BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen has said that the team will give a number of young drivers the chance to drive for its
Formula 1 team before making the decision on who will take on the test driver role for the 2008 season.
The team was forced to look for someone new for the role after
Timo Glock took up the chance of a race seat with Toyota, with at least four drivers having already been linked to the role prior to confirmation of Glock's move.
German youngsters
Nico Hulkenberg and Christian Vietoris,
GP2 race winner Adam Carroll and newly-crowned British
F3 champion
Marko Asmer have all been mentioned as possibilities to join race drivers
Nick Heidfeld and
Robert Kubica in the
BMW line-up as the team seeks to bring in new blood for 2008.
Although he didn't name any names, Theissen admitted that the team planned to give a number of drivers a test before selecting someone for the role – adding that there was a chance that the relationship with Glock could be continued in the future.
"We will shortly be giving some young drivers the chance to test for us and then we will decide," the team boss said. "Timo Glock, at any rate, will not be driving for the
BMW Sauber F1 Team next year as we invited him to be our test driver, but he has been offered a race seat by another team.
"We wish Timo every success for his career in Formula One. He is one of the highly promising drivers to have come out of Formula
BMW with good future prospects and we are confident that he will establish himself in Formula One. I don't want to exclude the possibility that we might be working together again some time in the future."