Sirotkin's head start for 2018

Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin will be the latest name added to the honour role of Formula 1 drivers next month.

The 22-year-old steps into the Williams seat vacated by Felipe Massa. His FW41 will be sporting the number 35 when it rolls onto the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix in four weeks' time.

A new start for Sirotkin means a new look, and the rookie driver has just unveiled his new helmet for the forthcoming campaign.

"Getting ready for testing," he wrote on social media site Instagram along with a picture of his new lid.

The new look combines the classic colours of team sponsor Williams on the top with a blue band for personal backers SMP Racing at the bottom.

Sirotkin's picture also shows his race boots, water bottle and HANS device laid out in readiness for the start of testing.

All teams are taking part in the four-day pre-season test session at the Circuit be Barcelona-Catalunya. Sirotkin will be sharing driving duties with his new team mate Lance Stroll on Monday.

On Tuesday, Sirotkin will be back behind the wheel again. But this time he'll be diving the track time with Williams' reserve driver Robert Kubica.

Sirotkin will sit out Wednesday before returning on the final day of the test, once again paired with Stroll.

There will be a second four day test the following week. After that, the cars will be crated up for dispatch to Melbourne.

"I feel really excited ahead of the season," Sirotkin said this week. "I’ve spent a lot of time at the factory, I’m almost living there at the moment!

"It’s busy times, but I am really enjoying it. I’m getting ready for the season in the best possible way."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.