Following their initial test in December last year, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team is to give youngsters Nelson Piquet and Nico Rosberg a further test in the coming weeks. Piquet and Rosberg were selected for the one-off December test roles as part of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team's ongoing commitment to developing emerging talent. Both drivers are sons of former Formula One World Champions: three-time champion Nelson Piquet, who won his 1987 title with Williams-Honda, and Keke Rosberg, who won the 1982 championship with Williams-Ford.
Nelson spent 2003 contesting the prestigious British F3 Championship, driving for his family-run team, PiquetSports. The youngster finished a strong third position with six victories and nine pole positions to his credit. Nelson also contested the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort, finishing second on his first visit to the Dutch circuit.
Nico first tested for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team in December 2002, part of his reward for winning the Formula BMW ADAC Championship. Aged 17, he was the youngest driver ever to take part in a Formula One test session. In 2003, the German contested the Formula 3 Euro Series, finishing 8th with one race victory.
Despite poor weather conditions which hampered the December test, both drivers performed well, leaving the team impressed, "Nelson and Nico did a good job and worked well with the team, as well as showing themselves to be technically competent," commented WilliamsF1’s Chief Operations Engineer, Sam Michael.
"It went really well, despite it being wet for some of the time," said Nelson. "I was quite satisfied with how I got on. I really appreciated the assistance I was given by the engineers who really helped me with my programme."
"This week was great fun, it was a really unbelievable experience," said Nico, "Of course there was a lot of pressure, but I decided not to worry about that and just to do the best I could. I was particularly happy that I managed to understand the car and work out how it was behaving, and after that I managed to set a good pace."
Both the forthcoming tests will take place at Barcelona, with Nico in action on 21st and 23rd January, while Nelson will run on 3rd and 5th February. Both drivers will run the modified FW25A.
