The Alpine F1 team has announced Jack Doohan will make his grand prix debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next week.
Doohan will stand in for Esteban Ocon, who has departed the team early and brought an end to his five-season stint with the Enstone-based squad.
Alpine confirmed earlier this year that Doohan would be driving for the team next year in place of Ocon, who will switch to Haas.
However, the early debut for the Australian will allow him to gain experience of a race weekend in F1 before he endeavours on his first full season.
The reason for this late-in-the-campaign move is Ocon's desire to participate in the end-of-season test with Haas, which will run at the Yas Marina Circuit in the days after the final round of the year.
In order for Alpine to release the 28-year-old early, this is the compromise that was reached.
Doohan will race under #7 next season, but will compete in his full F1 debut with the #61, his official reserve driver number for 2024.
Upon confirmation of the news, Alpine thanked Ocon for his service: "The team would like to thank Esteban for his time at the team and he will remain part of the team’s history achieving the first win for Alpine in Formula 1," it said.
"We wish Esteban the best for the future."
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