Lance Stroll arrived in Australia as arguably the best-prepared Formula 1 rookie since Lewis Hamilton.
The Canadian teenager had spent the winter toughening up his body to prepare for the rigours of the new generation of F1 cars and religiously researching every aspect of a grand prix weekend.
He had also completed a bespoke seven-month test programme, pounding around various racetracks across the world in a 2014-spec car, in addition to extensive time spent in the simulator to get up to speed.
Why F1's under-fire rookie is already causing surprises Sergey Sirotkin's deal to drive for Williams, at the expense of Robert Kubica, was met with a great deal of animosity, and means he'll be one of the most scrutinised drivers in F1 this season. The early signs are that he's doing everything right F1
How F1 should start and end its season The Winter Olympics kicked off last week with typical fanfare and public awe. Formula 1 could do with a piece of that action to build excitement ahead of a new season F1
Can Bottas convince Mercedes to keep him? Valtteri Bottas has another year at Mercedes, but the likes of Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo will have an eye on his seat for 2019. Will Bottas respond to that threat with the heroics that marked his early months at Mercedes, or with another slump? F1
What Raikkonen must do to shrug off laggard tag Ferrari has hinted 2018 is Kimi Raikkonen's final, final chance. The statistics suggest the pace is still somewhere within him - but can he turn around the trend of his recent seasons? F1
Why action on F1 copying will avoid the worst of both worlds The definition of what constitutes a constructor has been challenged like never before in 2020 by Racing Point's copy of the 2019 Mercedes. That meant it was imperative for F1 to take a stand, says PAT SYMONDS F1
Why MotoGP’s ageing rock star isn’t clinging to the limelight Valentino Rossi remains a MotoGP superstar and while his skill and motivation cannot be questioned, the long-awaited announcement of his Petronas SRT move has presented a new reality for the nine-time world champion MotoGP
Why time is running out on Red Bull's "big goal" for Verstappen Red Bull promoted Max Verstappen to the upper echelons of Formula 1 with the target of making him the category's youngest ever world champion. But as he gets ready to turn 23, time is short to complete the mission F1
The futuristic tool making life easier for race teams Systems engineering is an unseen and little-understood element of car performance, but Bosch Motorsport's RaceConnect is the latest example of what can be achieved Engineering
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