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Wickens lands Abu Dhabi FP1 drive

Robert Wickens was confirmed as a reserve driver in June © Sutton Images

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• Wickens, Korjus and Charouz land Renault tests
  
• Preview:
• 'I hope we can seal the season with two positive results'
  
• News:
• Wickens confirmed as Virgin reserve
  

• Race:
• Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• John Booth

• Teams:
• Virgin

Virgin has announced that reserve driver Robert Wickens will drive for the team during FP1 ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Wickens won the Formula Renault 3.5 Series this season, beating team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne to the title at the last race. Having carried out straight-line test duties for Virgin earlier this year he will now get the chance to drive a Formula One car in a grand prix weekend session, and will take over Jerome d'Ambrosio's car on Friday morning.

Wickens said that he would be looking to impress the team and help them with his 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."

Team principal John Booth said that the opportunity was a reward for his championship victory this year, and that he felt the change would impact little on d'Ambrosio's weekend.

"Robert has had a fantastic season in Formula Renault 3.5 and was the deserving victor of a hard-fought Championship," Booth said. "One of the founding principles of our Young Driver Programme was that we would reward success with important seat time to aid the progression of our rising stars through the ranks.

"Abu Dhabi is a track at which Jérôme has good experience as he ran there in the same Friday morning practice session a year ago and then in the Young Driver Test the following week. The Yas Marina Circuit therefore presents a better opportunity to provide this reward to Robert as there will be less impact on our engineering programme."

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