GP3 champion George Russell handed FP1 début in Brazil

Newly crowned GP3 champion George Russell will make his Formula 1 race weekend début this weekend in Brazil.

Force India has given the 19-year-old racer from Kings Lynn the nod to stand in for Sergio Perez in Friday morning's practice session.

Russell will also take part in the opening practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend later this month. He will take over from Esteban Ocon on that occasion.

"I’m extremely excited to be driving in free practice for Sahara Force India in Brazil and Abu Dhabi," Russell said on Tuesday.

"2017 has already been a year full of great opportunities. To top off the season with these two outings feels fantastic.

"I’ve never driven the VJM10 before or driven at Interlagos. I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

"I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Sahara Force India for this opportunity. And also thank Mercedes for their continued support."

Force India goes 'risk on' in Brazil

“We are happy to give George this opportunity," commented Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal and managing director.

"He’s an up-and-coming talent. We’ve followed his success in GP3 closely," he said. "George has already been in our simulator several times and has worked well with the team.

"Now that we have secured fourth place in the championship, it’s the ideal time to look to the future," Mallya added. "Handing George his free practice début will allow us to evaluate his potential.”

Russell won four feature races with ART on his way to clinching the GP3 crown from team mate and compatriot Jack Aitken. The final round of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi at the end of the month.

The Mercedes junior driver previously drove the factory team's W08 car during in-season testing at the Hungaoring in August.

Force India's official test and development driver Alfonso Celis previously took the wheel of the VJM10 for FP1 in Austria, Hungary and Mexico.

Celis was also involved in Pirelli's tyre test at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez following the Mexican Grand Prix, alongside Sauber's Charles Leclerc.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.