It was a tough start to F1 season for Canadian Lance Stroll as he was forced to abandon testing on Tuesday after just 12 laps after he spun out and crashed his Williams FW40.

The 18-year old Montreal native, had his day end early as he spun on the exit of turn nine of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.  Stroll's car suffered front wing damage and he was unable to continue testing as the Williams team did not have the necessary equipment available.  Stroll was uninjured in the crash.

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The timing was especially unfortunate as it was the first opportunity to actually get behind the wheel of his Williams' car.  Despite losing a day of testing, Stroll was optimistic about his future.

"It is still early days and I have only done a handful of laps," Stroll told reporters.

"I am just getting to grips with the FW40, and there is still a lot of time ahead of us. It was good to finally get behind the wheel to just get a feel for it."

Stroll is scheduled to be back in the car on Thursday when testing continues.