Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll endured a frustrating season with arguably the worst car on the grid, perhaps the worst chassis ever produced by the once mighty Grove outfit, their talents, or lack thereof, were hard to fathom under the circumstances.
Both have departed Williams, with Sirotkin out of Formula 1, if not forever, at least for the time being while Stroll's career was rescued by his father's purchase of Force India and will ply his trade next year at Racing Point or whatever the team is called.
Herewith, along with a selection of the drivers' more memorable quotes, are the Sirotkin and Stroll Report Cards:
Sergey Sirotkin
- I’m sure I will prove my critics wrong
- I’m almost living at the Williams factory
- The most painful race of the year
- I want clarity about my future
- I still can’t believe it’s happening [bye-bye]
BS: The nicest thing that can be said about Sirotkin's lone season in F1 is that it wasn't quite as bad as it seems. Recording zero top-ten finishes – his solitary point courtesy of Romain Grosjean's disqualification at Monza – it's fair to suggest he did little to impress in races, but he at least had the measure of teammate Lance Stroll on raw pace, taking the qualifying battle 13-8. Still, it's understandable Williams have chosen to replace him for 2019 – when you offer nothing noteworthy on Sundays and live by the chequebook, you die by it also.
PV: Nice guy Sergey did not get the crack at F1 he deserved. A horrid car severely compromised what he could do in the top flight. He did little wrong with what he had and more often than not the rookie in the team was better than Lance in the sister car. Or put it this way, Sergey tried hard despite the circumstances, while his teammate at times appeared to give up. Sad to see the young well-spoken Russian depart, but you know what they say about nice guys...
Rating: 4/10
Lance Stroll
- We cannot perform with this car
- The car hasn’t improved at all since Australia
- Shocking how big of a step backwards we made
- I almost forgot what it felt like to score a point
- We were struggling with everything
- We’ll see what my father decides to do
BS: Enduring a largely underwhelming rookie season, the hope for Lance Stroll was that 2018 would mark a significant step forward in his development – unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case. How much of that can be put down to the quality of his car remains to be seen, but he failed to separate himself from rookie teammate Sergey Sirotkin in any meaningful way, trailing 8-13 in qualifying H2H, while edging the race performances 9-8. If he is to eventually shed the "pay driver" tag, he'll have to do much better in 2019, lest he ends up dominated by new Racing Point teammate Sergio Perez.
PV: I am of the (one tent?) camp that believes Lance is a solid driver if he is in a good car. Unfortunately for him, he has only known the best of the best during his junior career, where he was champion in just about every series he entered. Thus when Williams handed him a beast to drive the lad was out at sea. His season was dreadful, his spirit broken, and like his teammate, he simply did not have the tools to show his abilities. I am going out on a limb here: if Racing Point provide him with a half decent car I predict he will impress.
Rating: 3/10
| Stroll | Sirotkin | |
|---|---|---|
| 18th | Championship Position | 20th |
| 6 | Points | 1 |
| 8 | Qualifying | 13 |
| - | Qual. Pace Difference | -0.066s |
| 10th | Best Qualification | 12th |
| 9 | Race | 8 |
| 8th | Best Finish | 11th |
| 2 | DNFs | 3 |
Note: Ben Stevens (BS) and Paul Velasco (PV)
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/11/08/stroll-the-car-hasnt-improved-at-all-since-australia/
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