Rowland to conduct second F1 test outing with Williams

Oliver Rowland will drive in the second in-season Formula 1 test of 2018 for Williams at the Hungaroring later this year.  

The second of F1’s two-day in-season F1 tests will take place in Budapest following July’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with Williams young driver Rowland set to get back behind the wheel of the team’s 2018 challenger, the FW41. 

Rowland, who finished third in the 2017 Formula 2 standings, shared driving duties with reserve driver Robert Kubica during the first in-season test of the year in Barcelona, following the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Williams was suitably impressed with the job Rowland did in Barcelona and the Briton will drive on the opening day of the second test, before Kubica takes over testing duties on the second day. 

“It’s another step in the right direction of achieving my goal of being in F1,” Rowland said. "Everything went very well at the test in Barcelona and it’s nice to know they’re giving me another chance and have trust in me.

“I'm aware that you don’t get many opportunities to show your talent in F1. It’s a pretty exclusive club so I tried to do a good job. The test went well, and I tried to be mature about my approach.

“Feedback and consistency was the aim rather than worrying about lap times straight away, but we got the times down pretty quickly. We need a bit of work at the moment to get the team’s performance back to where we should be, so, rather than trying to be a hero, it was important to give the engineers exactly what they wanted.”

"I'm just delighted to have the opportunity again,” he added. “It was a dream come true for me in Barcelona and I would like to thank Williams for giving me this second chance. I will continue to do my very best to help push our performance in the right direction.”