Frijns to return in Silverstone FP1

Caterham has confirmed that reserve driver Robin Frijns will get another chance to drive the CT-05 in free practice for this weekend's British Grand Prix.

The Dutchman, who impressed in the GP2 Series commentary booth in Austria in the absence of a regular race drive, last got the chance to pilot the current Caterham in Bahrain and, despite working with the team's demo team, is keen to see what differences have been made in the intervening weeks.

"I'm back in the 2014 car for the first time since Bahrain and excited about getting back in the cockpit and helping us make some progress again - as well as seeing how the car has developed since early April," he confirmed.

"I was in our 2010 car a couple of weeks ago at the City Racing event in Russia, and that was cool, but the real work is in the current season car in an official session and that's what Friday morning is all about."

Having seen back-of-the-grid rival Marussia gain its first ever points at the Monaco Grand Prix, Caterham currently finds itself battling Sauber at the foot of the table, but Frijns is optimistic that the green machines can begin to close the gap over the second half of the season.

"The last few races have obviously been pretty tough for the team, but we clearly made some progress in Austria and we think we can do the same again at Silverstone, a track where we should see more from the set-ups we ran on Saturday and Sunday at the Red Bull Ring," the sometime GP2 race winner insisted, "Hopefully the weather will be good, not something that you can ever guarantee in England, but with us being able to use two sets of tyres in FP1, sunshine will help us get the most out of the session - for me and the whole team."

Frijns will replace veteran Kamui Kobayashi for FP1, but the Japanese ace is confident that he will be able to pick up the baton on Friday afternoon and continue to work on the performance of the Renault-powered car.

"On track, we're obviously aiming to pick up from where we were in Austria," he confirmed, "I've been speaking to the guys at the factory a lot since they returned from Austria and we think that we can start with the good baseline set-up on Friday.

"We've had a chance to look in much more detail at the data from Austria and know where we need to go to cut the gap even more - and that's the goal. With the improved reliability we had at the last race, and the nature of the Silverstone circuit, I think it could be a good weekend for us. Whatever happens, I'm sure the fans will enjoy every second, and our aim is to give those in green something to cheer for."