Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Sirotkin offered F1 test role for 2016

Sergey Sirotkin says he has been offered a number of test driver roles in F1 for the 2016 season.

The former Sauber reserve driver raced in GP2 for the first time in 2015, finishing third in the drivers' championship after an impressive rookie campaign. Having been with Sauber until the end of 2014, the 20-year-old Russian now says he has the opportunity to work with F1 teams again next season.

"We have a definite offer, and not just one, but we all understand what it rests upon,” Sirotkin told Sportbox. “If we find the required financial support, maybe I'll be a test driver in F1. There is an opportunity, and perhaps we're even closer to this goal than some others."

And Sirotkin says he will definitely stay in GP2 in 2016, with Arden a potential destination for him having driven for Rapax this season.

"I am glad that I will continue to race in GP2 but, regarding Arden, I hope to announce something soon as negotiations are underway. All I can say is that, next season, my goal is the title - after third place there can be nothing else to aim for.

“We had a great season [in 2015]. The series this year was extremely competitive but the first stage did not work for technical reasons and we lost a lot of points. However, when everything went into the rhythm over [the final] two-thirds of the championship, our car was one of the strongest and, in the end, we were very good.”

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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.