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Williams planning long-term with Sirotkin signing

Williams F1 insists that the signing of Sergey Sirotkin is part of a long-term strategy for the team, and was not a financially-motivated decision.

His appointment as the team's new full-time driver in 2018 was announced last week. The Russian will replace the now-retired Felipe Massa in the line-up alongside Lance Stroll.

Sirotkin saw off stiff competition for the seat from the likes of Robert Kubica, Paul di Resta, Daniil Kvyat and Pascal Wehrlein.

Williams CEO Mike O’Driscoll explained that the team was expecting a long partnership with the 22-year-old.

“What we have with Sergey is a multi-year contract. We have a lot of confidence in Sergey," he said. "It’s a multi-year contract. So expect to see Sergey, in the years ahead, wearing the Williams uniform.”

In keeping with the team's long-standing policy, O’Driscoll declined to go any further into the specific details of Sirotkin's contract.

He was speaking at a Williams-SMP Racing joint event in Moscow. Also in attendance was the team's chief technical officer Paddy Lowe.

Sergey Sirotkin's road to Formula 1 in pictures

“We’re very excited about what Sergey can do this year, and even in the many years ahead," said Lowe.

“Like Mike said, this is a multi-year partnership with Sergey and also with SMP Racing," he added. "We're very impressed with what SMP are doing.

"It shows an example to the rest of the world, a process by which young drivers can be promoted and supported."

“What we really want in motorsport is the very best talent coming to the top," he insisted. "Not the talent that’s driven there by opportunity, good luck, or money."

SMP Racing chief executive Dmitry Samorukov was glad to see Williams taking the longer-term view over Sirotkin's future.

“We knew that there was no point in signing a contract just for one year, in terms of Sergey's work with the team and with the car," Samorukov said.

“Our programme is designed for more than a year," he pointed out. "We have very flexible terms in the deal, but it's definitely 'one-plus'."

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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.