Sirotkin: Optimism for next season made exit harder to accept

Sergey Sirotkin has said his Formula One exit was harder to accept because he had "all the reasons" to believe Williams would improve next season and he'd have a better chance to perform well.

Sirotkin endured a rather dismal rookie campaign at Williams - scoring just the one point - albeit with a very poor car.

The Russian driver will not get the chance to improve on that at Williams, being replaced by Robert Kubica for 2019.

"It's tough," Sirotkin told Motorsport.com. "Honestly, it's very tough. I really feel like I had a few things I learned and could do better. But I don't have the chance to.

"It probably sounds too optimistic or too great, but from the inside I see many more things than any other can see. I have all these reasons to think so (that 2019 will be better)."

Sirotkin has maintained he still has a strong relationship with the British side, despite his exit from the team.

"I dedicated so much energy to earn the results, I put so much work in," the Russian said. "(But) the spirit you're taking, proceeding with this, you put in more than just work and energy.

"You put your heart in it, your thoughts are with the team. In this case, it's just such a sad thing. It took so much as a human, and I won't see the result."