Red Bull Racing draft Liuzzi for testing

The Italian raced for the team last year and, with Red Bull's current duo David Coulthard and Christian Klien unavailable, he has been asked to join test driver Robert Doornbos at the two-car test.

"Tonio is part of the Red Bull family, so it is only natural that we can make use of him," said Red Bull Racing sporting director Christian Horner.

"We want to evaluate some new parts, and Toro Rosso were happy to lend him to us because they are not testing next week."

Although Liuzzi's participation in the test has led to inevitable speculation that he could be evaluated with a view to a drive with the team in 2007, Horner insisted that this was not the case.

"No, this is just a test. We are already more than aware of Liuzzi's capabilities," said Horner, who added the team were unlikely to make a decision about their driver line-up until the late summer.