Massa says race finish will boost Stroll's confidence

The Canadian rookie has so far failed to see the chequered flag in his brief grand prix career, having retired from the first three races of the season.

In Australia, Stroll retired with a mechanical problem, while he was taken out by Sergio Perez on the opening lap in China and by Carlos Sainz in Bahrain.

Stroll is the driver with the fewest race laps completed this year, with just 52.

Williams teammate Massa reckons it is key for Stroll to finally have a trouble-free weekend to kick-start his season.

When asked what he would tell Stroll, Massa said: "To keep his mind up and don't look at the media and really believe that things we'll go right.

"After he finishes his first race he will start to feel confident. He's just starting.

"Definitely he didn't have the start that he expected. In the first race he had a problem with the brakes but what happened in China and what happened in the last race [in Bahrain] was not his fault.

"In China, Checo [Perez] was behind him and he couldn't see him, so who could have avoided Checo? Nothing. And in the last race for sure it was not his fault what happened. So we need to give him time.

"As I said, it's important that he has a nice weekend without problems."

The Brazilian, whose team is fifth in the standings, insists Williams needs Stroll to start scoring if it is to have a chance of fighting for fourth place.

"It will not be easy. It will be difficult because some other teams have two drivers score points while I score alone," Massa said.

"Definitely Lance I think maybe after he does one full race he will be able to improve and be able to score points but I would say I am in the fight and maybe we can fight for fourth place, why not."

Despite his streak of DNFs, Stroll feels he does not need to change his approach in order to turn his season around.

"Obviously I'm hoping for a good weekend like always, but I don't think it's time to start focusing in a different way," Stroll said.

"We just need to do our thing, the same way of working, the same way of approaching weekends as we always do and I strongly believe the tables will turn by themselves."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble