George Russell has defended Williams after the struggling British team’s high profile 2019 car delay.
Already dead last in 2018, Williams missed the first two days of testing in Barcelona and Robert Kubica said at the end of the test that he learned "nothing".
But Russell, the baby-faced Formula 2 champion, defended his team.
"Even I did not realise how much work is needed to get a F1 car up and running," he is quoted by Speed Week.
"We’ve seen it already with Force India, because they also missed the tests in 2015 and still finished fifth in the championship," the 21-year-old added.
"You don’t get points for testing, and who knows what’s going to happen. Of course it was frustrating to have to watch everyone else driving, but at the same time I understood how much work was being done behind the scenes.
"So that part wasn’t frustrating. I know that no one put us in this situation deliberately," Russell said.
"I am very proud of the guys who work so hard. It’s a privilege to drive for this team. Yes, we have less kilometres on the board than the others. But I have every confidence in our team."