Stroll criticism "grossly unfair", says Williams

Stroll has failed to score a point in the first six races of the 2017, retiring from four of those events, while teammate Felipe Massa has scored 20.

The 18-year-old  Canadian collided with Sergio Perez on the first lap in China, clashed with Carlos Sainz in Bahrain, had a first-lap spin in Russia and retired with brake problems in Monaco.

In Spain, he crossed the line 11.5 seconds behind Massa, despite having been more than 50s ahead of him on lap two after the Brazilian's opening lap clash with Fernando Alonso.

Stroll has described the criticism as "funny" and insists he is ignoring it and focusing on the job.

"I do think people should give him a break," deputy team principal Williams told Motorsport.com. "Some of the stuff I have seen has been pretty unpleasant and I don't think it is fair or warranted.

"He's a young kid, people forget that. They forget how difficult the transition is between F3 and F1 and no one is going to come into this sport and straight away blow everyone away - that's just unrealistic.

"We always said from the outset that he needed some time to familiarise himself. All the circuits so far this year, he hasn't driven on and he has equipped himself well.

"When he hasn't finished invariably, it hasn't been his fault. So I think the criticism that has been levelled at him is grossly unfair."

Form in first six races of F1 career

Year	Driver	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6
2001	Fernando Alonso	Minardi	12th	13th	DNF	DNF	13th	DNF
2001	Kimi Raikkonen	Sauber	6th	DNF	DNF	DNF	8th	4th
2002	Felipe Massa	Sauber	DNF	6th	DNF	8th	5th	DNF
2007	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st
2007	Sebastian Vettel	BMW/STR	8th	16th	19th	18th	DNF	DNF
2009	Romain Grosjean	Renault	15th	DNF	15th	DNF	16th	13th
2010	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams	14th	DNF	10th	15th	16th	DNF
2011	Sergio Perez	Sauber	DSQ	DNF	17th	14th	9th	11th
2011	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT	19th	19th	18th	DNF	NC	19th
2013	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	14th	11th	13th	14th	16th	12th
2015	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF	11th	DNF
2017	Lance Stroll	Williams	DNF	DNF	DNF	11th	16th	DNF

Williams backs Stroll to come good and pointed out that statistically, his start to the season is similar to many drivers on the grid today who have gone on to take wins or podiums.

"If you look at some of the drivers that we have in our sport that are up there winning races and their statistics from the first six races, they are pretty similar," said Williams.

"People need to look at precedent before they start criticising. Unfortunately, he's had four out of six DNFs. It would be nice if people remembered that and cut him a bit of slack.

"I know he'll be looking forward to going to Canada, but there will be a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders, and it's a difficult track. He deserves a good finish."