Alexander Rossi will drive in an F1 race weekend for the first time in the Spanish Grand Prix next week.

The American driver will take Heikki Kovalainen’s place in the first practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Rossi said: “I am looking forward to getting back into the F1 car in Spain and I want to thank the team for the chance to run in FP1 in Barcelona.

“I have a clear goal for the session – make sure I run to the plan set by the engineers, not make any mistakes and learn as much as I can over the whole weekend.”

Rossi previously drove for the team last year – when they were Lotus – in the Young Drivers Test at Abu Dhabi.

He is racing for the Arden Caterham team in Formula Renault 3.5 this year, the first race of which is this weekend at Motorland Aragon in Spain.

2012 F1 season

Image ?�?� GP2/LAT