Lance Stroll ended the final day of the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya feeling good about his prospects for the new season after ending seventh fastest in the FW41.
The Williams Martini Racing driver took over the car from team-mate Sergey Sirotkin for the afternoon running and got the better of the conditions, but the teenager feels the car is pretty good, and completing fifty-four laps gave him some confidence behind the wheel.
“My day was pretty good. I felt good in the car, the balance feels good,” said Stroll. “It’s not easy to warm the tyres, it takes quite some time to get them working but it shouldn’t be this cold during the year.
“My initial thoughts are the car feels pretty good. We have a lot of work to do and a lot to understand. The seat time is good, building confidence in the car. It’s a new car, with new balance, a lot has changed.
“I did quite a few laps this afternoon, that’s always positive in a first test.”
With so many disruptions in test one, Stroll feels next weeks second test at the same venue will be busier than normal, and he hopes the team can take a step forward in performance into the first race of the season in Australia.
“Next week, it’s going to be a busier week than predicted because of the conditions this week,” said Stroll. “It’s been a big off-season for everyone and the expectations are high coming into this year.
“We definitely want to take a step forward. We know the competition’s difficult from other teams but that doesn’t bring us down, it should give us more motivation to go out and be the best we can be.”
