Stroll: I earned shot in F1 despite money

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New Williams driver Lance Stroll says his backing should not overshadow what he has achieved to reach F1.

Stroll is the son of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, and has graduated rapidly from karting to Formula 4 in 2015 before winning the European Formula 3 title this season. With the 18-year-old set to make his F1 debut next year after being announced as a Williams driver, Stroll says his results show he has earned his seat.

"Everyone has their own opinion, I can’t change that," Stroll said "I come from money, I’m not going to deny that. I believe I won my shot in F1, because I won every championship I’ve competed in in single seaters.

"Now the FIA have put in the Super Licence for that reason, that people can’t buy their way into F1, you have to prove yourself and win in junior categories.

"I don’t want to say when I’ll be able to show i’m not just here for money. That just depends on some many things and various things falling into place. I’m just going to worry about my business. I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to next season."

Deputy team principal Claire Williams says Stroll was handed a race seat based purely on his performance in the car rather than for financial reasons.

"I know there have been a lot of comments about Lance’s background, and I want to make it clear to everything that Williams has been a team that has made it clear and a statement of intent we would not allow financial considerations to influence our driver choice," Williams said.

"That has been the case this year. Money doesn’t drive performance. You either have the talent or you don’t. Lance has proved he has talent and has what done what he has done. He has to do the job next year, and he will do that, to dispel those rumours."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.