Will Stevens admitted that he had been waiting for his Formula 1 debut for "a very long time".

The British driver was behind the wheel for Caterham in Friday's practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in which he clocked the slowest times.

The 23-year-old conceded that the experience was a steep learning curve, but he is confident that he will be ready to race come Sunday.

"I had been waiting for this day to arrive for a very long time," Stevens told reporters. "It didn't start as well as I had hoped for, as a small technical issue meant I had to jump out of the car after only competing my installation lap. Luckily, the team did a great job and it got sorted out rapidly, meaning I could spend the rest of the day focusing on getting to grips with the car and completing as many laps as possible.

"In this afternoon's session I already felt much more comfortable. We now need to work hard tonight and go through all the data gathered so that we drive out tomorrow well prepared.

"I'm happy with my race weekend so far, it's definitely a steep learning curve, but I'm ready for the challenge and I want to thank all the fans out there that believed in the team and got us here to race."

Caterham have missed the last two races after going into administration last month, but have returned to the grid for the final Grand Prix of the season thanks to a crowd-funding project.