Williams

Williams Martini Racing
 
GP Starts: 685 
Wins: 114
Pole Positions: 128 
Fastest Laps: 133
Drivers’ Championships: 7 
Constructors’ Championships: 9

Drivers

18. Lance Stroll CAN
35. Sergey Sirotkin RUS

2017 in review – In a year with Felipe Massa u-turning on his retirement to replace the Mercedes-bound Valtteri Bottas, while Williams also welcomed Paddy Lowe as its new technical chief, 2017 looked like a transition year with its inconsistency reflecting the new-look team. Massa delivered the early results as rookie teammate Lance Stroll struggled to find his feet in F1 before pulling off one of the shocks of the year with third place in Baku – the only driver outside of the top three teams to reach the rostrum in 2017. The mid-season turn of form sparked a run of regular points finishes but having already lost too much ground to Force India the team had to settle for another fifth-place finish. 

What’s changed for 2018? – All eyes were on the Williams driver line-up for 2018 with the Sirotkin vs Kubica battle to become Stroll’s new teammate after Massa’s retirement was confirmed for the second time. With the Russian youngster being selected, doubts remain about one of the most inexperienced driver pairings on the grid about extracting the maximum performance from the FW41.
 
Key man – Lance Stroll. After his podium success in his rookie F1 season the Canadian teenager finds himself placed as the ‘lead’ Williams driver next to his rookie teammate despite being the younger one of the pair. With a strong resurgence expected from Renault, McLaren and potentially Haas many feel Williams are likely to drop down the order and it will vital both drivers get up to speed to fight in the competitive midfield for 2018.
 
Constructors’ Championship prediction – 9th