Bruno Senna has joined Williams for the 2012 season.

Williams has been waiting to announce its second driver alongside Pastor Maldonado, with Rubens Barrichello and Adrian Sutil also thought to have been in the frame. However, Senna has landed the seat after appearing in eight races for Lotus Renault at the end of 2011 and he said he was "privileged" to get the drive.

"I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers," Senna said. "The team has a great heritage and I hope I can help write a good chapter in their history. The evaluation process has been intense and methodical but the time I have spent in the factory has demonstrated that the team has great people and all the resources needed to achieve better things this season.

"It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle has driven for, particularly as quite a few of the people here actually worked with Ayrton. Hopefully we can bring back some memories and create some great new ones too. I also want to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today. I am very proud to be Brazilian and more motivated than ever to demonstrate what I can do. Ever since I first sat in a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else."

Team principal Sir Frank Williams said that Senna's talent was clear, and that the team hoped to give him the platform to display it consistently.

"Bruno only started racing when he was 20 years old but quickly proved his talent in F3 and GP2. In a tightly fought 2008 GP2 season, Bruno finished second in the Championship with notable victories in Monaco and Silverstone, the latter in the wet. The circumstances of Bruno's two seasons in Formula One have not given him an ideal opportunity to deliver consistently so it was essential that we spent as much time with him as possible to understand and evaluate him as a driver. We have done this both on track and in our simulator and he has proven quick, technically insightful and above all capable of learning and applying his learning quickly and consistently. Now we are looking forward to seeing that talent in our race car."

With only a seat at HRT left available, Barrichello's Formula One career appears to be over, but he wished Senna luck on Twitter:

"Twitter friends..I won't be driving the Williams car this year. I wish my friend @BSenna all the best..the future is wide open."