Lotus F1 Team has confirmed Jolyon Palmer will partner Pastor Maldonado at Lotus for 2016.
Palmer has been the Lotus test and reserve driver in 2015, participating in the majority of the FP1 sessions this season in place of Romain Grosjean.
Palmer was crowned GP2 champion in 2014 but missed out on a Formula One seat for 2015. The Englishman has performed well in comparison to Maldonado during the various FP1 sessions this season.
“It feels pretty unbelievable! It’s been such a long journey and I’m so glad to have been confirmed as a race driver with the team next year.
“A lot of hard work has gone into preparing for this to happen and into proving what I’m capable of delivering. I’m very grateful to everyone who has so far helped me at the team; I’m now looking forward to 2016 and to build on the experience that I already have.”
Kevin Magnussen and Formula E star Jean-Eric Vergne had also been linked with the second seat at Lotus.
Renault are still expected to complete the takeover of Lotus in the next few weeks, but nothing is officially confirmed.
