Baku podium not an answer to critics - Stroll

Lance Stroll doesn't believe he proved a point to his critics with his maiden Formula 1 podium in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old Canadian delivered an outstanding performance on his first visit to the Baku City Circuit and took advantage of a chaotic race to finish third, just being overtaken for second place by Valtteri Bottas at the finish. Having been voted driver of the day by F1 viewers, Stroll was asked if the result felt like an answer to the criticism he had received in the early part of his rookie year. But he insisted such comments don't bother him.

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"I don't think I proved a point," Stroll said. "I don't listen to that stuff. It's just noise, y'know. It was there last year when I had a perfect year so this year when I had some tough times, it's probably still going to be there. It's just people talking.

"I'm just happy for myself, happy for my team, my friends, family. Everyone who's in it with me. That's all that matters. The rest is all just noise in the background and I don't really care for it."

And Stroll says his qualifying performance had given him the confidence to go on and deliver in the race after starting in the top 10 for only the second time this year.

"It was such an intense race. A crazy race. So much happened. The red flag ... hopping out of the car then having to get back into the car and having to reset and everything ... it just all happened so quickly but I think what we did well was just stay out of trouble. We let some of the other drivers make mistakes and took it to the end.

"Just lost out to Valtteri in the end. He came pretty quick towards the last couple of laps. Still extremely happy with the result. I can't really describe how I feel, it's beyond amazing.

"[Saturday] was such a great day already and starting to get back to grips with the car. I had a couple of races where Saturdays didn't go too well, and then we got back into Q3 [for the first time] since China and that was really a breakthrough for me. To come away with a podium is absolutely amazing."