Bortolotti: I'm not ready for F1

Mirko Bortolotti has revealed that he doesn't want to step up to F1 this year as he just doesn't think he is ready.

Bortolotti, who tested for Toro Rosso during the young driver test at Jerez at end of last year, and who was linked to the team recently until Jaime Alguersuari finally got the nod, told British newspaper, The News of the World, that he wants to compete in Formula Two again in 2010.

"Formula Two is still a major option for me in 2010 and I am not even thinking about F1 at the moment," the Italian confirmed to the 'paper. "I am only 20 and I think it is vital that you are fully prepared in terms of speed, experience and consistency before you make the step to F1.

"You have to have been through it all; you need to know how to be quick over one lap but also consistent over a race distance, you need to know how to turn bad situations into a good one for example.

"There are so many things that you need to learn and I want to reach F1 when I am in the right moment of my career. F1 is F1 - it is not a game, so at the moment I am better to focus on learning and improving further for the future."

Asked about his F1 test with Toro Rosso, he added that it was definitely a worthwhile exercise: "It was a great experience, we had a different programme to the other teams of course, and mainly we were testing parts for 2010 on medium and hard tyre compounds. I would have been able to go a lot faster in terms of lap times but we didn't get the chance to complete a low fuel run," he noted.

"The most important thing however, is that the test was a real success and the team were very happy with the results. It was great for me to have the job of a real F1 test driver - the team had a belief in me and I was trusted with some very important development work, which meant a lot."

Bortolotti however, was recently dropped from Red Bull's young driver programme - but despite that he remains positive.

"I am looking forward rather than backwards and I really liked being in F2 last season - it is a great concept and a good championship. I know that the car is going to be improved and Jonathan Palmer and the team are working hard to push the championship forward in every way, which is impressive," he continued.

"I really don't know where I will be in 2010 at this moment, but if I am racing in Formula Two then I will definitely be targeting the championship."