Sergey Sirotkin believes his good performances have gone "unnoticed"

There's no soft way of putting it. Sirotkin is sitting inside the worst cockpit in F1 this season. In his rookie year, it's been hard to asses how well he has actually performed. But the Russian suggests his performances have been good enough, just masked by the Williams car.

He is the only driver in the 2018 paddock yet to score a race point. The obvious answer would be to score a point in the second half of the season, but Sirotkin understands it won't be an easy target to hit after the summer break.

“I mean, it’s very difficult to look at because for sure before the season expectations were very different,” Sirotkin said in an interview on Racer. 

He admits himself he wasn't expecting the car to underperform as much as it did. It meant he had to think again and replan his future.

“Obviously when we found ourselves where we did after the first few races, it was a bit of a shocking situation for all of us. So I had to kind of back off my expectations and the mindset of the team and us drivers as well.

"I always have this sensation that it has been so often when I thought I have been doing a really, really good job, but from the outside, it looks like nothing more than OK," he added.

In terms of 2019 contracts, his team-mate Lance Stroll looks certain to move to Force India following his fathers work in securing their future. It's unclear if Sirtokin will stay or leave, but he insists he has done enough to keep his seat.

“I really enjoy taking on this role, taking on this responsibility, taking on this challenge, and also to feel the trust and the confidence in me.

“Not only being a driver who comes and drives the car but also being the driver who is in the team and part of the team. I am really enjoying this. Again, it has been really tough and it is a big challenge, but I really have faith and big hopes that we will get through it together as one team; every single guy," he continued.