Yamamoto handed Virgin role

Virgin Racing have appointed Sakon Yamamoto as their reserve driver for the first three grands prix of the new Formula One season.

Yamamoto will serve as back-up for Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio in Australia this weekend, and the subsequent two races in Malaysia and China next month.

The 28-year-old Japanese, who drove for Hispania Racing in seven of the final 10 races of last season, said: “I really appreciate the team giving me a chance to be here.

“They have made a big step forward this year and I believe that I can contribute to their car development through my experience.”

Explaining Yamamoto’s short three-race stint as reserve, Virgin team principal John Booth said: “In keeping with our commitment to nurturing young talent, our reserve driver strategy is to help a number of drivers gain hard to come by track time.

“So we will be operating a roster featuring a number of racers that we are interested in evaluating during the forthcoming season.”