Williams’ new reserve driver Valtteri Bottas will not start his Friday practice duties until after the 2012 season opener in Australia. The Finn will only start appearing in the Renault-powered FW34 in Malaysia, a week after the first race, Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper revealed.
The newspaper also said Finn Bottas, 22 and fresh out of the junior GP3 class, will probably not split his 2012 programme with a race seat in another category.
“It might be better to invest 110 per cent in Formula One,” he is quoted as saying. It had been said that the Renault World Series is an option.
“Nothing is decided yet, but I don’t think I’m going there,” said Bottas.
Instead, his 2012 programme will be busy, comprising 15 Friday morning practices, perhaps some race outings and – according to Turun Sanomat – a day of pre-season testing and also a run during the mid-season test at Mugello.
As for his Fridays, Bottas said: “The intention is to do all of them (the grands prix) except for the street races.”
Excluded from his programme are Melbourne, Monaco, Canada, Valencia and Singapore.
Source:GMM
