Lotus has revealed that world champion Kimi Raikkonen will join Nicolas Prost and Davide Valsecchi in the forthcoming Young Driver Test at Silverstone.

The test - originally intended solely for young drivers, but adapted to allow race drivers to test Pirelli's new tyres - will see development driver Prost drive on Wednesday, followed by third driver Valsecchi on Thursday, with Raikkonen bringing the test to a conclusion on Friday.

Both Prost and Valsecchi (right) have previously driven the 2012 car - the E20 - at last year's Young Driver Test, whilst the Italian has also taken the wheel of the current model - the E21 - for half a day's running during pre-season testing.

"It's great timing for us to have this season's Young Driver Test scheduled in the middle of the year as it allows us to evaluate more of the new parts we have for the E21 as the championship battle intensifies," admitted Eric Boullier. "Remarkably, the UK has been having some notably good weather recently so we're looking forward to getting some good running across the three days.

"By running Nicolas and Davide we are giving them both invaluable experience and also gaining great feedback, as we've previously seen what they can do in the car and appreciate the valuable information they give us. It's also a fabulous second opportunity for all Formula 1 fans to come and see the teams in action at Silverstone."

"This will be an interesting test and we have a lot planned across the three days," added the team's trackside operations director, Alan Permane. "Obviously we want to give all three drivers the maximum track time possible as well as assessing the latest upgrades to the car.

"Our aim on the third day will be to help Pirelli understand the latest changes to their tyres at the same venue where they most notably had issues this season. For Nico and Davide it's an opportunity to learn and improve, while for the team it is a great opportunity to try to refine some of the latest developments we have for the E21.

"Kimi is also allowed to run, enabling him and other race drivers to test tyres for Pirelli. This will benefit both him and Romain by granting us a better understanding of these tyres before we head to the next event in Hungary."