Stroll insists he doesn't care about critics

The 18-year-old Canadian will make his grand prix debut in Melbourne in less than two weeks after graduating to a Williams drive straight from Formula 3.

Stroll had a shaky start to pre-season in the opening Barcelona test - including two spins and a crash - before a smooth second week of running at the Spanish track.

While Stroll, the son of Canadian billionaire Lawrence, is seen by some as a 'pay driver', the teenager says he is not fussed by the criticism.

"I don't care about the critics. It's none of my business," Stroll said. "We're all professionals. Things happen in motorsports and you've just got to bounce back from it.

"It's all pretty straightforward to everyone. It was a frustrating week but we set our minds on this week and did a good job. We got all our running in: long runs, short runs, all compounds of tyres, so it was a good week.

"I was going to do a 1m19.5s before I went off. I was eight tenths up on that lap on the ultrasofts. I think it's quite okay but it's not the time to be focused on laptimes."

Stroll insists he is not setting any particular goals for his first F1 race, but is not ruling out a points finish.

"I think we've still got to stay calm and I don't think we really need to set an objective. We just need to do our work and see where we are," he said.

"It's obviously a new track for me. I've never been there. It's a different track. It's not like a normal race weekend.

"The track changes a lot over the weekend. It is a road course, so there's a lot to learn over there but I'm just gonna take it step by step, run by run."

When asked of points were possible, he said: "I think it's possible, for sure. Everything's possible."

The Canadian reckons Williams needs to stay open-minded about its goals for the season ahead, but concedes Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari could be out of reach.

"The top three teams will be very hard to catch, but after that, it's a battle," Stroll said. "We need to focus on what we do.

"We must not set a figure in our mind. We'll see the result when races come."