Lowe: 'We know there are disadvantages with Sirotkin'

Paddy Lowe admits there could be a few liabilities associated with Williams' inexperienced line-up, but ultimately the choice is an investment in the future.

With Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, the Grove-based outfit is relying this year on one of the youngest pairings in F1 and the least experienced in the team's history.

The jury is still out as to whether Williams was wise to hire the 22-year-old rookie, but tech boss Lowe insists Sirotkin was the team's best option among the candidates for the coveted seat which included Robert Kubica, Paul di Resta and Pascal Wehrlein.

"We selected him as the best driver available to us, bar none," Lowe told Motorsport.com.

"We're confident that he will be very quick, very consistent, very calm in his working - and I think these qualities will take him a long way, to do really well in this championship."

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"We understand that there are some disadvantages. I guess, for Sergey, there is a learning curve around that first year, particularly with some of the circuits he hasn't been to before.

"But, you know, his performance stands in its own right."

Williams is obviously banking on the future and is hoping its bold choice will ultimately pay handsome dividends down the road.

"At the same time, we're investing - one of the advantages of a younger driver is, if it's a great driver, you're investing in a long-term future and a long-term success that that can bring to him and to the team.

"So I think we prefer to see that in Sergey we found a rising star, and we hope to work with him in the long-term and enjoy a lot of success together."

"We don't want to drive too much expectation, but we're confident that Sergey will drive well, he's shown himself able to do that, in our car and also in series in the past.

"I mean, he was the best rookie in his first season in F2 [GP2], he came third, that was the best rookie result of that year. I think that stands as a good example of what he can do."

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