6 drivers who can be at Williams next year alongside Lance Stroll

After Mercedes, Force India and Renault have finalized their driver line-up for 2018 season in the past week, the seat at Williams is the most coveted one for the drivers.

Williams, in a collaboration with title sponsors Martini, have a condition in their contract that one of their drivers has to be 25 or above. Considering Lance Stroll will only turn 19 in October, the driver alongside him has to be at least 25 years old to fulfill their contract with Martini.

This puts drivers such as Mercedes protege Pascal Wehrlein out of contention; he is just 22 as of now. So here is a look at 5 drivers who can be racing for Williams next season.

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Felipe Massa

The driver who had the shortest retirement ever in F1 history was back in Australia after Valterri Bottas was called up by Mercedes to replace World Champion Nico Rosberg after his retirement. This decision raised a few eyebrows but the Williams management wanted one of their drivers from last season to help them develop the car.

The Brazilian was impressive early on in the season, out-qualifying the rookie Stroll comfortably. But after the Canadian upped his game it has been very tough to choose between the two, especially after the Hungarian Grand Prix - where he suffered from 'vertigo' and couldn't take part in the race.

Felipe Massa has expressed his interest in taking part in Formula E after he is done with Formula One but he didn't mention the year in which he will be finished after coming back from retirement. If Williams want someone to mentor the promising Lance Stroll, they would want Massa in their driver line-up - a man who is vastly experienced and will make his 264th race start in Malaysia next week.

Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica on the podium in the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix

If Kubica does get into Formula 1, it will definitely be one of the fairytale stories that are rarely seen in the sport. In 2011, Kubica took part in the Ronde di Andora rally for 'personal enjoyment' and ended up having a huge crash which resulted in his right forearm partially severed. At that time, he admitted that a return to Formula One would be nearly impossible.

After returning to racing in 2012, he clawed his way back into the good books of Renault once again and in 2017 had a test in the 2012 Renault (Lotus E20). After he took part in one more test and the official post-Hungarian Grand Prix testing in the current Renault car R.S.17, Renault considered him as an option for 2018 alongside Nico Hulkenberg. But after the engine frenzy resulted in Sainz getting the seat at Renault, his return to Renault seems almost impossible.

But if one door gets closed in your face, another one opens - and that is what has happened with Kubica. He has been called up by Williams to take part in certain tests which will decide if he is indeed ready for a return with them.

In the late 2000s, Kubica had a reputation of being a very quick driver with pace that matched the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Rosberg, who has joined Kubica's management team, will also help matters as the German has a very good rapport with Williams after starting his career in the Grove-based team.

Jolyon Palmer

Jolyon Palmer with his father Jonathan Palmer(ex-F1 racer)

The unlucky guy whose car just can't get through a weekend without any hassles.

This has been the story of Palmer's 2017 season so far. After it was declared publicly that Carlos Sainz will indeed replace Palmer at the end of this season, his car thankfully had no problems and the Briton secured a solid 6th position which is his personal best in F1 yet.

People often overlook his impressive GP2 Championship win now after his less than lucky stint in Formula One. But Jolyon Palmer, who recently claimed that the last 8 races of this season are essentially an audition for 2018, may well be eyeing up this Williams seat.

Palmer fits the bill of a consistent driver if he is given a reliable car. He may not show flashes of brilliance like Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz or Esteban Ocon but he is a driver you can bank upon to keep his performance consistent and take advantage of anything bizarre that happens in a Grand Prix at the front of the field - the way he did in Singapore last time around.

To complement the promising albeit inconsistent Lance Stroll, Jolyon Palmer might be the man for the British team.

Paul Di Resta

When Felipe Massa pulled out of the Hungarian Grand Prix after FP3 concluded, Paul Di Resta - who hadn't raced in F1 since 2013 - was there in Budapest as a reporter for Sky Sports F1. He was asked by Williams to fill in the void left by Massa for further sessions in the weekend (Qualifying and Race).

He proved to be very impressive for someone who hasn't driven an actual F1 car in such a long time, and even managed to beat Marcus Ericsson's Sauber. In the race, he gave a good account of himself and no one other than perhaps Kimi Raikkonen - who was irritated by Di Resta for not following blue flags - had any complaints regarding his performance.

Just 10 laps before the end of the race, his Williams had a water-leak problem which put an end to a memorable weekend for Di Resta.

With his performance in Hungary, Di Resta has forced his way back into the shortlist of Williams for 2018 and he will hoping he makes the cut as he provided good performances before 2014 as well. His points tally was just shy of Nico Hulkenberg in 2012 and better than the experienced Sutil in 2013.

Marcus Ericsson

Ericsson is the driver who has been in the shadows for the past four years in F1. After debuting for Caterham in 2014, he moved to Sauber in 2015 and scored points in some of the races. But soon after 2015, Sauber fell off the pace again and haven't been able to pose much of a challenge for points.

Like Palmer, Ericsson doesn't show moments of unbelievable brilliance but still puts on a solid show every time. He has been battling his teammate Wehrlein on track who is very highly rated by Mercedes, which speaks volumes of Ericsson's talents.

It has been reported by Autosport that Ericsson is considering more than one team for 2018, which means that he is in talks with Williams as they are the only team besides Toro Rosso and Sauber yet to announce their driver's line-up for 2018. Toro Rosso favour giving Red Bull Academy drivers a run in F1 which can mean Pierre Gasly (2016 GP2 Champion) being promoted to the pinnacle of Motorsports.

Thus, Ericsson is in with a chance of taking this much fancied Williams seat.

Felipe Nasr

Felipe Nasr, currently not racing in Formula One, was actually a reserve driver for Williams in 2014. Williams reportedly were happy with Nasr's performance and feedback and it was even rumoured that he would take up Massa's seat alongside Bottas in 2017 before Stroll was announced.

Nasr has been out in the cold for a year now and it is unlikely yet possible that Williams will call upon his services for 2018. The Brazilian is rumoured to be in the mix but his lack of experience in the current format goes against him and that is why Nasr has only a slim chance of taking up the seat at Williams Martini Racing in 2018.