Renault to give Sirotkin further FP1 outing

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Renault has confirmed Sergey Sirotkin will take part in at least one more FP1 session as well as some in-season tests for the team.

Sirotkin made his Renault debut in FP1 at the Russian Grand Prix, replacing Kevin Magnussen and impressing at his home circuit. Speaking during a press conference with SMP Racing - the program which has backed Sirotkin's career so far - Renault racing director Frederic Vasseur says the Russian will get further opportunities alongside his GP2 duties this year.

"First we will do some test days outside the grand prix because it makes sense if we want to move forward," Vasseur said. "He will do at least one other FP1 at the end of the season, but first he has to be focused on GP2."

With Esteban Ocon and Nicolas Latifi also part of the Renault driver line-up and expected to get outings too, Vasseur downplayed the emphasis on the F1 appearances when it comes to considering any future race seats.

"It’s a bit too early to talk about 2017. The situation is that Renault is back in F1, it’s a mid-term programme for us. We have to build up the team with drivers because I think it’s the main pillar of the project.

"I personally will have a look on all the series, all the drivers. For sure Sergey did a very good job over the weekend and I hope he will do in GP2 and the other sessions we will do in Formula One. I would like to ask him to stay focused on the job he is doing."

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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.