Ocon handed FP1 outing in Spain

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.

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