Williams insists new signing Valtteri Bottas will not be given carte blanche and will instead be expected to deliver points finishes in his rookie season.
The team announced on Wednesday that the 23-year-old will line-up alongside Pastor Maldonado next season.
With the team pushing to improve on eighth in the constructors’ championship, and build upon its first win since 2004, Williams boss Toto Wolff said the team could not afford to give Bottas extra dispensation to make mistakes in his debut year.
Wolff insisted that Bottas would be able to handle such pressure.
“First of all [when you] come in to F1 you have to cope with pressure, and I think Valtteri is capable of coping with that,” Wolff said.
“It is his rookie season, but it is not the case that everything is allowed – he is pretty aware of that.
“He is a relaxed driver, always was, so it won’t affect him a lot.”
Wolff said that Bottas, like Maldonado, was on a long-term deal with the team but would be operating with the expectation of scoring points in his maiden year.
“What is important for us is that we have long-term, multiple-year deals with both drivers to have stability for the team,” Wolff said.
“As for the team, we are pretty well aware Valtteri will have his rookie season next year, but for us he plays an important role because everyone knows him, he has been an investment of the team.
“We believe he is going to do well, learn a lot from Pastor at the beginning.
“For us it is important to score a good level of points; I think this is what we are expecting from him.”
Wolff added that Bottas will bring his own sponsorship to the team, helping to smooth the financial blow of losing Bruno Senna.
“I think we are all aware that operations have to be financed: finance plays an important role. In that case for us important to have best possible package,” Wolff explained.
“Valtteri has partners committed to follow him into F1. We have an omnipresent commercial reality, [so] I’m happy to say [Valtteri] did a great job on and off the track. He was quite successful in Finland securing backing.”
Mike Harris Cuth Harrison Brian Hart Gene Hartley Masahiro Hasemi
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