Lotus driver announcement imminent

Team boss Tony Fernandes revealed via Twitter that a signing had been made, although he did not give any clues as to the driver's identity.

"1Malaysia Formula 1 team, aka Lotus, has signed its first driver," Fernandes wrote. "Public announcement soon. The dream continues."

Former Toyota driver Jarno Trulli has been strongly linked to one of the Lotus seats, due in part to his close links with the team's technical chief Mike Gascoyne, who worked with the Italian at Jordan, Renault and Toyota.

Gascoyne has indicated that his preference is to sign two experienced drivers for the team's debut season, although Fernandes told AUTOSPORT earlier this week that he was keen to pair an emerging young star with someone with Formula 1 experience.

"If we can get a guy who has been doing it for a long time, that's fantastic because you can't buy experience and he can help us develop the car and the team," said Fernandes. "And he can help us after the race, adding value to driver development.

"On the second driver, I think that it's good to have someone young because sometimes if you have been doing it for 15 years there is a little bit of cynicism and it gets repetitious. If you've got an energetic young guy that rubs off on you. Ultimately, I will leave it to Mike and the team to decide."

Fernandes has ruled out giving a race seat to leading Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy, but the Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up could be in line for a test and reserve role.