Lotus adds Luiz Razia to test lineup
Team Lotus have today confirmed that Luiz Razia will test the Lotus F1 car at the upcoming young driver test in Abu Dhabi. The sister GP2 team, Caterham Team AirAsia also confirmed that Luiz will take part in the GP2 race at the same circuit next weekend.
Caterham Team AirAsia is delighted to announce that Luiz Razia will complete the team’s strong driver line-up for the forthcoming GP2 finale in Abu Dhabi next week before taking part in the F1 young driver test for the GP2 team’s senior counterparts Team Lotus.
The popular Brazilian was the first driver to sign for the brand new GP2 team in 2011, competing in its debut race in February as part of the GP2 Asia Series. Luiz will return to Abu Dhabi where it all began next week following a positive season, pairing up with Alexander Rossi to fight for a race win at the Yas Marina Circuit in the GP2 2011 finale race Abu Dhabi, from 11th – 13th November. Reprising his role of the Team Lotus Third Driver he will then take part in one full day of the F1 test at the Yas Marina Circuit, taking place from 15th – 17th November.
Team Principal Riad Asmat: “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. 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.”
Caterham Team AirAsia Team Manager Phill Spencer: “I am very pleased to be welcoming Luiz back into the team for the Abu Dhabi GP2 Finale. He has been here from the start and had a positive season with us this year. He is a team player through and through and it has been a pleasure working with him in 2011. I am confident we can have a strong race and finish this special season on a high with both Luiz and Alexander behind the wheel.”
Luiz Razia: “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. 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. The start of the 2011 season at the Yas Marina Circuit did not go well for me so we will not be repeating that again, but looking back I had a really good race there in 2010. I have been training very hard recently and I am focused and confident we can go out there and be really competitive next week. ”
