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At 23, when you are merely beginning to get used to the exceedingly high demands of Formula 1, it can be a painful sight to find yourself sacked. Life's not exactly been great for Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin who, on the back of just one season at the highest level of racing, found himself out of a seat for 2019.
Getting sacked from Formula 1 might have actually been every bit as hard as the feeling of having collected only a solitary point from the 2018 F1 season. The fact that his F1 career was in the doldrums didn't exactly make Sirotkin, only the third driver to compete in the sport from Russia, the happiest man off the grid.
A common highlight for the Russian from the just-concluded season was his failure to place his Williams among the points. And after the season, he may have wondered as to what was in store for him ahead.
Sirotkin would have wanted to do everything in his power to rescue his racing career, and to that end, it can be said that the Russian driver might be breathing a sigh of relief right now.
In what is probably a career-saving move for the man, Sirotkin has been asked by Audi DTM to prepare to join the test line-up for Jerez.
An important touring car series, the DTM - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters - has been affiliated with the FIA since 2003.
Interestingly enough for Sirotkin, the Jerez test is currently going on. It began earlier on Monday and will end on the coming Wednesday, i.e., 12 December 2018.
Still a rookie, Sirotkin will hope to find something interesting and challenging enough to record some strong performances here for Audi DTM.
Having said that, he would be mindful of his rather lackluster stint at Williams which was nowhere close to reflective of his talent.
According to the latest updates pertaining to the Audi DTM Jerez Test, as many as seven drivers have been confirmed to be available. That means Sirotkin will be behind the wheel of one among the two Audi cars at Jerez, in a racing series that's not quite F1, but a distinct relative of the cash-rich sport.
Sirotkin's most memorable F1 moment came at Monza, earlier this year where he was able to grab a 10th place finish at his home race, the Italian Grand Prix. He will want to produce many more performances like that in the still-uncertain future.
