Alexander Rossi to replace Giedo van der Garde at Bahrain GP

Alexander Rossi

21-year-old Caterham reserve driver Alexander Rossi is almost set to replace Giedo van der Garde in practice one at Bahrain GP. He was last seen in an official F1 session at last year’s Spanish GP at Barcelona. He replaced Heikki Kovalainen in first practice there.

With Vaner Garde confirmed to sit out four sessions in the 2013 season, he and fellow reserve driver Ma Qing Hua are set to make a return at the fourth round of 2013 season.

Rossi said, “I’m very much looking forward to that because it’s a chance to drive the car and I know the track pretty well. I did GP2 Asia there so, while it’s only 90 minutes, it gives me a chance to make an impression.

“The main focus is to carry out the programme for the team, but let’s be real here; motor sport is all about lap times isn’t it? So I’m going to need to find the balance between carrying out the job for the team and performance.

“At the end of the day everybody is going to look down at the results and see how you do, so while you have to ensure you can get through the run plan and you have to save the tyres, you can’t be out for a Sunday drive because that will hurt you in another way.”