Having a year under his belt will offer Lance Stroll "better clarity" this season, which in turn should help the Williams charger to continue to improve his skills.
The Canadian faced a steep uphill battle in his maiden season as he learned the ropes of Formula 1 while also contending with the ingrained prejudice planted by those who saw him as a mere "rich kid".
A rocky start twelve months ago did nothing to shake off the whimsical judgments, but a string of good performances, and a flawless run to third in Baku, went a long way towards correcting the perception.
Viewed this year as Williams' de facto team leader alongside rookie Sergey Sirotkin, the 19-year-old knows he's still on a learning curve. But a year of experience will still provide Stroll with a valuable heads up on events.
"It’s too easy to look back and say ‘I could have, should have, would have done that assuming everything worked out’," Stroll told Reuters' Alan Baldwin.
"But definitely I just have better clarity on things, having a year under my belt, than I did last year seeing every race as it came for the first time.
"I think clarity is the right word, there’s nothing really more to it.
"I had speed at times last year, and it was good, but generally I can expect what’s coming now compared to where I was this time last year."
Williams displayed a fairly unimpressive form in pre-season testing with its bold new FW41, and many see that problem only compounded by its driver line-up, the least experienced in its history.
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Stroll obviously won't be defeated before the lights even go green however, and feels the Grove-based outfit's unity should prevail.
"Williams made a decision to take us on board and that’s how it is. I don’t think it’s a bad thing," he says.
"I think, just like everyone else, if we do a good job as a team we can get some good results."
And perhaps permanently silence Stroll's remaining critics in the process?
"There will always be jealous people and haters, people who assume that if they were in your shoes they could do what you’re doing," he said. "That’s just the world we live in.
"All I can do is do my talking on the track, and I believe that when they look at the facts people can judge for themselves if its good or bad. I believe that so far it’s been a great journey."
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