- Marussia
Stevens to drive Marussia in FP1 at Suzuka
Will Stevens is set to take part in FP1 for Marussia at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
Stevens has tested for Caterham at Silverstone during a mid-season test this year and in 2013, but is set to make his race weekend debut with rivals Marussia. He is expected to take Max Chilton's seat during the Friday morning session before handing the car back for the afternoon.
Chilton, who also missed FP1 in Belgium when Alexander Rossi was in the car, said he was happy to hand over the drive to Stevens.
"I know Will very well, he's a good friend of mine, and I'm more than happy to do so," he said. "I started karting against him at the age of nine and we are close friends and we play golf together once a month. I'm more than happy to do it if that comes about. It's good to have another Brit in the pipeline.
"I'm really happy for him. Suzuka is one of those tracks where it is important to be in the car all weekend because it's quite a challenging circuit. But I got on quite well here last year and I qualified ahead of Jules and got ahead of both Caterhams.
"We've got to let people get experience because it's hard for them to get the superlicence mileage done and this is the best way to do that. It makes it easier that he's a friend, but I think it should be pushed through the grid so that every team should do it regularly in FP1 to get the drivers' mileage up."
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