Williams Martini Racing Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams believes ahead of his first run in the FW37, their development driver Alex Lynn has the ability to come through the ranks to be the next great British driver in the sport.
On Wednesday, Lynn will drive the Williams on Day Two of the Spanish test at the Circuit de Catalunya. It will be the GP2 Series driver’s first outing in the 2015 Williams and, perhaps one could say, part of a continuous audition for his future.
Williams has stated that she is hoping that in time the 21-year-old will progress through their ranks as she dreams of a “British driver” in her “British team after working hard to settle into his new role with the team.
“In all honesty, it’s too early to tell whether he will make the step up,” said Williams to Autosport. “But he has shown he is quick, he listens – which is really important – he gives great feedback, and he is willing to be a part of the team. He has all the ingredients, but we will have to see how it shakes out over the course of the year to see what the end product is.
“I really hope he does because he is a great guy, he has worked really hard, has been patient, and he’s British, and how great would that be to have another British talent come into our sport? When we looked at this role we very much wanted a development driver, to replicate what we did with Valtteri and integrate a driver into the team.
“Personally for me I really wanted a British driver, just being nationalistic about it. I quite fancied British driver, British team.”
Further on, Williams is confident that in the 2014 GP3 Series Champion that the team has found a driver capable of coping with the pressure and rising above and can proven so far that he can deliver on the track where it matters.
“Before we made an appointment we did quite a lot of evaluation work on a lot of the drivers out there, and Alex obviously topped the list for us, ” added Williams. “He’s integrated really well, he’s doing his whole internship thing, been working doing his rotations around composites, hydraulics, all the different departments.
“The work he has done in the simulator, he is improving his consistency and his speed, which has been really important for us. He is going to have a lot on his plate this year doing that role for us, syncing it with his GP2 season, which is hugely competitive. He has his work cut out.
“He has to prove to us he can do the job because competition for seats in F1 is high, as we all know, and that’s always going to be his ambition, his dream, so he has to deliver the goods. So far he has done everything we have asked of him, and done it really well.”
