Prost, Valsecchi and Raikkonen confirmed for Lotus test. Lotus have announced that Nicolas Prost, Davide Valsecchi and Kimi Raikkonen will drive for the team during next week’s adapted young driver test, which takes place at the UK’s Silverstone circuit on July 17-19. The test - originally intended solely for young drivers, but adapted to allow race drivers to test Pirelli’s new tyres - will see Lotus’s development driver Prost at the wheel on Wednesday, followed by third driver Valsecchi on Thursday, with Raikkonen bringing things to a conclusion on Friday. “It’s great timing for us to have this season’s young driver test scheduled in the middle of the year as it allows us to evaluate more of the new parts we have for the E21 as the championship battle intensifies,” said team principal Eric Boullier. “Remarkably, the UK has been having some notably good weather recently so we’re looking forward to getting some good running across the three days.” Both Frenchman Prost and Italian Valsecchi have previously driven Lotus’s 2012 car, the E20, at last year’s young driver test, whilst reigning GP2 champion Valsecchi has also piloted this year’s car for half a day’s running during 2013 pre-season testing. “By running Nicolas and Davide we are giving them both invaluable experience and also gaining great feedback, as we’ve previously seen what they can do in the car and appreciate the valuable information they give us,” added Boullier. “It’s also a fabulous second opportunity for all Formula One fans to come and see the teams in action at Silverstone.” Commenting on Lotus’s planned programme for the test, trackside operations director Alan Permane stated: “Obviously we want to give all three drivers the maximum track time possible as well as assessing the latest upgrades to the car. Our aim on the third day will be to help Pirelli understand the latest changes to their tyres at the same venue where they most notably had issues this season. “For Nico and Davide it’s an opportunity to learn and improve, while for the team it is a great opportunity to try to refine some of the latest developments we have for the E21. Kimi is also allowed to run, enabling him and other race drivers to test tyres for Pirelli. This will benefit both him and Romain (Grosjean) by granting us a better understanding of these tyres before we head to the next event in Hungary.”
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 06:05:53 +0000
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