Ex-Caterham tester Will Stevens poised for Practice One debut with Marussia in Japan
British 23-year-old has twice conducted F1 test sessions
Thursday 2 October 2014 11:06, UK
Britain’s Will Stevens, who has previously been on the books of Caterham, is poised to make his Friday Practice debut with Marussia at this weekend’s Japanese GP.
It is understood that the 23-year-old, who is currently racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, will be announced as a reserve driver and make his debut for the Banbury team at Suzuka in Practice One.
Although the team are yet to officially confirm the signing, Stevens’ P1 debut is expected to be announced on Thursday with his arrival to represent the second in recent months from perennial rivals Caterham following Alex Rossi’s switch.
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The Rochford-born Stevens joined Caterham’s Racing Academy in 2013 and tested their F1 car for the first time in that year’s Young Driver Test at Silverstone, before driving their current CT05 in this July’s test at the Northamptonshire circuit.
Stevens is in his third season of the FR3.5 championship and currently lies sixth in the standings. The 23-year-old will join Toro Rosso new boy Max Verstappen in making his GP weekend debut on Friday morning.
Other drivers to make their F1 debut during a P1 session in 2014:
Felipe Nasr – Williams (Bahrain)
Robin Frijns – Caterham (Bahrain)
Daniel Juncadella – Force India (Great Britain)
Susie Wolff – Williams (Great Britain)
Andre Lotterer – Caterham (Belgium) *completed full race weekend
Roberto Merhi – Caterham (Italy)
The 2014 Japanese GP is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Extensive coverage of Race Day at Suzuka begins at 5.30am on Sunday with lights out at 7am.
