Column 2017 December 18

With the 2017 Formula 1 season finished, we can only think about next season. Especially about the only cockpit available for next year. After the retirement of Felipe Massa, Williams is the only team with one seat available. Robert Kubica and Paul Di Resta were the favorite candidates to be Lance Stroll’s new teammate. But now another candidate is added to the list. The driver is the twenty-two years old Sergey Sirotkin. The Russian has gained much advantage over Kubica, who was the favorite to occupy the square and confirm his return to Formula 1 after the terrible accident he suffered in a rally test in 2011. Sirotkin does not have great results in his career, his best results are two third places in the final classification of Formula 2 (previously known as GP2).

However, the Russian pilot has many supports, the driver has government support and a strong financial contribution. The Russian government is interested in having a Russian driver again on the grid of Formula 1. Russia lost his driver Daniil Kvyat this season, second Russian driver in the competition after Vitaly Petrov who competed for the last time in 2012 with the Caterham team -Renault. Since 2014 Russia once again has a Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom and having a driver representing the nation is a great attraction for the fans. The Williams team will wait until the beginning of next year to confirm which driver will take the seat available next season. Although it seems that everything is lost and that Robert Kubica will be left out of the drivers grid, in the driver’s family do not give up. His father has said that they are still fighting for Kubica go to Williams.

The Grove team must decide if Sirotkin is the best option for the team. The Russian driver would be the teammate of Lance Stroll, another driver without much experience in this competition. This season has been the first for the Canadian driver, who has been criticized for not getting good results. In this way Williams would stay with two inexperienced pilots that could take them away from the good results. Therefore, the team must choose between a good driver and a great economic contribution.