Will Stevens will make his Formula 1 race debut after being confirmed alongside Kamui Kobayashi for Caterham F1’s return to the grid at Abu Dhabi this weekend.
The 23-year-old Brit had signed for the team as early as last week but the struggling outfit was forced to delay the announcement until the Formula Renault 3.5 front runner was granted a superlicence.
Stevens is no stranger to the Caterham squad having been associated with the Caterham Racing Academy in a role which saw him complete 10,000km of running in the team’s simulator.
The Essex racer has also completed test sessions behind the wheel of Caterham F1 machinery in 2013 and 2014, before switching to join the Marussia team later this season.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be getting this opportunity and am very grateful to everyone involved at Caterham F1 team for giving it to me,” said Stevens.
“I feel ready for the challenge of my F1 debut and look forward to working as part of the team in a race environment after all the work we’ve done together previously in the tests I’ve completed and back at Leafield in the sim.
“Hopefully this will be something we will be able to carry through to the 2015 season together.”