NOVEMBER 28, 2012

Valtteri Bottas replaces Bruno Senna at Williams

Williams has announced that its talented young Finnish test driver, Valtteri Bottas, will partner Pastor Maldonado in its race team in 2013.

Bottas has impressed the team immensely with both his Friday FP1 performances throughout 2012 and at the Silverstone young driver test, when he lapped very quickly without any mistakes.

"In Pastor and Valtteri we have two of the most exciting talents in motor racing and I am especially excited about what 2013 can bring for Williams," said founder and team principal Sir Frank Williams.

"Pastor has always demonstrated remarkable pace and this year has seen him mature as a racing driver. Valtteri is quite simply one of the most talented young racing drivers I have come across and we expect great things from him in the future.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our departing driver Bruno Senna for his hard work over the past year and wish him the best of luck going forward."

Bottas himself, said: "It has always been my lifelong dream to compete in Formula One. To do so with one of the most legendary teams in the sport is incredibly special."

For Senna, the options to remain in F1 are rapidly dwindling, with only Lotus, Force India, Caterham and Marussia yet to confirm their 2013 line-ups. Romain Grosjean is expected to retain his Lotus seat, Max Chilton should partner Timo Glock at Marussia, and Vitaly Petrov will have done his Caterham chances a power of good with a very lucrative 11th place in Brazil, which sealed a financially all-important top 10 finish in the constructors' championship.