Kamui Kobayashi to race for Caterham F1 team in Abu Dhabi GP

Kobayashi's former team-mate Marcus Ericsson officially split with Caterham during its recent absence from the F1 field, but the Japanese driver has decided to remain involved.

"I am happy to be racing with the team in Abu Dhabi," said Kobayashi.

"It hasn't been an easy last few weeks, so it will be nice to be back to in the car and work together with the Caterham F1 team members.

"This team is working hard and never gives up. We deserve to be racing in Abu Dhabi and I am very glad we can race again thanks to the crowdfunding project.

"Now it is our turn to show what we can do - we will all try our best during the weekend ahead and hopefully we can end the season with a positive result for the future of this team."

The identity of Kobayashi's team-mate remains unclear.

Roberto Merhi told AUTOSPORT that he has a contractual agreement that he would race this year if either Kobayashi or Ericsson was unavailable, so expects to be in the car following Ericsson's exit.

Caterham approached Audi World Endurance Championship driver Andre Lotterer, who had appeared for the team at the Belgian GP, about racing in Abu Dhabi, but the German decided against it.