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Williams F1 Team Signs 18-Year Old Lance Stroll

The last time a Canadian competed in Formula 1, the year was 2006. That’s when Jacques Villeneuve was signed by BMW Sauber F1, finishing 15th in the Driver’s Championship with 7 points under its belt. 11 years after Villeneuve retired from the king motorsport, 18-year-old Lance Stroll jumps on the bandwagon.
Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas 11 photos
Photo: Lance Stroll on Facebook
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The son of a businessman, Lance Stroll has three championship titles to be proud of. The first is for the 2014 Italian Formula 4, then there’s the 2015 Toyota Racing Series and the 2016 Euro F3 Championship. Now that’s Williams F1 Team signed him for 2017, Lance Stroll becomes the second youngest driver Formula 1 has ever seen after Max Verstappen.

To take the seat of retiring Felipe Massa, the new kid on the block will show what he’s made of after 10 years in lower-tier motorsport series. Having tested the 2014 Williams FW36 in August, the Canadian driver assures Williams F1 that he’s ready to race the 2017 Williams FW40. As a refresher, next season will see Formula 1 cars morph into more extreme machines.

“To be racing in Formula 1 in 2017 is incredible, I can’t thank Williams enough for showing faith in my ability. Racing in F1 was something I dreamt about as a young kid,”
said Stroll. “2017 is going to be a big learning curve for me, but I’m eager to absorb everything Williams can share with me so that I improve.”

Claire Williams, the deputy team principal of the British outfit, added that “Lance joined the Williams Young Driver Program at the end of 2015 and has impressed our engineers with his maturity, talent, and enthusiasm.” A big thumbs up then, but then again, Lance Stroll still has to prove himself.

Regardless of how the Canadian fares in its first season in Formula 1, an even more pressing question is if Stroll has what it takes to win a Grand Prix as proficiently as Max Verstappen did (i.e. in less than 24 races since joining F1).

Whatever the future holds, Lance is off to great promise.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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