Williams have signed 16 year-old Oliver Gray to their driver academy for 2022 season.
British racing driver – Gray enjoyed early success in karting and finished as Vice-Champion of 2019 IAME Euro Series before eventually graduating to single-seater racing in 2021, where he took two race victories in his rookie British F4 season plus one pole position en route to seventh in the championship.
Last autumn saw Gray step up to Italian F4 for the final two rounds of the season, where he recorded a best finish of 12th in two of six races in a category won by his British compatriot – Ollie Bearman.
Speaking about his decision to join Williams’ Young Driver Academy, Gray described the opportunity as “a special day” of his single-seater career, especially given Williams’ legendary history in F1 with seven different driver titles as he wishes to join that list in the future.
Williams confirmed that Gray will again compete in F4 with Carlin in a move from Fortec Motorsports and the teenager added: “As I begin working with the team, my immediate goals are to develop as a driver both on and off the track, as well as focus on my 2022 season; I can’t wait to get started.”
Looking ahead specifically to the new season, Gray also iterated his excitement to get behind the wheel of the new British F4 car as he continued: “Winter testing has gone really well so far and the new car is amazing to drive.”
Gray also revealed that he believes that he has “a great team around me and the championship title is my only aim this season.”
Williams Sporting Director, Sven Smeets added that the team “are incredibly pleased” to sign Gray and highlighted his “great talent during his karting career and the team was impressed with his debut year in single seaters.”
Smeets also spoke of his belief that Gray will be of immense value to Williams moving forward as he added: “We are all looking forward to working with Oliver to best support his progression through the junior motorsport ladder, and I’m confident that he will prove a great asset to our team.”
Gray is the third Williams junior driver this season to secure a drive with Carlin this season, after Logan Sargeant and Zak O’Sullivan joined the British junior team in F2 and F3 respectively.
Carlin Team Principal, Trevor Carlin added that he is “so pleased” to sign Gray for the new British F4 season as he vowed that Gray would launch “an assault on the British F4 Championship.”
On the topic of their expanding junior links to Williams, Carlin said: “We’re very proud to welcome another Williams Racing Academy Driver into the team. This is a great opportunity for Ollie to really grow and develop as a driver in these early stages of his career.”
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