The Minardi F1 Team today officially confirmed that promising young Venezuelan driver, Pastor Maldonado, will take part in a test scheduled for Misano’s Autodromo Santamonica during the week commencing November 22. Maldonado will join Minardi tester, Tiago Monteiro, and a number of young drivers being assessed by the Faenza squad during the course of the week.

Maldonado has marked himself out as a driver to watch since switching from the international karting scene to single-seater competition in 2002, winning the Italian Formula Renault 2000 title in 2003 with eight victories and scoring a further two wins in the International Formula Renault Championship. The Misano test, where the 19-year-old from Maracay is scheduled to take the wheel of a current Minardi Cosworth PS04B, will mark the first occasion, however, that he has sampled Formula One performance.

"In true Minardi tradition, we always try to seek out and encourage talented young drivers," says Team Principal, Paul Stoddart. "Although Pastor has only been racing single-seaters for three seasons, his winning ways indicate he has a lot of natural ability, and I hope he will enjoy his first taste of F1 when he tests with us at Misano in two weeks."