Di Resta out of Williams running

The empty seat at Williams for the 2018 F1 season will not be filled by Paul di Resta, the Briton has announced.

Published : Jan 15, 2018 22:15 IST

"I don't think it's any secret I'm not going to be doing it. I'm not in the plans at the moment. What else they do I don't know. They've got a few other guys in the equation."
"I don't think it's any secret I'm not going to be doing it. I'm not in the plans at the moment. What else they do I don't know. They've got a few other guys in the equation."
lightbox-info

"I don't think it's any secret I'm not going to be doing it. I'm not in the plans at the moment. What else they do I don't know. They've got a few other guys in the equation."

Paul di Resta is out of the running for a seat with Williams in 2018 despite "a very good test" with the Formula One team.

Williams is the only team in the paddock yet to announce its line-up for the new season following Felipe Massa's retirement, which left a space alongside Lance Stroll.

A host of names have been linked to the vacancy, including Robert Kubica, Pascal Wehrlein, Daniil Kvyat and Sergey Sirotkin.

Di Resta was also in the mix for a permanent drive with the British team after impressing during his sole outing in 2017, when he replaced an ill Massa in Hungary.

He will not be with the team going forward, though, after revealing Williams has informed him of its plans to look elsewhere.

"I don't think it's any secret I'm not going to be doing it," he told Express Sport . "I'm not in the plans at the moment. What else they do I don't know. They've got a few other guys in the equation.

"Sirotkin, Daniil Kvyat is out of it, Pascal was maybe cruising around: I don't know which direction they're going to go.

"Absolutely [I wanted that seat] and I was only told very, very late December that I wasn't in contention any more. I had a couple of good years there, I would obviously have wanted to do that more.

"I had a very good test when they did the 'driver assessment' if you want to call it [that]. I was very happy with how that came out.

"But for whatever reason... there are various other things that go [into getting] that seat."

Kvyat – who was demoted by Red Bull to Toro Rosso in 2016 before being dropped altogether after earning just five points last season – is out of the running after being signed by Ferrari as its development driver.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment