Will Stevens makes F1 debut in Abu Dhabi this weekend

Will Stevens makes F1 debut in Abu Dhabi this weekend

This morning the Caterham F1 team has confirmed that Will Stevens will race alongside Kamui Kobayashi as the team makes its return at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Caterham entered administration last month but has raised enough funds via a crowd-sourcing website to arrive in Abu Dhabi this weekend. Its participation should help protect its entry for 2015, which is its most valuable asset, as the administrators look for a buyer to take on the team.

Stevens tested the Caterham at the Silverstone test after the British Grand Prix this year and was lined up to drive a Marussia in Japan before problems with his getting his superlicence on time. However, Caterham confirmed this morning ahead of this weekend’s race that Stevens was ready and able to race in Abu Dhabi.

In his interview with the media today, Stevens is absolutely delighted to be racing at the Caterham team in Abu Dhabi this weekend and gaining his Formula One debut. Stevens stated the following:-

'I’m absolutely thrilled to be getting this opportunity and am very grateful to everyone involved at Caterham F1 Team for giving it to me. I feel ready for the challenge of my F1 debut and look forward to working as part of the Team in a race environment after all the work we’ve done together previously in the tests I’ve completed and back at Leafield in the sim. Hopefully this will be something we will be able to carry through to the 2015 season together.'

It is clear that Stevens is thrilled to be racing for the team in Abu Dhabi this weekend and is grateful for the opportunity too to show what he can do in a Formula One car. As we already know Stevens has experience with the team this season and will be using this experience during the weekend to help the team and himself perform the best that they can this weekend and build upon this if they can for next season even if the future of the Caterham team is not yet secure at this moment in time.

In his interview with the media, Caterham's head of engineering operations Gianluca Pisanello stated the following on Stevens making his F1 debut this weekend:-

'We know Will very well through his involvement in the Caterham Racing Academy and more importantly he has done a vast amount of time in our simulator, completing around 10,000km, which has built his experience both of this year’s car and with the engineering team that are going to Abu Dhabi. In addition, his 2014 test at Silverstone in our current car, where he completed over 500kms, was very successful and his race pace was very good.

'As a result, he was one of our best candidates for this race weekend and we are delighted to have secured his services for our return to the F1 grid. We in fact signed Will last week but have had to wait for confirmation of his Super licence before making our announcement.'

It is clear that the experience that Caterham have gained with Stevens has helped him secure the second race seat alongside Kamui Kobayashi this weekend. Even though the team couldn't announce Stevens until he secured his Super Licence
and the team is happy to give him the chance to make his debut in the sport.

As Pisanello has stated today, Stevens has got experience with the Caterham team with this season's car and this could prove alongside with the experience of Kobayashi to be very handy for the team this weekend and also if they can secure a new owner or investment.

But overall, it is understandable that Caterham and Stevens are happy to be racing together this weekend in Abu Dhabi and are delighted with the arrangement. With both the team and Stevens already acquiring experience and a working relationship together already, this will only encourage both sides to get the best out of each other on the track.

And from what the team have stated today in their statement, you could say that the team believe that Stevens was the right candidate for the team, shown that he can deliver when given the opportunity and that ultimately they believe that he has the talent and potential to show just how talented he as a racing driver this weekend on the Yas Marina track.

I really do hope that Stevens has a great debut this weekend in Abu Dhabi and I can be sure that he will be doing everything he can to perform on the track and help Caterham try and secure new owners or investment in order to make sure that they can stay in Formula One in 2015 and beyond.

Sarah Jones