Lance Stroll has brushed aside the persistent bashing of fellow Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, labeling his countryman's attitude as "always negative".

Villeneuve has often taken aim at the Williams driver since his F1 debut in Melbourne last year, calling Stroll the "worst rookie in the history of F1" and belittling his achievements.

More recently, the 1997 world champion hit out at Williams for reportedly selecting the well-funded Sergey Sirotkin as Stroll's team mate this season, a choice which led Villeneuve to say his former team had "already sold their soul to the billions of Lawrence Stroll, who only cares about his son".

Lance Stroll offered however a complete dismissal of the critical Mr. Villeneuve and his disparaging remarks.

"I don't pay too much attention to what he's saying," he told French weekly Auto Hebdo. "It's always going to be negative anyway.

"He never supported me, in every sense of the word. He only sees the negative. Even the Baku podium was not a positive in his eyes," Stroll insisted.

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