Sam Bird will drive for the Brackley-based Mercedes GP Petronas team at the young driver test days to be held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

British racer Bird, 23, drives for ART and will be competing in the final GP2 Series races in Abu Dhabi over the Formula One weekend.

He is in fifth place in the GP2 standings with one win and four podiums this season, including the feature race victory, sprint race podium and both fastest laps at the penultimate race in Monza.

Prior to GP2, Bird competed in the F3 EuroSeries with the Mercedes-Benz DTM partner team Mücke Motorsport and finished in third place at the 2009 Macau Grand Prix as the top Mercedes-powered finisher.

Team principal Ross Brawn said: "Sam has done an impressive job in the GP2 Series during his first season.

"He is the highest-placed rookie in the championship order with some excellent results over the year.

"We are very pleased that Sam will be joining us for the young driver test next month and are confident that he will provide the team with the essential consistency and feedback we require. This is also an excellent chance for Sam to continue "his progression in motorsport and widen his experience of Formula One.

"Sam has been chosen due to his relevant current single-seater pedigree through his competition in GP2, the F3 EuroSeries and British F3 and as an added bonus, he will have experience of the track from his GP2 racing over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

"We look forward to working with Sam at the test and to seeing his progress and feedback over the two days."

Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, said: "For the upcoming Young Driver test days in Abu Dhabi, it was important for us to find a young and talented driver with single-seater and preferably GP2 experience.

"Sam Bird, who competed in the F3 EuroSeries last year with our DTM partner team Mücke Motorsport before he progressed to the ART team in GP2, who are also partners with Mercedes-Benz in F3, fulfils these requirements."