Formula One: Despite Martini sponsorship, Williams go with Sergey Sirotkin

Despite the fact that they are sponsored by Martini, the Williams Formula One team decided to sign 22-year-old Sergey Sirotkin.

After 36-year-old Felipe Massa announced his impending retirement from his full-time role as a Formula One driver for Williams Martini Racing, Williams began their search for a second driver for the 2018 Formula One season.

With the team being sponsored by Martini, an alcoholic beverage company, there was speculation that the second driver had to be at least 25 years of age due to marketing purposes as a result of this sponsorship, as Lance Stroll, the team’s other driver, is only 19 years old.

At first, it looked like they would sign a driver over the age of 25, as Robert Kubica, 33, was the early favorite to replace Massa alongside Stroll. However, when he became out of the running to land the ride, attention shifted to 22-year-old Sergey Sirotkin, which left many wondering about their sponsorship with Martini.

But Williams had previously made clear that age was not a key factor in their 2018 driver lineup decision, according to Reuters.

"“What’s most important for the team is to pick a driver lineup that will give us the best performance and most exciting racing potential. There are some issues around advertising and Martini but if it came to it, I‘m sure Martini would understand the importance — if that’s what we were to choose — to have the best lineup for racing rather than for advertising. We will cross that bridge if we need to. Age is not a factor in our primary objective which is to pick the best lineup.”"