» Abu Dhabi ‘Young Drivers’ Test line-up

The three-day ‘Young Drivers’ test kicks off today at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, where teams will have the opportunity to evaluate some of motorsport’s up-and-coming racers for future roles within their line-ups in the years to come.

Despite its name, the test is more about giving the drivers experience behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car – often with a substantial amount of cash being exchanged – rather than their actual ages. But all participating drivers must have driven no more than two Grands Prix.

It is also an important test session for Pirelli, which has been given the green light to trial some of the tyres it wants to run in the 2012 season. In turn, this will give the F1 teams an opportunity to run developmental parts for their campaigns next year.

The test will run from 9am to 5pm local time (GMT +4) over the three days, and the teams’ line-ups are as follows:

Team	Day	Driver	Age
Red Bull Racing	All	Jean-Éric Vergne	21

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	TBA	Gary Paffett	30
	TBA	Oliver Turvey	24

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	All	Jules Bianchi	22

Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team	Tue, Wed	Sam Bird	24
	Thu	TBA

Lotus Renault GP	Tue	Robert Wickens	22
	Wed	Kevin Korjus	18
	Thu	Jan Charouz	24

AT&T Williams	Tue, Wed	Valtteri Bottas	22
	Thu	Mirko Bortolotti	21

Sahara Force India F1 Team	Tue, Thu	Max Chilton	20
	Thu	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	21

Sauber F1 Team	TBA	Esteban Gutiérrez	20
	TBA	Fabio Leimer	22

Scuderia Toro Rosso	Tue, Thu AM	Stefano Coletti	22
	Wed, Thu PM	Kevin Ceccon	18

Team Lotus	Tue	Rodolfo González	25
	Wed	Luiz Razia	22
	Thu	Alexander Rossi	20

HRT F1 Team	TBA	Dani Clos	23
	TBA	TBA

Marussia Virgin Racing	TBA	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	20
	Tue PM, Wed	Charles Pic	21
	Thu	Robert Wickens	22