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. |