Felipe Nasr has played down his failure to win the GP2 Series before moving to F1, saying he has proved he has the ability to win races.

The Brazilian will drive for Williams this year after making the step up to Formula 1 following three seasons in the feeder series.

However, while some of his predecessors like Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg won the GP2 Series before they moved to F1, Nasr's highest position was third place in the 2014 standings.

In fact last year's Champion Jolyon Palmer could only secure a reserve role with Lotus while runner-up Stoffel Vandoorne is a test driver with McLaren.

Nasr, though, managed four wins with his Carlin outfit last year and he feels that is important.

"I wasn't Champion for several reasons. The GP2 Series is a very competitive category, but the good thing is that I showed I was able to win races, to fight for the title during the years that I took part," he told Brazil's Totalrace.com.br

"Not all drivers who are in Formula 1 won Championships and that was the only Championship that I did not win due to some mistakes made by the team and some things that did not fit. But it happens. Of course it would be better if you won it all."