Rodolfo González with Caterham at Mugello
Caterham announced yesterday that the Venezuelan, currently in GP2, would be the first to take the wheel of the CT01 during the tests that will take place at Mugello from Tuesday to next Wednesday.
The Mugello tests, from May 1 to 3, will be an opportunity for some teams to give track time to their reserve drivers or third drivers. While Lotus has already announced that Jérôme D’Ambrosio would drive the E20 on the first day, McLaren also indicated that Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey would take to the track, even though Lewis Hamilton expressed his desire to participate in these tests earlier in the day.
The Caterham team today announced that Rodolfo González, a 25-year-old Venezuelan driver competing in the GP2 Series for the junior team of the Malaysian brand, Caterham Racing, would take part in testing on Tuesday, May 1st. He is obviously thrilled and plans to use this new experience to build his future: “I am very excited to get back into the cockpit of an F1 car during the tests at Mugello, and I want to thank Caterham F1 for this opportunity. This will be my third time in an F1 car with this team and it will be another good chance for me to gain experience at the highest level of motorsport. I took part in young driver tests in 2010 and 2011 with the team, so being able to help them in their mid-season development program is another step forward in my career and something I can learn from that will be useful when I’m back in GP2 with Caterham Racing.”
For his part, the president of Caterham, Riad Asmat, states: « Rodolfo is doing a very good development job and we are very happy to play an active role in his learning of the driving profession. He did a good job for us when he participated in the young driver tests, and we expect him to complete the scheduled program, to achieve what we ask of him on the track, and to give the engineers feedback in line with his experience. His day with the F1 team at Mugello will also help him develop in GP2, and that will be good news for Caterham Racing, thus good news for everyone. »
For the record, González’s best result this season in GP2 is a fifteenth place in the first race held in Bahrain, the second round of the GP2 Series calendar. He has not scored any points, while his teammate, Giedo Van der Garde, Caterham’s third driver, has 12 points in four races.
