Albers to join Minardi test at Valencia

Albers, who raced in the DTM last year for Mercedes, will carry out durability testing at the wheel of an interim Minardi PS01B chassis. He will then test components for this year's PS02, which is due to run for the first time in the next month.

"Christijan is someone who is close to our team, and we continue to rate him highly," said team boss Paul Stoddart. "Now that our pre-season testing programme is set to get under way in earnest, we thought it was an ideal opportunity to have another look at him while he helps us get through our scheduled workload, which is considerable. It's also useful that Christijan knows the team, the engineers, and our way of working, as he has tested for us before."

Albers said: "I am obviously very pleased to be asked to test again for Minardi. I know the team has made significant progress over the last year, and the new car should be a big step forward. I am really looking forward to helping the team with its test programme and can't wait to experience the performance of a Formula 1 car again."