Ex-Sauber F1 test driver Sergey Sirotkin to race for Rapax in GP2

Sirotkin has spent the past two seasons in Formula Renault 3.5, winning one race and finishing fifth in last year's standings, having previously taken third in Auto GP in 2012.

The 19-year-old Russian drove in practice for his inaugural home grand prix last year as part of his affiliation with Sauber, a relationship that was initially billed as a fast-track move towards an F1 race seat.

He tested Rapax's GP2 car in Abu Dhabi for two days after the end of the 2014 season and has now sealed a full-season deal with the team.

"First of all, I want to thank the team's owners and executives for the push they made in order to have me on board," said Sirotkin.

"The 2015 season will be a crucial one for my career. I went through some lengthy considerations about what could be the best possible choice for my future.

"In post-season testing at Abu Dhabi [pictured] I enjoyed an excellent chemistry with the GP2 car, as well as with the Rapax engineers and all the team.

"They are extremely focused and aggressive, and that's something I really like. I cannot wait to be back on-track for testing in a few weeks."

Sirotkin is the first Rapax driver to be announced for 2015.

The team only managed two podium finishes with Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Simon Trummer in 2014, but it was a factor in the previous season's title race with Stefano Coletti.

2015 GP2 FIELD SO FAR

DAMS
Pierre Gasly, Alex Lynn

Carlin
Marco Sorensen, Julian Leal

ART
Stoffel Vandoorne, Nobuharu Matsushita

Racing Engineering
Jordan King, tba

Trident
Raffaele Marciello, Rene Binder

Campos
Arthur Pic, Rio Haryanto

Rapax
Sergey Sirotkin, tba

Arden International
Norman Nato, Andre Negrao

Yet to announce drivers: Russian Time, MP, Status, Hilmer, Lazarus