s car is easy compared to this year’s car.”
