F2 frontrunner Luca Ghiotto to test for Wiliams F1 team in Hungary
Formula 2 frontrunner Luca Ghiotto will drive for Williams in next week's post-Hungarian Grand Prix Formula 1 test
The 22-year-old Italian driver finished runner-up to Force India F1 driver Esteban Ocon in GP3 in 2015 and currently sits fifth in the F2 standings in his second season in the F1 feeder category.
The Hungary test will mark Ghiotto's first time driving an F1 car. He will share driving duties with Williams regular Felipe Massa.
"A big thanks to Williams for this opportunity," Ghiotto said.
"The first F1 test for any driver is a special moment, and to do it with such an historic team is even better so I'm really excited."
Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams added: "Our team has a strong track record for developing young talent, and we always enjoy seeing young drivers getting opportunities to demonstrate their ability.
"I look forward to seeing how he performs in the car."
Ghiotto will join a test line-up that includes 2008 Canadian GP winner Robert Kubica, who will test Renault's 2017 car for the first time next week as the team continues to assess his capability to return to racing in F1 again.
Merceded will hand GP3 points leader George Russell his first contemporary F1 test in the W08, while Formula 2 championship leader Charles Leclerc will drive for Ferrari, which has yet to determine whether Sebastian Vettel or Kimi Raikkonen will share testing duties with its young driver.
Honda protege Nobuharu Matsushita (Sauber) and DTM ace Lucas Auer (Force India) are also set to make their F1 testing debuts.
F1 teams are bound by regulation to allocate at least two of their four days of in-season testing to rookie drivers.
Previous article
Aston Martin open to Formula 1 programme if new rules contain costs
Next article
Teams reject chance to buy shares in Formula 1
The tough balancing act facing Schumacher’s Netflix film producers
Michael Schumacher is the latest sporting superstar to get the ‘Netflix treatment’, with a special documentary film airing on the US streaming giant’s platform this month. DAMIEN SMITH has the inside track on how the filmmakers gained access to tell the human story behind one of Formula 1’s most publicity-shy champions - while the man himself, for obvious reasons, is in absentia…
The times that suggest Verstappen should be confident of F1 Russian GP recovery
For the second race in a row, Mercedes has ended the first day of track action on top. It’s in a commanding position at the Russian Grand Prix once again – this time largely thanks to Max Verstappen’s upcoming engine-change grid penalty. But there’s plenty to suggest all hope is not lost for the championship leader at Sochi
The ‘backwards step’ that is the right move for Formula 1
OPINION: With its days apparently numbered, the MGU-H looks set to be dropped from Formula 1’s future engine rules in order to entice new manufacturers in. While it may appear a change of direction, the benefits for teams and fans could make the decision a worthwhile call
The floundering fortunes of F1’s many Lotus reboots
Team Lotus ceased to exist in 1994 - and yet various parties have been trying to resurrect the hallowed name, in increasingly unrecognisable forms, ever since. DAMIEN SMITH brings GP Racing’s history of the legendary team to an end with a look at those who sought to keep the flame alive in Formula 1
Why the 2021 title fight is far from F1's worst, despite its toxic background
OPINION: Formula 1 reconvenes for the Russian Grand Prix two weeks after the latest blow in ‘Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton’. While the Silverstone and Monza incidents were controversial, they thankfully lacked one element that so far separates the 2021 title fight from the worst examples of ugly championship battles
How F1’s other champion to emerge from 1991 thrived at Lotus
Mika Hakkinen became Michael Schumacher’s biggest rival in Formula 1 in the late-90s and early 2000s, having also made his F1 debut in 1991. But as MARK GALLAGHER recalls, while Schumacher wowed the world with a car that was eminently capable, Hakkinen was fighting to make his mark with a famous team in terminal decline
The forgotten F1 comeback that began Jordan’s odyssey
Before Michael Schumacher – or anyone else – had driven the 191 (or 911 as it was initially called), Eddie Jordan turned to a fellow Irishman to test his new Formula 1 car. JOHN WATSON, a grand prix winner for Penske and McLaren, recalls his role in the birth of a legend…
The squandered potential of a 70s F1 underdog
A podium finisher in its first outing but then never again, the BRM P201 was a classic case of an opportunity squandered by disorganisation and complacency, says STUART CODLING
