Rossi aims to show potential in Friday outing with Caterham F1 team
Alexander Rossi hopes to use his Friday outings for Caterham to prove his potential as a Formula 1 race driver
The 20-year-old will make his grand prix weekend during Friday morning's first free practice session.
While the American's priority will be to do a good job for the team, he expects to be able to make a good impression with his on-track performance.
"That's always the case whenever you get into a car," said Rossi when asked by AUTOSPORT whether he is hoping to use his Friday outings to put him in the frame for a race drive in the future.
"I'm looking to deliver and do the maximum out there, but this is a race weekend for Caterham. They have a job to do and I need to be willing and open to helping them in any way possible.
"You don't get many opportunities in an F1 car to show what you can do, so it's about helping the team as much as possible but at the same time putting in a good performance."
Rossi has some F1 experience, testing for BMW Sauber in 2009 and also driving Caterham's 2011 machine during last November's young driver test in Abu Dhabi.
But despite that, he expects the feeling of driving on a grand prix weekend to be different to what he has done before.
"This is an official session with the official drivers," said Rossi. "All of the team personnel are here and they are looking to me for some input and feedback on what the car's doing.
"I know this track quite well from testing in GP2 and GP3 and this car isn't so different from last year's. The big difference is going to be KERS, which is quite simple as they tell you how to use it, but you need to be wary about how the brake balance shifts. That's going to be new to me.
"But I'm quite confident that I'll be able to settle in from the beginning."
Rossi is expected to have further Friday outings for Caterham this year, although the team has yet to finalise its schedule.
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Alexander Rossi |
| Teams | Caterham F1 |
| Author | Edd Straw |
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