Asmer targets F1 testing deal

The Estonian, who has won 10 races en route to the British F3 crown, is currently trying to finalise his plans for next year and thinks there is a chance he can land a testing deal with an F1 outfit.

"I'm watching what happens in F1 very closely," Asmer told autosport.com. "Maybe someone will retire, or someone else changes teams, a few drivers switch seats and suddenly a team needs a test driver. I hope they've got my phone number..."

F1 teams have started scouting for young drivers in recent weeks, with rules set to be introduced next year allocating an extra 3000 miles of testing solely for rising stars.

And after holding preliminary talks with several teams about a 2008 deal, Asmer says he is more hopeful about a role in F1 than he has been for several years.

"It's nice to be in a position where people want to talk to me," he said. "In the last few weeks I have been in contact with a few people about options for the future, everything from GP2 and World Series to F1 testing.

"My goal is to succeed in F1 one day and I suppose I feel more hopeful about that now than I did last year. I have met people informally in F1 and other series so I can start building contacts, but who knows what and when anything will come out of it."

Asmer is no stranger to F1 machinery, having tested for Williams in 2003 during his first season of car racing.