Sergey Sirotkin: Will drive for Fortec in FR3.5 this season

The Russian had been strongly linked with an F1 race seat at the Swiss outfit who instead opted to partner Adrian Sutil with Esteban Gutierrez, and now the 18-year-old will be given another season to develop in the junior category in which he finished ninth in 2013.

He will be partnered at Fortec by Britain's Oliver Rowland who finished as runner-up in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup last year.

"Let me firstly thanks all in Fortec for the great opportunity they offered to me," Sirotkin said.

"During the test run together in Spain, I had an immediate great feeling with all the people there. It was a difficult December, with many important decision for my career; now that the full program have been finalized, I am finally free to dedicate all my energies to the coming season."

Fortec have significant pedigree in the championship, winning the 2012 drivers' title with Robin Frijns and guiding McLaren youngster Stoffel Vandoorne to the runner-up spot last year.

"We're very happy that Sergey is joining us for the 2014 season, he's been really impressive so far in testing and has the right attitude and attention to detail you need to succeed," Fortec Team Manager Jamie Dye added.

"Sergey is still young and very fast - he's one to watch and we are really happy to have him as part of the team."