Alfa Romeo Racing development driver Juan Manuel Correa will undertake his first-ever F1 test at Circuit Paul Ricard later this month.
The FIA Formula (F2) Championship driver will get his first chance in a F1 car with Alfa Romeo on August 24 at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard. It is not an official run as Correa is believed to drive the Sauber C32 car.
It is the same car which Alfa Romeo test driver Tatiana Calderon drove at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit in 2018 after her maiden run in the 2018 F1 car in Mexico, during a filming event, where she only got 100km under her belt.
“To say I am excited is an understatement,” said an upbeat Correa. “A test and a career in Formula One has been something that my partners and I have been working on for quite some time.
“I will take it all in stride, listen and learn all while gaining as much experience as possible.” The American racer of Ecuador descent races for Sauber Junior Team by Charouz in F2 as a rookie.
He is 12th in the standings as the fourth best rookie with 36 points in all and two sprint race podiums. He is ahead of his teammate Callum Ilott though by eight points, with the Ferrari Academy Driver in 14th position.
The F1 test for Correa doesn’t come as a surprise considering that Alfa Romeo shared photos of him on social media having his seat fit earlier this month in the team’s factory in Hinwil.
He becomes the latest F2 rookie to get a F1 test run after Renault fielded its own development driver and UNI-Virtuosi Racing’s Guanyu Zhou at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona after the Hungarian GP.