Razia joins Marussia’s 2013 race line-up 06 Feb 2013
Brazil’s Luiz Razia has secured his place on the 2013 grid after signing to drive for Marussia this season. The 23-year-old, runner-up in the 2012 GP2 Series and Marussia’s F1 reserve in 2010, will compete alongside fellow rookie, 21-year-old Briton Max Chilton.
It will be straight down to business for Razia on Wednesday - he will test the MR02 for the first time once the team’s day-two programme at Jerez in Spain gets underway later in the morning.
“It is fantastic to be back with the Marussia F1 Team and with pretty much the same group of people I worked with back in 2010 when I was reserve driver,” said Razia, who has previously tested with Toro Rosso, Force India and Caterham.
“Having been in that position, I know this team rewards determination and success in its young drivers, the intention of its programme being to school the next generation of racing driver. I am very proud to take the step up to a Formula One race seat, particularly with the team I began this journey with, since they helped show me what it takes to progress to the highest level.
“The past two seasons in GP2 have been all about proving that I have what it takes and that I’m ready. This coming season will be all about rewarding the faith the team have shown in me. I am looking forward to beginning that process in Jerez where we are testing the MR02 for the first time. I am also looking forward to the first race in Melbourne and I’m excited to be racing alongside Max, who I competed ‘against’ last season. This is an important year for the Marussia F1 Team in terms of maintaining the momentum from a very positive 2012 season. I look forward to making a valuable contribution to that.”
Commenting on Razia’s appointment, Marussia team principal John Booth said: “We are pleased to have concluded our driver line-up, which means that we can now focus all our attentions on what looks set to be a very promising 2013 season. Luiz isn’t new to our team of course, having been reserve driver in our debut season in 2010 and part of our young driver programme. It is therefore very pleasing to have not one but two graduates of that programme driving for us in 2013, and also very exciting, since both Luiz and Max demonstrated a great deal of potential competing alongside each other in GP2 last season.
“When Luiz moved to GP2 in 2011, we had every expectation that he would progress to the extent that he has. He is a very quick and tenacious driver who battled hard to the runner-up spot last year. Together with Max, we are fielding a young but incredibly ambitious pairing and we look forward to seeing what they can achieve.”
Razia’s signing leaves just one race drive vacant for 2013, with Force India still to confirm Paul di Resta’s team mate.
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