It was confirmed on Thursday morning (3/11/16) that Williams F1 team will retain Valtteri Bottas for the 2017 Formula 1 season. While, European Formula 3 champion and Williams development driver Lance Stroll will make his Formula 1 debut with the team next season, confirming the teams 2017 line-up.
Stroll who is only 18, will be the youngest driver on the grid next season and will become the second youngest Formula 1 driver in history, after Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Stroll, will be replacing the retiring Felipe Massa, will partner Bottas, who will be driving his fifth season for the team.
Stroll was signed to Ferrari's Driver Academy at aged 11 and graduated to single-seater racing in 2014 off the back of a career in karting.
Stroll secured the Italian Formula 4 title in 2014 with the Prema team, making the step up to Formula 3 in 2015 with the same team.
Stroll departed Ferrari's academy to take up a role as Williams' development driver for 2016/ But remained with Prema team in 2016, winning the European Formula 3 title with fourteen wins from thirty races.
He becomes Canada's first driver on the Formula 1 grid since Jacques Villeneuve, who departed the sport mid-2006, nine years after winning the world drivers' title with Williams, the team's last F1 world champion.
Overall, its the right decision for Bottas to stay at Williams for another season, despite he was heavily rumoured with a switch to Renault next season.
As for Lance Stroll, this is not a big surprise this news happen. It has been strongly rumoured since the Belgium Grand Prix in August that Stroll has signed a deal with Williams, which include financial backing from Lance Stroll's father Lawrence Stroll who's a billionaire and net-worth of US$2.4 billion (£3 Billion). Personally, I would like to see him have another season in a lower formula (GP2 Series maybe) and do Friday practice sessions for the team rather than being out of his depth in Formula 1 at a young age. But, lets see what Stroll can do in Formula 1 before being judgemental on this question.
Anyway, good luck for both Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll next season at Williams.
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