Dixon Could Have F1 Future, Says Williams

New Zealander Scott Dixon impressed Williams with his first test drive and could have a future in Formula One, according to team boss Frank Williams.

"He could be a very good prospect one day," he told reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula One's first in the Middle East.

The 23-year-old Indy Racing League (IRL) champion flew to Europe from the United States a week ago for his first taste of a grand prix car with title challengers Williams.

The team are looking for a replacement for Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, and possibly Ralf Schumacher as well, and have close ties with Dixon's Ganassi team that competes in the all-oval U.S. series.

Dixon is due to test again with the team at Spain's Barcelona circuit next week and Williams said that while more drivers could be tested in future, there would not be many more new faces.

Williams said that although he had not been present at the test at Le Castellet in the south of France, the reports on Dixon had been favourable.

"What I was told was that he was very sensible in his approach," he said. "His memory of the very many buttons in the cockpit was as good as anybody we've had in the car.

"He took the whole thing very cautiously, we were quite impressed by his approach and the fact that it was a very 'cold turkey' thing to do."

Williams' chief operations engineer Sam Michael said Dixon would drive for three days in Barcelona in a far more meaningful test.

"He's a very sensible guy, very mature head on his shoulders. He's worked his way up inside the sport by himself and he presented himself very well, so we were quite impressed by his ability in the car and his feedback...

"There's such a big jump now between non-Formula One cars and F1 cars themselves because of the electronics and everything on board...so that when a new guy comes into Formula One, it's a big jump now."