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Three-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton says he feels for Lance Stroll after the Williams rookie's incident-filled start to testing at Barcelona.

Stroll went off twice on Wednesday, and his second off brought Williams's testing to a premature end for the second day in a row, after his car struck the barriers.



Mercedes driver Hamilton said he sympathised with the reigning European Formula 3 champion because F1's introduction of "the fastest and most physical" cars for 2017 meant it was always likely to be a baptism of fire.

"I feel for him in the sense it's the toughest year to come in to Formula 1," Hamilton said.

"I know he's been travelling around the world testing with Williams, he's definitely had more preparation time than any other driver coming in would have had.

"It's to be expected, it's not an easy car to drive at all. It's so much faster through the corners.

"Precision is even more important than in the past - last year's car is easy compared to this year's car."

Stroll's Tuesday off damaged the front wing of his FW40 and the team did not have the parts available to allow him to run again that day, limiting his running to 12 laps.

He added 98 laps to that tally on Wednesday but spun into the gravel just as the morning session came to an end, then in the afternoon lost the rear of the car exiting Turn 5 and crashed into the barrier, damaging the front of the car.

While the errors are compromising Stroll's preparation, Hamilton believes the 18-year-old is better off getting the mistakes out of the way now.

"These are only the first stages," said Hamilton.

"You can't just jump in and drive from no experience at all to be consistent and not spin, and that's to be expected.

"It's actually good for him to go through this now rather than the first race."