Robert Wickens to drive during FP1 at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit for Virgin – Formula 1 news
Virgin announces Robert Wickens to drive for them during the FP1 session ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Wickens beat teammate Jean-Eric Vergne to claim the Formula Renault 3.5 Series this season. He tested out for Virgin earlier in the year and is now getting a chance to drive a Formula 1 car in a Grand Prix weekend session by taking over from Jerome d’Ambrosio.
Wickens showed a lot of delight and enthusiasm at getting the opportunity to impress the team and said that he is looking to help out the team with positive feedback during the session.
“I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to test with the team in a race weekend context and at a track like Abu Dhabi,” Wickens said.
“This year just keeps getting better and better and I can't thank Marussia enough for their continued support. The Vairano test was a good grounding for me but the opportunity to kick things up a gear in a Free Practice session is obviously the next big
step in my career and I hope my feedback will have a positive benefit on the team's performance there,” he further added.
Team principal John Booth mentioned the opportunity Wickens is getting and said that it is a reward for his hard work that resulted in a championship victory this year, and that it will translate into future endeavours as well. But Booth quickly suggested
that the promotion of the young driver will have little to no impact on d’Ambrosio’s weekend.
He further mentioned praised Wickens performance throughout the Formula Renault 3.5 season and said that he deserved to be the victor in a hard-fought championship battle.
He also added that the young driver programme was built on the criteria that it would allow young drivers to get some seat time in Formula 1 to gain experience and enhance the progression of those young drivers.
It will be interesting to see how young Wickens performs at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit, which is sure to give some light to the potential of a prospecting future in Formula 1 that he holds.
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