Force India’s Celis to make F1 weekend debut in Bahrain

Force India development driver Alonso Celis will make his Grand Prix debut in Bahrain next weekend when he participates in Friday’s opening practice session at Sakhir.

Celis will take over Sergio Perez’s car for the 90-minute stint, which is one of seven practice outings the young Mexican is due to make this season.

The 19-year-old has previous testing experience with the team. He took part in the Pirelli tyre test in Abu Dhabi late last year, and spent two days in the current Force India VJM09 in pre-season testing.

This year Celis is combining his F1 duties with a race campaign in the Formula V8 3.5 series.