Trulli's the name touted as first to sign with Lotus F1

2009/11/16

Arnaz M. Khairul

IT is all a tight-lipped affair as news of Lotus F1 signing their first driver broke out on Saturday, although the name on most insiders' lips is that of Italian Jarno Trulli. No announcement has been made on Trulli or any other driver's part linking them to this latest piece of news.

And team principal Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes says he is leaving it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to make the announcement.

"I can't say anything. That's enough. The PM will be making the announcement soon," said Fernandes, when contacted yesterday.

The team have stated previously that they hope to announce the driver line-up by the end of this month.

"We will be ready to make the announcement once we've signed the second driver, but other than that I can only say that we've moving along very smoothly," said Fernandes.

JARNO TRULLI

Technical director Mike Gascoyne has been in charge of driver selection and has admitted that he enjoys working with Trulli, besides confirming that the 35-year old Italian was one of the experienced drivers the team were in talks with.

Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy is deemed set for the test driver role, his second such stint in F1 after his attachment with the Spyker F1 Team in 2007.

Reports this week linked Trulli's teammate at the recently withdrawn Toyota team, German Timo Glock, with three teams.

Various German press reported that Glock was eyeing a leading role at F1 newcomers Manor GP, while his agent was reported as stating the driver was in talks with three teams, including Lotus.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, was also last week quoted as stating his pleasure at being in open talks with Lotus, Gascoyne in particular, about making a comeback with the team next year.

The 38-year old Villeneuve has also grown into a strong prospect, with his close friend and fellow French Canadian Gino Rosato having ended a 15-year tenure with Ferrari, to join Lotus as vice president of corporate affairs on Oct 25.

Rosato was speculated to have instigated talks to bring Villenueve to the team.

Lotus F1 chief executive officer Riad Asmat, who was shuttling between Germany, Italy and the UK in the past few days, is believed to have been present during the signing off the driver, but wasn't available for comment.