Sauber & Caterham make driver changes

Both Sauber and Caterham will hand over their cars to their reserve team drivers in Bahrain.

Giedo van der Garde will make his debut for Sauber after losing his seat with the Caterham team at the end of last season. The Dutchman will take Esteban Gutierrez’s car during Free Practice One on Friday, before handing the car back to the Mexican for FP2.

van der Garde will then get his second chance to impress behind the wheel when he completes the second day of the in-season Bahrain test that will take place on April 8th and 9th.

18-year-old Russian Sergey Sirotkin will drive the car on day one, with his run set for two purposes. Obviously to help test the car for the team, but also for him to complete the Formula One mileage necessary to obtain his FIA Super Licence.

For Caterham, test and reserve driver Robert Frijns will make his first Formula One appearance on Friday. The 22-year-old Dutchman will take over Kamui Kobayashi’s car during FP1, before also being involved in the Bahrain in-season test.

‘I’m excited about being back in the car for my first FP1 of the 2014 season with Caterham, especially as I already have experience of the car at Bahrain from the day I did in the pre-season tests,’ said Frijns to formula1.com.

‘It’ll be interesting to see how much progress we’ve made across the whole car since I last drove it, but my focus will be on helping the team prepare for the race weekend, something I know I can add value to, assuming we have a problem-free session!’