BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - JUNE 25: Third placed finished Lance Stroll of Canada and Williams celebrates on the podium during the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on June 25, 2017 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Lance Stroll has received harsh criticism from the worldwide Formula One fans from the moment Williams announced his arrival into the series. At just 18 years of age, the young Canadian rookie even had horrid twitter handles created about how long it would take him to crash etc. Why fans behaved this way has always been totally unknown and uncalled for, as Sunday's second place around the streets of Baku proved.

Lance was criticized for crashing in Australia, something many other drivers, including world champion Michael Schumacher, have done in the past. Who remembers Schumacher rounding turn 16 and smashing into the wall on pit straight? I certainly do, I sat and watched him do it right in front of me. So why did Lance deserve such harsh comments for not finishing his debut race at Albert Park. The answer is simple, he didn't.

Many believe Lance is only in F1 due to his family's wealth, but anyone that can race the way he did, and keep his head through all the bedlam that surrounded him in Baku, AND finish on the podium, deserves respect. He wasn't in the podium places because of people dropping out in front of him, he had been fast all weekend long, keeping up with more experienced teammate, Felipe Massa on all three days.

He made into Q3 on merit, okay, it's taken him half a dozen races to get his bearings, but people forget, he is a rookie, and all these circuits are totally new to him. Give the man, or teenager as this case may be, credit. He raced hard and fast, and finally got his due rewards, showing the Williams team that they were right in standing by him as he got his bearings, right to pick him to race for them this year and that he truly deserves his rightful place in the world of Formula One.

By finishing third in Baku, he became the first Canadian in 16 years, the first since Jacques Villeneuve, to secure a podium finish. He also became the youngest rookie to stand on the podium, proving all those ‘fans' at the start of the season totally wrong.

“It's a terrific result for Lance to become the youngest rookie in history to score a podium,” Williams Paddy Lowe said after Sunday's race. “He had a brilliant weekend. He'd been faultless in every session, he stayed out of trouble, didn't have any incidents and that carried into the race. He kept it clean, had good pace and managed the car and the tyres well. It was good battle at the end and we were very unfortunate to lose second place. The critical moment was that Valtteri got DRS on the last lap that lost Lance second place. But we're very happy with third.”

And so was Lance. He couldn't really believe that he had done something so amazing, so early in his f1 career. Okay, I admit, IF Hamilton's headrest hadn't come loose, IF Vettel hadn't been given a ten second stop and go penalty and IF the two Force India's didn't collide, then maybe he wouldn't have been on the podium, but the facts remain, IF is simply F1 backwards, and to win the race, first you have to finish the race, and you have to keep out of trouble and keep your nose clean, and Lance did it all.

So congratulations Lance Stroll, you earned every bit of the accolades you have received for finishing third in Baku.