Giedo van der Garde confirms F1 return with Caterham

Dutch GP2 driver Giedo van der Garde has confirmed he will once again return behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01 towards the end of the season, when the Formula 1 circus arrives at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Dutchman will then partake in practice sessions at Korea, India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil as well as several days of testing at the Young Driver Test. Giedo van der Garde currently races for Caterham Racing in the GP2 Series, which comes to an end in September with a season finale around the Marina Bay Street Circuit at Singapore. Once GP2 has ended, Giedo van der Garde has confirmed will return to his reserve driver duties for the Caterham F1 team.

“When the GP2 season is over, I will have five Friday practices in Formula 1 and two days in the Young Driver test,” explained Giedo van der Garde in an interview with GPUpdate. “The first practice session will be in Japan, then I’m also driving in Korea, India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.”

Giedo van Garden has so far only made one Friday practice appearance for Caterham, at the Chinese Grand Prix back in April. The Dutchman currently sits 5th in the GP2 Drivers’ Championship, with 129 points scored which includes one race victory in Spain. This season has seen many reserve drivers partake in Friday practice sessions, including Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Jules Bianchi (Force India) and Dani Clos (HRT), amongst others. It is as of yet unknown who van der Garde will replace during these sessions, although the Dutchman replaced Vitaly Petrov back in April at the Chinese Grand Prix.

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