Marussia has signed Maria de Villota as their official test driver for the 2012 season, the outfit confirmed on Wednesday.
The Spaniard has previously driven a Renault R29 last year at the Paul Ricard circuit, as well as having competed in the Daytona 24 Hours, Superleague Formula and Spanish F1.
Villota won’t participate in Friday practice sessions, but will get behind the wheel of the MR01 at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.
“I am very happy to be joining the Marussia F1 Team test driver programme,” she said. “This is a fantastic opportunity to work closely with a Formula 1 team and gain important experience to help me progress my career, including the chance to drive the new car later in the year at the Abu Dhabi test.
“I will be joining the team trackside so I’m looking forward to working alongside them at the first race next weekend and this can only help my future ambition to step up to Formula 1 racing.”
Team boss John Booth added: “We are pleased to welcome Maria to our test driver programme, which will enable her to be integrated into a Formula 1 team environment and gain a vast amount of experience that will be useful to her career progression.
“We will also provide Maria with the opportunity to sample F1 machinery later in the year, further adding to her racing credentials.”
