Force India has announced Alfonso Celis Jr will debut the team's 2016 car at the first test next week.

Celis Jr joined Force India at the end of the 2015 season as a development driver and took part in the Pirelli tyre test in Abu Dhabi following the final race. The Mexican has now been confirmed as driving on two days of the first test in Barcelona, where Force India will be unveiling the VJM09 on Monday.


Celis Jr himself also took to Twitter to announce the news.

Force India has confirmed the second test will see race drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez sharing driving duties, with each driving on one day at the first test.

Check out Red Bull Racing's 2016 livery

Eric Silbermann: No news is no news

Key dates for the 2016 F1 season

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Bearman blasts Haas: ‘Soft tyre strategy screwed my race’

Oliver Bearman left Bahrain convinced Haas had thrown away a genuine chance of points after…

5 hours ago

F1i Driver Ratings for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac (DNF) – 3/10 Bottas spun out in the opening laps of the…

6 hours ago

Audi to light up Singapore with striking one-off F1 livery

Audi is turning the Singapore night into a canvas of its own, unveiling a striking…

8 hours ago

The unsuspected failure of Michael Andretti in F1

Michael Andretti was born into this world on this day, 64 years ago. An impressive…

9 hours ago

Lawson hails Racing Bulls gamble after ‘doubting’ team's call

Racing Bulls turned a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix into a points bonanza, with Liam Lawson…

10 hours ago

Alonso left wanting more despite Aston Martin’s best result

Fernando Alonso delivered to Aston Martin its best result of the 2026 season in Sepang,…

11 hours ago