Ninth in his home race and with his first F1 points on the board, Claire Williams reckons Lance Stroll’s Canadian GP result has silences his critics.

Stroll has had a difficult time since entering F1 at the start of this season.

The 18-year-old suffered three early retirements and a great deal of criticism as his continued to fall short of the points and was out-shone by Felipe Massa.

That, though, changed in Canada last Sunday when he brought his FW40 home in ninth place.

“I think it was real vindication for him wasn’t it?” deputy team boss Williams told Autosport.

“He proved all those doubters wrong, and he truly deserves his place.