Sergey Sirotkin is set for another appearance at his home grand prix this weekend, as he is scheduled to drive for Renault in the opening practice session.
Sirotkin completed his first FP1 session for Sauber at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix back in 2014. Having signed as part of Renault’s junior driver programme, the Russian returned to F1 duties last season, this time driving for the French marque.
Replacing Jolyon Palmer on that occasion, Sirotkin will instead fill in for Nico Hulkenberg on Friday morning.
“Obviously I’m very much looking forward to it,” the 21-year-old stated.
“I’m here to do what the team tell me to do, so that’s my approach to FP1; if I have to do aero runs, that’s what I do. If I have to drive a qualifying simulation on Ultrasoft tyres, then that’s what I’ll do too!”
Sirotkin obtained his first taste of 2017 F1 machinery in last week’s in-season test at Bahrain. Evidently, Renault’s reserve driver is relishing every opportunity for track time.
“I’ve learnt so far this year that it’s not very easy to be at a race track but not in the car. Watching other drivers in action and competing is pretty frustrating as I want to be out there.”
Should Sirotkin earn a race seat in the future, he would become only the third Russian driver to race in F1, following in the footsteps of Vitaly Petrov and Toro Rosso incumbent Daniil Kvyat.
