Van der Garde hopes for Caterham race seat

Giedo van der Garde has admitted he is hoping to make his formula one debut with Caterham in 2013.

The Dutchman, who practiced in Heikki Kovalainen’s green and gold car at Suzuka on Friday, is now regarded as a favourite to replace the sponsor-depleted Vitaly Petrov in 2013.

With his GP2 campaign for this season now over, it is believed van der Garde - whose manager as well as his father have links to his Dutch fashion brand and sponsor McGregor - will also return to the Caterham to practice in Korea and beyond.

"I’m ready for formula one, physically and mentally," he told ad.nl.

"I have another option, but Caterham is the best one," van der Garde, 27, admitted.

"We are busy with that. Hopefully we can sort it out quickly and then start preparing for next year.

"I definitely feel like I have a chance with Caterham. Here (in Japan) the team was very happy with how I did everything in the practice. Everything I had to do, I did.

"The rookie team in Abu Dhabi is very important for my future," he added.