Lotus signs Fauzy

UPDATE #2 (GMM) Fairuz Fauzy could be promoted to a race seat at Lotus, team boss Tony Fernandes has admitted. Kuala Lumpur born Fauzy, 27, was on Monday named the third driver for the new Malaysian-owned team that will feature grand prix winners Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen in the race cars in 2010. But Malaysian entrepreneur Fernandes is quoted as saying by the local Star newspaper: "There a possibility of him (Fauzy) being fielded as a driver during race day, no doubt about it.

"But the important thing is not whether he gets to race next season, but how he develops into a mature F1 driver," he added.

Fauzy, with experience in GP2, A1 and the Renault World Series and a brief stint as a Spyker test driver in F1, confirmed that the objective of his full-time role with Lotus is to graduate to the grid.

"It's every driver's dream to be an F1 driver, so of course I want to be the main driver.

"But I have to start somewhere to gain experience, just like many other F1 drivers like Kubica, Rosberg and even Kovalainen, who all started out as test drivers before," he added.

11/16/09 According to AutoRacing1.com sources, the signed Lotus driver is Fairuz Fauzy, as a reserve driver. We await the formal announcement.

Fairuz Fauzy

11/14/09 (GMM) The Malaysian-owned new Lotus team has signed its first driver for the 2010 season, boss Tony Fernandes revealed on his Twitter page.

"Public announcement soon," he said. "The dream continues."

It is likely the signed driver is the Italian veteran Jarno Trulli, with the Malaysian World Series by Renault driver Fairuz Fauzy expected to secure the role as tester.

"Fairuz will be in the team probably as a reserve driver or a test driver," technical director Mike Gascoyne told Malaysia's The Star.

"He has the talent but we don't want him to 'crash and burn' in the race because of his inexperience," the Briton added.