22 Dec 2010

D'Ambrosio signs with Virgin F1

3:44 pm on 22 December 2010

Jerome D'Ambrosio will become the first Belgium driver to compete in Formula One in 17 years after signing with the Virgin Racing team for next season.

The 25-year-old will partner Germany's Timo Glock in the team.

D'Ambrisio replaces Brazilian Lucas di Grassi, who is now without a drive for 2011.

D'Ambrosio had impressed in an evaluation role with Virgin at four of the final five F1 races of 2010 in Singapore, Japan, Korea and Brazil.

D'Ambrosio has spent the past four seasons competing in the GP2 Series following earlier stints in GP2 Asia, F3000 Euroseries and Formula Renault, while he also held the role of reserve and test driver for the Renault F1 team last season.

D'Ambrosio's first outing at the wheel of the new VR-02 will come at the Valencia pre-season test in February.