Stroll laughs off criticism - 'I find it funny'

Lance Stroll says he doesn't listen to 'people who try to put him down when he loses' after failing to secure a points' finish in his first five races with the Williams team.

The Canadian has shown flashes of performance this season - most notably a Q3 appearance for the Chinese Grand Prix - but after three DNFs in his first F1 races, an 11th in Russia and a lowly 16th in Spain, Stroll is under pressure to get on the scoresheet ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Despite this and the FW40's pace in the hands of Felipe Massa, Stroll says he feels no additional challenges to break his duck around of F1's most demanding venues.

"It's the same pressure as always. The pressure you put on yourself to come out and compete and do well. It's Formula One so there's obviously pressure but nothing more than in the past. I just have to take it race by race, focus on what you can do and the rest is out of your control."

When asked about 'criticism' of his performances - to which Stroll replied 'what criticism?' - he says he won't concern his time listening to those that try to 'put him down'.

"I come from a background where I win people try and put me down and when I lose, people try and put me down. I accept that and I actually kind of find it funny but whatever, it's out of my control. I am focused on what I am doing, I am enjoying my time in F1, I am enjoying the experience. At the end of the day I am here competing at 18 years old and it's very special, I am just taking it race by race.

"I won my championships to get here and I am here, it's the first five races," he continued. "It has been tricky but it doesn't just change everything. There's a long season ahead of me, we've had a fair share of bad luck in the first few races. I think there's been opportunities for points in certain races we've had some bad luck but in Russia I made a small mistake on lap one - there was definitely points there and we came 11th, so it's still early days.