Baguette & Bortolotti to test in F1

Autosport has a couple stories regarding some new faces in the F1 testing scene. Renault will test Belgian Bertrand Baguette while Toro Rosso will be testing Italian Mirko Bortolotti.

Both teams will test the young drivers at the Jerez circuit next month. The conventional rumor had been that Timo Glock might join Robert Kubica at Renault for the 2010 season but perhaps Baguette could be a possibility.

“I’ll have everything to learn, not just the car itself, but also a new environment, lots of new parameters, a different way of working. The only thing I will be familiar with will be the Jerez circuit!”

I suspect that sentiment is true of both drivers as they will be sitting in a F1 car for the first time. The 19-year-old Bortolotti will face a daunting task and also follow the testing duties of another Red Bull Junior driver, Brendon Hartley. Bortolotti knows this is a rare opportunity and is looking to show his skills.

“My target is to get to Formula 1 in the next few years so to be selected for this test is very important for my career,” said Bortolotti. “Of course, if I can get to F1 even sooner then that will be great, but first I must focus on Jerez”.

It will be interesting to see how well the youngsters do as they come with impressive backgrounds but I am subscribing to the Charsley theory and waiting to see how this plays out. We know Kamui Kobayashi certainly did well in an F1 car where he had not impressed in GP2.

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