Simona de Silvestro has been announced as an "affiliated driver" at the Sauber F1 Team.
She will join the Swiss outfit's driver development programme, with the goal being to gain her superlicense and prepare for a Formula 1 race seat in 2015.
The 25-year-old joins race drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez, reserve driver Giedo van der Garde and development driver Sergey Sirotkin at Sauber.
She moved to the USA when she was 18 to race in the Formula BMW USA series, after one year in the Italian Formula Renault championship.
De Silvestro then moved up to the Atlantic Championship and finished third in the 2009 season, before making the jump to IndyCar. She has raced in the series for four years, registering a best finish of second place at last year's Grand Prix of Houston.
She also scored her best championship position last year, ending her fourth campaign in 13th place. The Swiss won the Indy 500 "Rookie of the Year" award in 2010 and now has her eyes firmly set on a drive in Formula 1.
Her programme at Sauber will include track testing, simulator training as well as physical and mental preparation. She has been named as an "affiliated driver" at the Hinwill-based squad.
"After four years in IndyCar, Simona’s ambition is to enter Formula one in 2015," said team principal Monisha Kaltenborn.
"We regard her as a very talented race driver, and we, therefore, decided to take her on board as an 'affiliated driver' and support her on her way to the pinnacle of motorsport."
Commenting on the appointment, de Silvestro said: "This is a major step towards me achieving a life-long dream and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to take this step with such a great team.
"The Sauber F1 Team is a team with a legacy and the only Swiss team in Formula One, which I think makes this even more exciting. I can't thank Monisha Kaltenborn and Peter Sauber enough for their support and belief in my abilities and for giving me this chance.
"I’m thrilled to have this extremely unique platform on which to prepare myself to take on the challenge."
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| © Sauber F1 Team |
The 25-year-old joins race drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez, reserve driver Giedo van der Garde and development driver Sergey Sirotkin at Sauber.
She moved to the USA when she was 18 to race in the Formula BMW USA series, after one year in the Italian Formula Renault championship.
De Silvestro then moved up to the Atlantic Championship and finished third in the 2009 season, before making the jump to IndyCar. She has raced in the series for four years, registering a best finish of second place at last year's Grand Prix of Houston.
She also scored her best championship position last year, ending her fourth campaign in 13th place. The Swiss won the Indy 500 "Rookie of the Year" award in 2010 and now has her eyes firmly set on a drive in Formula 1.
Her programme at Sauber will include track testing, simulator training as well as physical and mental preparation. She has been named as an "affiliated driver" at the Hinwill-based squad.
"After four years in IndyCar, Simona’s ambition is to enter Formula one in 2015," said team principal Monisha Kaltenborn.
"We regard her as a very talented race driver, and we, therefore, decided to take her on board as an 'affiliated driver' and support her on her way to the pinnacle of motorsport."
Commenting on the appointment, de Silvestro said: "This is a major step towards me achieving a life-long dream and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to take this step with such a great team.
"The Sauber F1 Team is a team with a legacy and the only Swiss team in Formula One, which I think makes this even more exciting. I can't thank Monisha Kaltenborn and Peter Sauber enough for their support and belief in my abilities and for giving me this chance.
"I’m thrilled to have this extremely unique platform on which to prepare myself to take on the challenge."
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