Van der Garde to replace Kovalainen in FP1 at Suzuka

Caterham have confirmed that their Dutch reserve driver, Giedo van der Garde, will replace Heikki Kovalainen during the opening practice session for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. The 27-year-old will carry out reserve driver duties for the Leafield-based outfit for the remainder of the season, after a successful year in GP2.

Giedo van der Garde carried out similar duties for Caterham earlier in the season, at the Chinese Grand Prix when he replaced Vitaly Petrov behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01. Since then, van der Garde has enjoyed a relatively successful season racing for Caterham in the GP2 support series, alongside Venezuelan driver Rodolfo Gonzalez. The Dutchman won two races throughout the highly competitive season, at the Spanish and Singapore events.

With the GP2 Series now over for another year, Giedo van der Garde will return to his reserve driver duties with Caterham. However, Heikki Kovalainen will make a return behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01 later in the afternoon during second practice, as the Caterham outfit continue to improve towards the midfield.

Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1