KUALA LUMPUR: Jarno Trulli of Italy and Finland's Heikki Kovalainen were unveiled Monday as drivers for the new Malaysian-backed Lotus team in its debut 2010 Formula One season.

The third driver for the team, run by Malaysian aviation mogul Tony Fernandes who founded budget carrier AirAsia, will be Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy who is shifting from A1 Grand Prix.

"The appointment of Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz as our race drivers is a testament to the quality of our team, to our ambition and drive, and above all to our long-term vision of success in Formula One," Fernandes said.

The Lotus team beat off competition from BMW Sauber to be named in September as the 13th team to compete in next year's Formula One World Championship.

The new outfit is backed by a public-private partnership involving a string of top Malaysian entrepreneurs, as well as national automaker Proton.

Trulli, a veteran driver who was with Toyota in the 2009 season, told a press conference that he hoped his long experience with multiple teams would be a boost for the fledgling outfit.

"We should not underestimate the task in hand. Formula One in 2010 is an exciting prospect with brand new teams, established manufacturers fighting back and of course other young teams looking to repeat their 2009 success," he said.

Kovalainen drove for McLaren Mercedes alongside Briton Lewis Hamilton in 2009, but his contract was not renewed.

"I believe that appointing two drivers with the experience Jarno and I have shows how determined the team is to go racing in a truly competitive way, and our pairing sends out a very strong message to our competitors," the Finn said.

Malaysian officials said Lotus was making good progress in getting its car ready for the 2010 season.

"Mid-January we are getting the build of the car ready and by mid-February the vehicle will be tested in the UK and will then be ready for shipping to Bahrain," said Lotus F1 Racing CEO, Riad Asmat.

"We have the first race in March 2010 in Bahrain, the second in Australia and the third in Malaysia."