F1 Driver Roundabout Roundup

Williams

Lance Stroll is set to move to Force India, the team his father has just bought

Williams are one of Formula One's most illustrious teams, but at the moment there are not many drivers queuing up to drive for them. They sit rock bottom of the 2018 constructors' championship, and Lance Stroll is set to leave the team for 2019, with the possibility that he may leave mid-way through the season to get settled in at Force India (or whatever they end up calling themselves).

His current teammate Sergey Sirotkin has not really impressed in the championship, with only two points to his name, but the team reportedly like him and are likely to keep him on (an additional benefit is the money he brings in through sponsorship and being a pay driver). If they do retain the Russian then there is still one seat left for the 9-time champions.

Test Driver Robert Kubica was close to making his F1 return for the 2018 season with the team, so he seems like the obvious choice, although he made recent comments to the effect of 'I wouldn't advise any young drivers to join Williams at the moment', so he might not particularly fancy slogging around at the back of the grid, when there is a small possibility of a big drive opening up at some point in the next few years (no current contracts can run beyond the 2020 season, due to none of the teams bar Renault being contracted to the sport beyond then, so there could be a free for all in a few years).

Another option would be George Russell, the current leader of the F2 championship. But he is a part of Mercedes' young driver program, and many teams are unwilling to sign him due to uncertainty over how long they would be permitted to have him.