Why Williams has backed the right horse
Another well-backed youngster who has ridden the gravy train to F1? Or a genuinely exciting talent who has made the most of resources at his disposal? You may want to rethink any preconceived notions of Williams' newest F1 driver
Lance Stroll is now a Formula 1 driver, and there are a lot of people who don't like that. Perception has been that the extraordinary wealth of his father, Tommy Hilfiger tycoon Lawrence Stroll, has allowed him to buy his success.
But while the largesse of Stroll Sr has allowed his son unprecedented resources through the junior ranks of motorsport, the guy in the cockpit has had to deliver the goods. This he has done.
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Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.
Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.
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