Williams says it is in no hurry to finalise its 2020 Formula 1 driver line-up, in the wake of Robert Kubica’s impending departure.
It was announced on Thursday that Kubica had taken the decision not to continue with Williams into 2020, opening a vacancy alongside the already confirmed George Russell.
“Robert has made his decision not to continue with us and we clearly respect that,” said deputy team boss Claire Williams. “It’s his decision if he doesn’t want to continue.
“He has done a great job for the team over the past two years, originally as reserve driver and then stepping up to race driver.
“Our plans are under consideration, as you would expect, we have got some candidates on our list who we are considering at the moment, that we are talking to, and we are taking our time to deliberate on that, to make sure we make the right decision for 2020.”
Current reserve driver and Formula 2 front-runner Nicholas Latifi has been linked to Kubica’s seat, even prior to the Pole’s announcement, and on the Canadian Williams said: “Nicholas has quite a similar personality to George, he rolls up his sleeves and gets on with the job that we ask him to do.
“That’s been everything we want to see from him as a reserve driver, taking on the FP1 running for us at some of the races and then the test sessions as well.
“He’s very personable, very likeable, outside of the car, he gets on with everyone in the team, obviously there is the advantage he does know the team now.
“But he still got some remaining rounds in F2 and still got to get super licence points for us to consider him for 2020.”
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