Rediff
Germany, Dec 14: India's Narain Karthikeyan, who tested sporadically for Williams in 2007, will no longer figure in the Toyota-powered team's plans as Germany's Nico Hulkenberg has been signed on as the official test driver next season.
The 20-year-old, a protege of Michael Schumacher's long-term manager Willi Weber, tested for the former champions in Spain last week. He also led Germany's A1 GP team to the title in that series in 2006/07.
"Clearly he has shown demonstrable talent in the junior formulae but it was important for us to see if he could make the step to Formula One," said technical director Sam Michael.
"On the evidence we have so far, Nico is a quick and capable driver."