Oliver Rowland has been announced as Williams Martini Racing‘s Official Young Driver for the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

After finishing the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship in third place, Rowland has been appointed to take on simulator work at the Williams factory in Grove and will also be driving the FW31 at the Young Driver Test.

It isn’t the Brit’s first experience of Formula 1 after being appointed as Renault Sport Formula One Team development driver in 2012 and also testing McLaren F1 Team and Red Bull Racing cars as part of winning the 2012 McLaren Autosport Award and 2015 World Series by Renault Championship.

“I am pleased we have secured the services of Oliver, who is a talented and highly regarded young driver,” said Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal.

“He has raced at many Formula One circuits, and his experience and knowledge will complement the team’s ongoing engineering work. His addition to Williams will further strengthen the team.”

Rowland will dovetail his duties with Williams alongside an FIA World Endurance Championship campaign with LMP1 challengers CEFC TRSM Racing and their Ginetta G60-LT-P1 car.

“I am immensely proud to be joining Williams Martini Racing as their official young driver,” said Oliver Rowland.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me and I will be working as hard as I possibly can to help them develop the car this season.

“Williams is a British team with a fantastic heritage and history which has made it one of the most respected teams in the sport.

“It’s always been my ambition to get a role in Formula One and I’m very excited to be doing that with Williams.

“They have always given young drivers the opportunity to progress so it’s now up to me to make a good impression and further my development as a driver.

“Hopefully with my hard work in the simulator and test I can impress the team. It’s certainly going to be an exciting challenge ahead and I want to help Williams as the team continues to work to close the gap to the front of the grid in 2018.”