Palmer gets first of quite a few FP1 sessions starting in China

GP2 Series champion Jolyon Palmer will be on in the cockpit of the Lotus E23 for the first free practice of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend and is the first of several FP1 sessions he will partake in this season for the Enstone outfit.

Lotus deputy principal Federico Gastaldi said, "In China we will see Jolyon Palmer take to the wheel of the E23 in FP1, how important is this for the team? Jolyon is a crucial part of the team for this season so it was important for us to see him in the car over the course of a Grand Prix early in the season."

"For the first two races, it made sense for our race drivers to get as much time as possible in the car, but now we can start exercising some of Jolyon’s talents in the FP1 session and we’ll see him out in action quite a few times over the course of the year," added Gastaldi.

Technical director Nick Chester said, "It will be good to have Jolyon out in action in FP1. His to-do list will be the same as the race drivers’, so aero evaluation work, some set-up runs and then longer runs towards the end of the session."

"It will help with our weekend preparations as we always look at FP1 as being the development session," concluded Chester.