DECEMBER 23, 2015

Minister says Russian close to F1 deal

Rumours are gaining in strength that another Russian driver will be in the F1 paddock next year.

Rumours are gaining in strength that another Russian driver will be in the F1 paddock next year.

Days ago, Oksana Kosachenko - the former manager of Russia's first-ever F1 racer Vitaly Petrov - told the state-linked news agency Tass that "another Russian driver has signed a contract with a team".

"It will be a long-term contract, because the driver is still quite young. I hope that Daniil Kvyat will soon be in good company," she added.

Now, the Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko has been quoted by another Russian news agency, Interfax, as saying: "We are working on it that a second driver will be there in formula one."

He did not say the name of the driver.

(GMM)