New Williams development driver Lance Stroll says he opted to leave Ferrari because its junior programme was "basic".
17-year-old Stroll was signed by Williams last year as a development driver, which will see him spending time in the team's simulator alongside his F3 commitments this season. Having left the Ferrari Driver Academy to join Williams, Stroll says he will learn a lot more about Formula 1 at Grove.
“It’s a different world," Stroll told Motorsport.com. "I was in the Ferrari junior programme, which was more basic – a training programme, a lot of gym work and mental work.
"Williams does that as well, but at the same time I get a lot more time to be closer to the Formula 1 team: more simulator time, more involved at the Grands Prix themselves with the engineers.
“I feel like we can be closer right now with Williams, and I’m working with them rather than just being part of a training camp like at Ferrari. For the future, it’s the right move.”
And Stroll also feels Ferrari is unlikely to promote a rookie driver into one of its race seats, while Williams has a proven track record with the likes of Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.
"Williams has a great history of believing in young drivers, they’ve given many rookie drivers a chance in Formula 1. That was important for us, because Ferrari has a different approach; they tend to take more veteran drivers to fight for the championship.
“Williams was more what we were looking for, at least in the near future, and they were very welcoming. We were speaking to them as early as July, and we had the feeling that we were at home with Williams.
“We had that also with Ferrari, but Williams offered me a good position as a development driver with time in the simulator. Hopefully I’ll get a couple of days in an older Formula 1 car this year as well, which is very exciting.”
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