Bahrain, Apr 17 (IANS): Finnish racing driver Heikki Kovalainen has returned to Caterham and will drive for the Formula 1 team in the first practice sessions in Bahrain and Spain.

Kovalainen is rejoining the team as one of the two reserve drivers, alongside Alexander Rossi who moves to Caterham Racing to compete in the GP2 Series. The Finn was dropped as a Caterham race driver at the end of last season with the Leafield-based outfit going for the inexperienced Charles Pic and Dutch Giedo van der Garde.

"Ma Qing Hua, who recently made history by becoming the first Chinese racing driver to take part in an F1 race weekend in China, remains a core member of Caterham driver roster and an announcement about his revised race plans in 2013 will be made in due course," said the team in a statement.

Kovalainen will take part in the sessions as part of a formal technical development role he is taking up with the team, helping support the introduction of the first performance updates to the 2013 car.

Kovalainen said: "It's obviously great news that I'll be on track in Bahrain and Spain and I'm really looking forward to getting back to work and helping the team as much as I can. I'll be taking part in the two FP1 sessions to give the team my input on the new parts we're bringing to those races, and I'll be working closely with the race drivers and the engineers on track and back at Leafield to help everyone get the most out of the new package."