No test debut for Sirotkin until 2014 F1 season

Monisha Kaltenborn (CEO @ Sauber) and Bernie Ecclestone

Sergey Sirotkin has admitted he will not begin his quest for a formula one seat until early next year.

As a 2014 race seat for the 17-year-old is part of Sauber's new deal with Russian partners, it had been suggested Sirotkin might appear on some Friday mornings later this year to gather experience.

But team boss Monisha Kaltenborn said: "That is not going to be an option, because he doesn't have the super license.

"We have to see what kind of possibilities we have," she added.

Work in a simulator is one option, while other reports suggested Sirotkin might work towards obtaining experience, and his mandatory FIA credential, at the wheel of an older F1 car.

But the young Russian told Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell: "I will have to wait.

"The plan is that I will be sitting in the car in early 2014, for the first official (winter) tests," added Sirotkin.

A big talking point in Hungary last weekend was whether, at the tender age of 18 next year, Sirotkin can possibly be ready for F1.

"I wasn't ready at 18," Lewis Hamilton, who was 22 when he made his debut for McLaren, said. "And I was pretty good at 18."

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