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Delétraz signs up as Haas simulator driver for 2019

Formula 2 front runner Louis Delétraz has been confirmed as the new simulator driver for the Haas F1 Team for the 2019 world championship season.

The 22-year-old Swiss driver is currently in fourth place in the support series where he drives for the top Carlin team alongside Nobuharu Matsushita, having previously driven for Racing Engineering and Charouz Racing System.

He turned out for Haas in the 2018 post-season test at Abu Dhabi, where he put in 117 laps in the then-current VF-18 chassis.

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Now he'll be helping the team develop its successor during this season's campaign, supporting the team's official reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi while continuing with his F2 role.

“My first F1 test with Haas in November was a dream come true and I have enjoyed a good relationship with the team ever since,” Delétraz said.

“I’m pleased that they’ve been happy with my work," he continued. "I feel honoured and grateful that the team want to continue working with me by contributing to their simulator programme.

“The sim plays a substantial role in the development of an F1 car," Delétraz explained. "It allows the team to check the car and any updates.

"Driving it is an important job, and - as someone that is determined to join the F1 grid in the near future - this work will allow me to continue learning about F1 and pushing towards my ultimate target."

Delétraz will get another close-up look at the F1 paddock this weekend in Baku, where he will also be competing in the second round of this year's Formula 2 championship.

His father, Jean-Denis Delétraz, was also briefly a Formula 1 driver in his time when he competed in three Grand Prix races in 1994 and 1995 for the Tourtel Larrousse and Pacific Team Lotus. His poor qualifying performances contributed to the introduction of the 107 per cent rule for the 1996 season.

He also took part in nine Le Mans 24 Hours races and was first in the LMP675 class in 2001 and 2002.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.