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 |
[Image via LAT]
Richard Bailey
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