Williams Names Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll Drivers For 2017
The Williams Formula One squad will be represented by Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll next season as the team formally unveiled its lineup Thursday.
Williams Martini Racing have tapped Lance Stroll to replace Felipe Massa on their Formula One roster, making their 2017 driver lineup official on Thursday.
Stroll partners with Valtteri Bottas as the Finnish driver will return for his fifth full season with the team.
Deputy team principal Claire Williams said that the decision for Stroll to replace the retiring Massa had been made a long time ago but a formal announcement had been delayed because of the two drivers’ schedules.
“Lance has proved his credentials, that he deserves this seat in F1,” she explained per reports. “As a team, we are notorious for bringing in young talent into F1. This year alone he has annihilated the F3 championship. He truly deserves this seat and I’m excited to see what he’ll do next year.”
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Stroll joined the team’s driver program last year after previously being part of Ferrari’s Driver Academy in 2015.
For the last two seasons, he’s driven in Formula Three and has already claimed that series’ 2016 championship, racking up 14 victories in the 30 races contested so far.
As Racer notes another positive is that the Canadian’s family provides significant financial support, as his father Lawrence has a successful retail empire.
However, Williams is not known to be in any particular financial trouble heading into next year, making this seem like one of the cases where good business and good racing may just come together.
Stroll also brings some representation from the Great White North to Formula One, which doesn’t currently have a Canadian driver on the grid.
He’ll make his F1 race debut in the 2017 Australian Grand Prix on March 26.
While some will certainly decry Stroll’s appointment as another case of “ride buying,” one would be wise not to rush to judgment in either direction. His work in Formula Three is certainly impressive and proves that he has some talent, not just some funding.
Conversely, one good F3 season does not an F1 contender make, and at just 18 Stroll will have a long way to go both on and off track as far as development. Partnering him with a team veteran in Bottas is a wise move to give him the benefit of his new partner’s experience. Stroll has to learn somewhere, and it’s clearly not going to be Formula Three at this point.
There’s nothing that says Lance Stroll can’t make an impact on Formula One – and next year we’ll get a chance to see the start of that story.
What do you think about Williams’ driver lineup for 2017?