Team Williams Martini Racing has confirmed that Oliver Rowland is joining the team as the team’s young driver for the 2018 season. His job on the team will be mainly focused on working on the team’s simulator in Grove and testing the FW 41 in the Young Drivers Tests.
Rowland just finished third on his last F2 season in 2017. He won two races for the DAMS team and was on the fight for the title until the final stages of the season, when he became a little bit more inconsistent and even lost the second place to Artem Markelov.
On the same year, he was named Renault Sport’s developement driver and was able to drive a 2012 F1 car. He has also tested with Red Bull and McLaren cars.
The 25-year old British driver will combine this new role he has been chosen for with his participation in the World Endurance Champion, where he will drive a private LMP1 entry for CEFC TRSM Racing.
“I am immensely proud to be joining Williams Martini Racing as their official young driver.” Said Rowland. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for me and I will be working as hard as I possibly can to help them develop the car this season. Williams is a British team with a fantastic heritage and history which has made it one of the most respected teams in the sport.” He added. “It’s always been my ambition to get a role in Formula One and I’m very excited to be doing that with Williams. They have always given young drivers the opportunity to progress so it’s now up to me to make a good impression and further my development as a driver.”
“Hopefully with my hard work in the simulator and test I can impress the team. It’s certainly going to be an exciting challenge ahead and I want to help Williams as the team continues to work to close the gap to the front of the grid in 2018.”