I'm not in F1 just because of money - Stroll

Lance Stroll believes his results so far this season have shown him worthy of his seat in Formula 1, regardless of the funding he brought with him.

The 18-year-old dominated the European Formula 3 championship last year before being promoted to a race seat with Williams for 2017, but struggled in his early races. Backed financially by his billionaire father Lawrence Stroll, the Canadian has faced plenty of skepticism about whether he was ready to step up, but followed his first point-scoring finish in Montreal with a podium in Baku.

"You just turn it off, but at the same time you have to look at the facts," Stroll told ESPN when asked how he deals with the subject of money. "I'm not here to prove anyone wrong, I'm here to do it for myself and my team.

"I'm not here to 'show the critics', or whatever it is; I know why I'm here and that I deserve to be here. I won Formula 3 championship and was the youngest ever to win it, and [won] by a massive margin, and a lot of work went into it.

"And now, youngest rookie to ever be on the podium, that's an accomplishment and I think for people to take that away from me and say 'it's just money', it's not true. Showing those results, looking at the points, I'm still in the [midfield] mix.

"There will still be hard weekends, good weekends, that's how it works, but I've proven I belong here in F1. The results speak for themselves."

While Stroll also acknowledges the role his father's backing has played in his motorsport career so far, he points to his past championship successes as results that also convinced other parties to sponsor him.

"I know why I'm here," he said. "I can't deny the reality – the reality is, I had a great opportunity growing up as a kid that not a lot of people have. I was very fortunate to come from where I come from and be able to make that move from Canada to Europe to pursue my dreams.

"But I grabbed it with both hands and I won my championships to get here. I won my Formula 4 championship, I won my Formula 3 championship, I did all that and I got my Superlicence points,which not everyone can get. You have to go out and deliver the results to get that and get into Formula 1.

"So that's where my focus is at. I'm very thankful for the opportunity I've been given growing up as a kid, but at the same time I worked really hard to get here. I could easily be running around in last place with all the money in the world. But that's not how I did it, and that's what matters to me.

"Also in Formula 1, other than if you're in the top three teams, you need some backing to help you. Even in the lower ranks, motorsport is incredibly expensive. I have sponsors as well who have backed me other than my father, so there's more to the story than just my father's money."