Team Lotus will give third driver Luiz Razia a full day of testing for the F1 Young Driver test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, which runs from 15th-17th November.
The Brazilian will also be driving for Caterham Team AirAsia at the GP2 finale in Abu Dhabi the weekend before the test, pairing up with Alexander Rossi, who will also be taking part in the Young Driver test.
Riad Asmat, the GP2 Team Principal and Team Lotus CEO said that Luiz had been an important part of the outfit this year: “Luiz has been a key player in the 2011 season in helping grow our GP2 team from a starting point of an empty factory in late 2010 to finishing sixth in our first championship,” he said.
“Throughout the season he has also been involved in the F1 operation, both on track where he took part in FP1 for us in China and did a very solid job there, and in sitting in on briefings with the engineers at various races to grow his experience of the F1 environment and help increase his knowledge of the way we work so he can jump straight into the F1 seat when he has his chance.
“I am sure he will perform extremely well for us in both the GP2 event and in the F1 car and we are all looking forward to seeing him successfully complete this next stage of his development.”
Razia is looking forward to the chance to drive the F1 car again, and also to continue working for the GP2 team. “I believe this is confirmation of all the good progress we have made this year and I am very pleased to be working with the team again,” he said. “We had a great relationship throughout our first season and it will be good to continue that in Abu Dhabi.
“The test in F1 is a very big deal for me – it is a full day behind the wheel so I will be able to get a lot from it and hopefully give the team some good feedback. They will have a lot to test ahead of 2012 and I am really looking forward to being involved in that.”