BARCELONA, Spain -- Lance Stroll insists he has paid no attention to the negative headlines surrounding the opening week of his rookie pre-season campaign.
A Stroll crash cost Williams an entire day of running at the end of the first winter test, with car damage sustained in an accident on Wednesday ruling it out of Thursday completely. The 18-year-old, who won last year's Formula 3 championship, had spun on several occasions before that crash.
This week, Williams has made up for that lost time with a very impressive with 459 laps in the first three days of the second test, with Stroll splitting duties with Felipe Massa on Wednesday and Thursday. Speaking after his 85-lap stint on the latter, Stroll brushed off talk of what happened last week.
"That was last week," he said about the negativity surrounding his crash. "So that's last week. What's news is what's happening now in the present. I'm looking at what's happening now in the present. I'm looking at the positive week that we're having so far. Last week is last week. I don't read much of the negative stuff, I focus on my own things.
"For sure I guess you could [call them] troubles, but it was also positive last week. There were a lot of positive things from last week that we brought into this week. I don't think people really see it because of the issues that happened, but I felt already confident last week in the car, and this week I feel really confident in the car."
When asked if his opening week in the car had made him reconsider how he will approach his debut, the Australian Grand Prix on March 26, he said: "No, not at all. I am a racing driver and I am pushing the car.
"I am getting a feel for the limits of the car. What happened last week happened last week and also saw that with other drivers and that it is the way it is. Sometimes things happen and you've got to keep going and keep doing your thing. It is behind me and I am focused on the present."