New Williams line-up is 'risky' - Di Resta

Paul di Resta believes that Williams have made a 'risky decision' in employing two rookies in Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin for the upcoming 2018 Formula One campaign as the team lacks experience, with the Brit having been overlooked for a seat in favour of the duo.

With Felipe Massa announcing his retirement for the end of the 2017 campaign, Williams were forced into a recruitment drive over the winter, with drivers such as Sirotkin, di Resta, and Robert Kubica all testing for the F1 spot alongside Stroll.

Williams eventually selected Sirotkin, and di Resta believes this is a risk due to the youth of the two drivers now behind the wheel.

“It’s a risky decision, the driver line-up, in the experience the guys have got,” di Resta told RACER.

“Obviously Lance has got a year under his belt, Sirotkin coming in… The key things for me is already you’ve got McLaren who are a key championship contender and Renault as a constructor should be able to beat somebody like Williams. Where does that fall within where you are in keeping the momentum?

“Obviously as the years go on, the experience of having a Mercedes engine diminishes a bit, so they’ve got a tough ask. But there’s more to the decisions than everything that comes out and fundamentally that board sat together and took what their best [decision] was from what they had on the table, for all the reasons that come into it.”

Di Resta was one of the candidates to replace Massa with Williams only to ultimately come up short, but he believes he could have did nothing more during his test runs to prove his worth.

“I was very happy with the test I did. Exceptionally happy with the test I did," he continued.

"I had one of those days in a car that you couldn’t ask for any better, and I feel that I delivered to the best of my potential, which they can see.”