A recent “victim” could be the test driver for the Sahara Force India F1 team, Alfonso Celis Jr.

The Mexican driver missed on at his home Grand Prix. During his outing in free practice one, he lost control over Esteban Ocon´s car, hitting the barriers and causing considerable damage to the French driver´s car.

Celis Jr. fifth FP1 appearance this season has also been his last.

A bittersweet feeling to Celis Jr. whom may have "opened the door” George Russell, though Force India happens to give Mercedes rookies a run in test outings, such is the case of Esteban Ocon, currently a main driver for the team.

During that weekend and before the incident on Friday, he commented on his role as a test and reserve driver.

'You have to do two jobs, sometimes you jump in the car and other times you have to stand back and be like a sponge and absorb as much information as you can from every aspect of the team.'

'It's about figuring out how everything works and it's helpful because you understand things from both perspectives — and then you're prepared for action.'

'It's similar to being a substitute in football. I have to be ready to jump in the car.'

'You don't want to overheat the car or break new parts which are being tested on the car. So you still have to drive as fast as you can but within being sensible by not taking the floor off, breaking the front wing or crashing the car.'

Unfortunately, the weekend didn´t turn out as the Mexican driver expected.

The 21-year-old is currently driving in the World Series Formula V8 championship, where he stands fourth in the overall standings. Brazilian driver, Pietro Fittipaldi, is leading the championship with only a double-header race left, set to be held in Bahrain, next November 17-18th.

Russell, new GP3 champion, is set to make his debut for Sahara Force India in the Brazilian Grand Prix free practice one on Friday.

He is also set to drive for the Mercedes customer team in Abu Dhabi.

“I’m extremely excited to be driving in free practice for Sahara Force India in Brazil and Abu Dhabi,” said Russell.

“2017 has already been a year full of great opportunities and to top off the season with these two outings feels fantastic. “I’ve never driven the VJM10 before or driven at Interlagos, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Sahara Force India for this opportunity and also thank Mercedes for their continued support.” he added.

Force India Team owner Vijay Mallya stated: “We are happy to give George this opportunity,” “Now that we have secured fourth place in the championship, it’s the ideal time to look to the future and handing George his free practice debut will allow us to evaluate his potential.”

A NEW GENERATION WITH PLENTY OF "CHAMPION MATERIAL"

Russell (19) is a British, Mercedes Junior driver, who will race in Formula 2 next year, a path, another British driver and rising star, Lando Norris, (17) might just follow.

Norris, 2017 European Formula 3 champion has been recently announced as the new official test driver for the McLaren team, replacing Jenson Button.

“I’m so excited to be joining McLaren as test and reserve driver for 2018,” Norris said.

“I’m really looking forward to helping the team, starting next week with the tyre test at Interlagos, and I will work harder than ever to learn and develop across the next year. I have two excellent teachers in Fernando [Alonso] and Stoffel [Vandoorne], and I will do my best to help with the team’s efforts to get back to the front”.

Both drivers have taken part in the post-Hungarian Grand Prix test, back in August, with Russell (completing 54 laps) behind the wheel of no other than the Mercedes-Benz F1 W08 and Norris with the McLaren-Honda MCL32, making big impressions amongst their respective teams.

At Interlagos, Russell will drive the Sahara Force India VJM10 of Mexican driver, Sergio Perez.