Barring a dramatic turnaround, Robert Kubica will be at Williams next year. Compatible sources indicate that the news will be made official on this Thursday, during a press conference in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Williams will turn the page of the duo Lance Stroll – Sergey Sirotkin a dark page in the history of the team, which will finish in the last place of the manufacturers’ ranking this year.
Williams Formula 1 deputy team principal Claire Williams has decided to give more importance to pure talent and experience in relation to financial and budgetary considerations, and more importance to the popularity of the team among fans.
“We have a shortlist for the second seat, which we are evaluating.” We started that evaluation process a good few weeks ago now.” Williams said.
“We always said we wanted to make this decision based on pure data, and to get the best talent from within that pool of drivers that we have.
“So we’re working through that at the moment. Robert is absolutely on that list as are a handful of other drivers who all have talent as well.” Williams added.
Williams has signed former Mercedes test driver George Russell for next season. Kubica – Russell team-mate will first place more emphasis on pure talent and experience. When it comes to pure talent, both the Pole and the British deserve their tenure, based on their previous results, than Sergey Sirotkin last year.
George Russell joins Williams Racing Team to replace Lance Stroll in 2019. (Source:www.carscoops.com)
The Canadian GP winner in 2008 had even set some very satisfying times in private practice with Renault in 2017. Of course, it is possible that he could not recover all his abilities since his serious rally accident. But he has the CV necessary for his tenure to appear legitimate.
“Robert has done a great job for the team this year and he would be a fantastic team-mate to George. But we’re not ready to make that final decision yet. We’ve still got conversations to have internally and with the drivers in question.” Williams said.
Meanwhile Sirotkin is keen to keep his seat at the team after beating off rivals to get on the F1 grid last winner. The Russian currently sits bottom of the table, however, with just one point to his name.
