Canadian Lance Stroll will become Formula One's youngest driver on the grid next season after being unveiled by Williams for the 2017 campaign.
Montreal-born Stroll, who celebrated his 18th last week, will be the first Canadian to race in the sport since 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who won his title at Williams and retired in 2006.
The son of fashion billionaire Lawrence, who made a fortune from the Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors fashion brands, Stroll will partner experienced Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas at the Mercedes-powered team.
He replaces Brazilian Felipe Massa, who had already announced his retirement from Formula One.
Stroll will be the youngest driver on the starting grid next season, but not the youngest ever to start a race -- that accolade belongs to Red Bull's Max Verstappen who was 17 years and 166 days old when he made his debut for Toro Rosso at the Australian grand prix 2015.
The rules have been changed since then, with 18 set as the minimum age and a points-based super licence system introduced. Stroll secured his after winning this year's European F3 championship.
Stroll, who is yet to obtain his road licence, dominated this year's Formula Three championship, winning the series by more than 100 points. He becomes the sport's youngest driver since Dutchman Max Verstappen made his debut, aged 17, last year.
"To be racing in Formula One in 2017 is incredible," Stroll said. "I can't thank Williams enough for showing faith in my ability.
"Racing in F1 was something I dreamt about as a young kid. When I began karting seriously, F1 was then the ultimate goal and especially when I started racing cars in 2014.
"2017 is going to be a big learning curve for me, but I'm eager to absorb everything Williams can share with me so that I improve.
"I'll be taking things on a race-by-race, lap-by-lap basis and hopefully progress with experience like I did when I entered Formula Four and then Formula Three."
Claire Williams, deputy team principal, added: "Lance joined the Williams Young Driver Programme at the end of 2015 and has impressed our engineers with his maturity, talent and enthusiasm.
"We are pleased to be able to offer him the opportunity to step up and show what he can do in Formula One, after proving a dominant force in all the categories he has raced in so far.
"He is still young, and we looking forward to seeing him develop as a driver. Williams has a great record of introducing young drivers to Formula One, who have achieved great results, and we hope this will be the start of a long successful career for Lance as well."
Bottas, who has been with Williams since 2010 - firstly as a test driver before making the step up to the race team in 2013 - had attracted interest from Renault.
"Firstly, I am very happy that I will be starting my fifth season racing for Williams in 2017," the 27-year-old said. "It's going to be an exciting year with all the regulation changes and a great opportunity for the team to get closer to the front. I'll be giving 100 per cent as always to the team.
"Williams is like my family. Going into next season, it will be eight years in total since I joined at the start of 2010, so it really does feel like home here. However, I still believe we haven't yet achieved what we should, and can do together."
