Razia, Cecotto Jr. Participate In Young Drivers Test

Scuderia Toro Rosso was one of six F1 squads that stayed on in Abu Dhabi past the Grand Prix weekend to participate in the Young Driver test. The team brought in Luiz Razia and Johnny Cecotto Jr., both age twenty-three and both multiple race winners in this year's GP2 campaign.

Razia got to take the wheel of the STR7 for two days; Tuesday and Thursday. The Brazilian logged 67 laps on his first day, then another 68 laps on his second - despite feeling a bit ill. Cecotto, of Venezuelan/German decent and the son of a former F1 and Grand Prix motorcycle racer, handled the driving duties on Wednesday, logging 76 laps. Both drivers kept all four corners on the car and returned it in good condition. While the heart of the three day program was to test various aero and set-up options that may find their way onto the 2013 STR challenger, they also managed to post lap times that were not far off of what Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were able to achieve during the Free Practice sessions back on Friday and Saturday.

Johnny Cecotto Jr.

After Thurday's running was complete, Chief Engineer Laurent Mekies was pleased with what the team had learned and complimentary of the two 'guest' drivers. “The past three days have been very productive, as our car ran with no major problems, which allowed us to complete a lot of laps. Our job list was very full, testing many items, the majority aimed at next year’s car, which will be very useful when it comes to preparing for 2013. In addition, it’s fair to say that some of the work could be beneficial to us in the remaining two races of this year. Both Luiz, on the first and last days and Johnny yesterday, did a good job for us, by not making any mistakes, thus allowing us to complete our programme.”