di Grassi joins Timo Glock as the two drivers to drive for the Virgin Racing team next season, after a launch event in Notting Hill, London on Tuesday where the team’s lineup as well as new logo were unveiled by new team owner, Sir Richard Branson.

di Grassi arrives in Formula One after four seasons racing in the GP2 series, and has been a test driver for the Renault F1 team as well. Portuguese driver Alvaro Parante was announced as Virgin’s reserve driver, and Brazilian Luis Razia as the test driver.

"It feels great to be here, it's a dream come true for me after two years of being a test driver, and from that and from GP2 I feel I'm ready and am very confident in this team," said di Grassi. "We're here to race, not to do politics or mess around, we're here to race."

The team's sporting director John Booth said he was delighted with the line-up."I have 20 years' experience working with drivers," he said. "I have been privileged to work with some fantastic drivers in that time and I hope that's helped in giving me an eye for a good driver. The four drivers we have here are the four we wanted in our line-up, they're the perfect drivers."