F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Celis to get sixth Force India FP1 outing in Abu Dhabi

Force India has announced that development driver Alfonso Celis Jr. will get another opportunity in the team's VJM09 during Friday's FP1 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 20-year-old will take over Renault-bound Nico Hulkenberg’s seat for the first 90-minute practice at the Yas Marina Circuit on the opening morning.

It will be Celis' sixth race weekend appearance this year, as he has previously had seat time in Bahrain, Russia, Austria, Italy, and COTA.

The Mexican also drove on both days of the post-Spanish Grand Prix test, while fellow development driver Nikita Mazepin took part in the post-British Grand Prix group session held at Silverstone.

Celis actually debuted the VJM09 in pre-season testing, as he drove on two days of the first winter session in Barcelona.

Beside his F1 commitment, the youngster competed in the rebranded Formula V8 3.5 championship where he finished 11th with one podium finish to his name. He previously spent two years in GP3 with Status Grand Prix and ART.

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Julien Billiotte

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