Lotus has announced that third and reserve Jolyon Palmer has been promoted to a race seat for the 2016 season, thereby completing the team's driver line-up alongside Pastor Maldonado.

Palmer, 24, has driven for the team in the majority of this season's FP1 sessions. He joined Lotus in January, following an outstanding GP2 campaign in 2014 where he won the championship in dominant fashion, becoming the first British driver to win the series since Lewis Hamilton in 2006.

"We've seen Jolyon's hard work and talent this season in the way he's approached his third driver role and he is a really popular choice for the team," said Gerard Lopez, Chairman and Team Principal. "As well as having a great future ahead of him behind the wheel, Jolyon is an intelligent and highly marketable asset to the team. He deserves this opportunity, and everyone at Enstone is excited to see what he can achieve next year."

"I'm obviously delighted that I'll be racing in Formula 1 next year," added Palmer. "Lotus gave me a tremendous opportunity this season and I thank them for assisting my development to a level where they have put their trust in me for a crucial season in their evolution. I've enjoyed and learnt a lot from my year as third and reserve driver so I'm looking forward to putting this into practice as a race driver in 2016. I can't wait for next season to get underway!"

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