Wurz 'couldn't be happier' to get race role.

Williams third driver, Alex Wurz will be back racing full-time in F1 in 2007, following the announcement on Wednesday that he will partner Nico Rosberg at the Grove-based squad next season.

Wurz's appointment is something of a surprise, as while he has impressed the team since joining them from McLaren-Mercedes at the start of this year, the Austrian hasn't actually raced properly since he was with Benetton, now the Renault team, where he raced between 1997-2000.

Furthermore while he competed at the San Marino Grand Prix last year, finishing fourth when he stood in for Juan Pablo Montoya, following the Colombian's tennis injury, that has been his sole outing in the sport since being dropped by Benetton at the end of 2000.

"My natural habitat is racing, so I couldn't be happier to have received Williams' vote of confidence for this job next season," said Wurz, who will now be back in a race-seat full-time after a six-year break. "Of course I know the team well having been a part of the race programme at every Grand Prix this season, but now my role takes on additional responsibility and I am really looking forward to this."

Nico Rosberg meanwhile was also delighted, the German having made his debut in F1 this year with the team, after winning the GP2 championship in 2005, F1's feeder series.

"Stability and continuity are very important for me in the early stages of my Formula One career, so I am really pleased that we are now set for next year and that I will continue to work with Alex," he added. "I have learnt a lot from the team and I hope I have contributed my fair share too, but now we have the basis to step it up for the remainder of this season and next."

To date this season, Rosberg has been pretty impressive, not least on his debut in Bahrain, when he set the fastest lap of the race on route to seventh and his first points.