Sorensen, a race winner in GP2, Formula Renault 3.5 and a number of other junior championships, joined Lotus as a test driver amid a two-year stint with its FR3.5 team.

The Dane left single-seaters after an unsuccessful full-time switch to GP2 in 2015, in order to focus on his WEC efforts.

In a recent interview with Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet, Sorensen slammed Jorda, who had herself joined Lotus last year.

"She was 12 seconds slower than me in the simulator," he said. "Still, she reaped all the rewards."

Jorda, however, was subsequently dismissive of the Dane's claims.

"I honestly don't know who he is," she told Spanish publication AS. "I haven't ever seen him in Enstone. Last year he was not part of the team.

"I would like him to focus on his career. It's not right that for him to highlight his achievements, he needs to use others, and me specifically."

Within a second of Grosjean

Jorda was particularly irked at Sorensen's estimate of the difference in their laptimes, saying she lapped within a second of Lotus' leading driver Romain Grosjean in the simulator.

"I think it's incredible that [Sorensen] says that," Jorda responded.

"Last year in the simulator I used to be more or less within a second of Grosjean.

"If you trust Sorensen's numbers... if someone was 11 seconds up on Romain, I'm sure that all the F1 teams on the grid would sign them."