Haas will hand development driver Santino Ferrucci a first taste of F1 machinery next week after confirming that the up-and-coming American racer will drive the VF-16 on both days of the post-race test at Silverstone.
“Becoming a Formula One driver is my ultimate goal and I can’t thank Haas F1 Team enough for this opportunity,” said Ferrucci, 18, who is currently racing in the GP3 Series for multiple champions DAMS.
“Nothing beats seat time, and the experience of driving a Formula One car and working with Haas F1 Team will be invaluable.”
Formula One rules state that two of the four days of in-season testing must be allocated to young-driver training, with a young driver being classified as someone who has competed in two or fewer Grands Prix.
Haas racers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez both participated in this season's first post-race test in Barcelona in May, making them ineligible for the Silverstone session, and thus granting the American team the perfect opportunity to run Ferrucci for the first time.
“We brought Santino on with Haas F1 Team because he’s done a very good job of proving himself in each of the racing series he’s competed in,” said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.
“We see Santino as a young, American driver with a lot of potential who has earned this opportunity.”
The last American to race in Formula One was current Manor reserve driver Alexander Rossi, who competed in five Grands Prix for the British squad last season.
