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Lance Stroll to join Williams in 2017?


By Andrew Hooper
September 24 2016

With the retirement of Felipe Massa from Formula One at the end of the 2016 season it has opened the door to a full-time drive at the Williams Martini team in 2017. One driver whose name has come to prominence is that of Lance Stroll.

 
 Lance Stroll to join Williams in 2017?
 

With the retirement of Felipe Massa from Formula One at the end of the 2016 season it has opened the door to a full-time drive at the Williams Martini team in 2017. One driver whose name has come to prominence is that of Lance Stroll.

The Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, has reported that the possibility that Stroll with be the teammate of current Williams Martini driver Valtteri Bottas is "high".

These reports coming out of Finland are claiming that current development driver Stroll will join the team in 2017. The reports also add that Stroll will bring around $35 million dollars to the team. This comes about due to the fact that Stroll's father, Lawrence Stroll, has the funding to allow his son entry into Formula One. It is believed that the deal has been agreed but the parties are awaiting for Stroll to complete his Formula 3 campaign.

Stroll, who will turn eighteen on October 29, is currently leading the European F3 Championship, with nine victories to his name so far. This class was the same as the one that Max Verstappen was selected from to move into Formula One. Stroll has done enough to qualify for a F1 super licence in 2017.

On top of the speculation regarding Stroll it has now been reported that he has had his first outing in a Formula One car, increasing speculation that the he is been prepared for a move to Formula One. Stroll was able to drive a 2014-specification FW36 as part of the Williams development program.

"It wasn't a test," a Williams spokesperson told Motorsport.com. "Lance has spent time in the Williams simulator configured to an F3 car designed to help him with the Euro F3 season.

"Stroll has also now moved into some work experiencing an older spec F1 car, a Williams FW36 in between his F3 racing."

A spokesperson for Stroll insisted that "Lance remains fully committed to his F3 programme and ultimately on winning the title," adding: "Any track days have been designed to fit around this."

Reports also suggest that Stroll will be given the chance to drive on several tracks before the end of the year, including the Circuit of the Americas, Interlagos, Abu Dhabi and Suzuka.

Stroll had spoken to the Montreal Gazette earlier this year saying: "Williams has got me closer to my dream of Formula One in the bigger picture."

"With Williams, it gives me the opportunity to work a lot closer to an Formula One team and learn. I’ve gone from like a school to a university."

Bottas is expected to stay with the Williams team in 2017, but Williams' current development driver, Britain's Alex Lynn, is another candidate for the race seat, but the 2014 GP3 Series champion looks increasingly an outside bet compared to Stroll after failing to make his mark in two seasons of GP2.

 

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Lance Stroll to join Williams in 2017?
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 24/09/2016 12:54
Williams F1
24/09/2016 12:54
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