Lotus F1 announced today that Italy’s Jarno Trulli and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen will form their main driving team in 2010. Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy will fill the test driver’s role.
Team Principal, Tony Fernandes, said in a statement released by Lotus F1, “The appointment of Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz as our race drivers is a testament to the quality of our team, to our ambition and drive, and above all to our long-term vision of success in Formula 1.”
Trulli and Kovalainen are well known to Formula One, of course, both having won races in the past. Fauzy, meanwhile, last experienced F1 in a test driver capacity for the Spyker team in 2007.
Both Jarno and Heikki said all the right things on their first day on the job, “It is a privilege for me to sign for the new Lotus F1 Racing team. I have been impressed by the long-term vision of the team management and technical staff. Tony has set out very ambitious plans and I am ready to help the team achieve these high targets,” said Trulli.
Meanwhile, Kovalainen showed he knows on which side his bread is buttered, “I’m also excited to be part of a team that is not only bringing back the Lotus name, one of the most iconic teams in any form of global motorsport, but also doing so with the support and backing of Malaysia, a country I fell in love with when I first raced there in 2007.”
So, is the the coup that Lotus F1 would have us believe? Or in the cut and thrust world of F1, is this a middle of the road signing for what is likely to be a middle of the road team (in its first year or two, at least). Maybe it’s a wise move to sign two guys with experience, and both have shown, with the right cars, they have the pace. The question is, will they have the right car?
The full release can be read at the Lotus F1 Racing website. The Q&A statement, featuring Tony Fernandes, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen is also worth a read.
