Vitaly Petrov will be the test driver for Pirelli in 2012, his manager said in a statement on Wednesday.The Russian lost his drive this year when the Lotus F1 Team decided to hire Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

His manager Oksana Kosachenko is making no comment about rumours that Petrov might land the second Caterham drive, replacing veteran Jarno Trulli. The Italian has been announced as one of the team’s drivers for 2012 but this has not stopped rumours that he will stand down to make way for a younger driver.

The problem at the moment for Pirelli is that the Toyota that they have used for testing is now out of date and it is not clear what car Pirelli can use this year, as the teams are wary of one chassis or another being used to develop the tyres, lest the resulting tyres suit one team better than another. Pirelli F1 tyre boss Paul Hembery said that the matter needs to be discussed by the F1 Commission as having actual testing is important in tyre development.

A Pirelli testing contract would not stop Petrov joining a team if a race deal was on offer.