Booth right to gamble with Razia move

13/02/2013

Last week the Marussia team announced it had signed Brazilian Luiz Razia for his maiden season in 2013, a move that has sparked great interest in the bet365 Formula 1 betting world over the 23-year-old prospect.

Razia, making his first steps into F1 this season, partners Briton Max Chilton at the back of the grid team and is not expected to win podiums or take poles this season. Nevertheless, the fact such a young talent has convinced team principal John Booth to select him as a driver is great credit to both the man and Marussia's youth programme.

"It is very pleasing to have not one but two graduates of our young driver programme driving for us in 2013," Booth told The Daily Mail.

"It is also very exciting since both Luiz and Max demonstrated a great deal of potential competing alongside each other in GP2 last season."

Indeed, rather than go for free drivers Adrian Sutil or Bruno Senna - who both have experience on the grid - this year, Booth opted for a relative unknown and the gamble could well pay off.

For Razia, having finished runner-up in GP2 last year, knows how to drive and drive well. He was the team's reserve during Marussia's debut season in 2010 and although moving off to race in the GP2 never lost contact with Booth and the team.

He won his debut race for Arden International in 2012 and went on to take three more and nine podiums in all. Despite finishing second to GP2 winner Davide Valsecchi, it is Razia who earned a move up to the F1 scene.

With Force India, Marussia's back-grid rivals, continuing their search for Paul di Resta's partner, Marussia have a real chance to make early ground and score points in the first few races of the season. These are exciting times for Marussia, who could cause an upset or two this season in the Formula 1 betting offers, and make no mistake Razia will be in the thick of it all.