Chinese Driver Tung to Test for Williams

Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung will become China's first Formula One driver later this year after Championship runners-up Williams-BMW offered him a test drive as a reward for winning the Formula BMW Asia championship.

Tung, 21, has put in an impressive performance in the newly created championship and caught the eye of the Grand Prix team after winning 10 of the 14 races on his way to the title.

"It has been my dream to drive a F1 car since I started racing but I never imagined it would happen so soon. It's going to take time for this to sink in," said Tung.

Tung will be the third driver from his team, Team Meritus, to make the step up to Formula One and follows in the footsteps of the first Indian Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan and BAR-Honda driver Takuma Sato.

BMW said the test will take place "as soon as possible" in the Formula One winter testing period and their sponsorship manager Guido Stalmann said: "We have been watching Tung all season and we recognise his potential."