Stefano Coletti will drive for Trident Racing in the 2011 GP2 Series, the Italian squad have announced.
The Monaco-based driver recently drove the team's new 2011 car at the shakedown test at Paul Ricard, before also driving for the team at the end-of-season test at Abu Dhabi.
Coletti started three GP2 races for the Durango team in 2009, but picked up an injury which ruled him out for the rest of the season. He began 2010 racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, before switching to GP3.
In an interview on the team's website, he explained his decision to enter GP2 for 2011. “I already wanted to enter the 2010 GP2 Main Series, but I just haven’t found the right budget to lay down a good program,” he explained. “We all know the GP2 Series is the final showcase for a driver to try make the jump to Formula 1, so you have to be here”.
“I’m really looking forward to the next season, and I trust the team a lot. My goal is to end up among the championship’s top 5”.
Coletti also talked about his thoughts on the 2011 GP2 car following the shakedown test. “Some extremely positive feelings, the car’s performance really surprised me, especially for the grip level,” he explained. “I didn’t drive the old GP2 Series car for many kilometers indeed, but with the new one I was really impressed by the front end’s handling. It’s much more responsive, and there’s a lot of traction while going in and out of the corner. In terms of pure speed, I think that the new aero package has less drag and, as a result, the car seems faster on straights”.
Speaking about his first experience of working with the Trident team, he said: “I’m really satisfied. The car has been perfect and we ran completely flawless during the whole day. I’ve got the impression of a hard-working and high-quality team”.