Esteban Ocon will take part in the opening free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, the Renault reserve driver has announced over Twitter.

The Frenchman, who dovetails his F1 commitment with a DTM campaign at Mercedes this year, already drove in FP1 at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for Lotus.

For the second grand prix weekend in a row, Renault will give some valuable track time to one of its junior drivers after new recruit Sergey Sirotkin deputised for Kevin Magnussen in Sochi. The French constructor has yet to confirm who Ocon will replace at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in two weeks' time.

Rumours have recently been swirling about the 2015 GP3 Series winner taking over Jolyon Palmer’s race seat in the light of the British rookie's challenging start to his maiden F1 season.

Renault is also expected to give test driver Nicholas Latifi an FP1 opportunity at some point during the season.

REPORT: Rosberg eases to win after Kvyat takes out Vettel

AS IT HAPPENED: 2016 Russian Grand Prix

Breakfast with ... Martin Brundle

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

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Mercedes Allison’s big takeaway from F1’s Barcelona test

Mercedes technical director James Allison arrived in Barcelona last week bracing for chaos – and…

12 hours ago

Verstappen rules out F1 management role after retirement

Max Verstappen has made one thing crystal clear about life after Formula 1: don’t expect…

14 hours ago

Williams unveils bold new 2026 livery for FW48

Williams has officially pulled the wraps off the striking new look of its 2026 Formula…

15 hours ago

Newey sheds light on ‘aggressive’ Aston Martin AMR26 design

Aston Martin’s new-era Formula 1 challenger has barely turned a wheel in anger, yet it…

16 hours ago

The Midland M16 - Russia's first and last F1 car

On this day in 2006, the newly-christened Midland F1 Racing team unveiled its first car…

18 hours ago

Haas recruits Doohan as F1 reserve for 2026

Haas has added a fresh splash of Australian flair to its 2026 F1 plans, snapping…

19 hours ago