Robin Frijns will make his GP2 debut with Hilmer Motorsport at Bahrain this weekend in a one off deal.
The Dutchman, who is the Sauber Formula 1 team’s reserve driver and reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion, missed out on a GP2 seat in the season opener due to budget problems, despite having tested for the Trident and Russian Time outfits in pre-season testing.
With the deal being in place for just one race, Frijns is aware of the work ahead in order to keep the seat with the newly formed team.
“If I want to do the rest of the season we have to work and we know it,” Frijns told AUTOSPORT. "It always depends on the money.”
Despite the nature of the deal, the Maastrichter is also happy to be racing again.
“I'm happy that I get to race again, to be driving in Bahrain is good news for me.
Whilst Frijns has never raced in GP2 before, he is looking forward to the challenge given Hilmer scored points on their debut in Malaysia.
“If you are realistic, everything is new to me in GP2, and it's a new team, so if I can fight for points I will be quite happy.
"I need more time in the car of course, and you only get 30 minutes practice before you are straight into qualifying.
"That is quite harsh but it's the same for everyone. I don't have experience of that, but I just need to learn a lot in the time I have and hopefully we will be OK."
The Dutchman, who is the Sauber Formula 1 team’s reserve driver and reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion, missed out on a GP2 seat in the season opener due to budget problems, despite having tested for the Trident and Russian Time outfits in pre-season testing.
With the deal being in place for just one race, Frijns is aware of the work ahead in order to keep the seat with the newly formed team.
“If I want to do the rest of the season we have to work and we know it,” Frijns told AUTOSPORT. "It always depends on the money.”
Despite the nature of the deal, the Maastrichter is also happy to be racing again.
“I'm happy that I get to race again, to be driving in Bahrain is good news for me.
Whilst Frijns has never raced in GP2 before, he is looking forward to the challenge given Hilmer scored points on their debut in Malaysia.
“If you are realistic, everything is new to me in GP2, and it's a new team, so if I can fight for points I will be quite happy.
"I need more time in the car of course, and you only get 30 minutes practice before you are straight into qualifying.
"That is quite harsh but it's the same for everyone. I don't have experience of that, but I just need to learn a lot in the time I have and hopefully we will be OK."