China's first F1 driver heads to Singapore GP

China's first Formula One driver, who made his debut in Italy last week, will hit the tracks again at the Singapore Grand Prix next week, the HRT team announced on Thursday.

Ma Qinghua, 24, will replace teammate Narain Karthikeyan and join Pedro de la Rosa at the first free practice session of the Singapore GP which will be held from Sept 21 to 23, according to the HRT website.

Ma ran 26 laps and clocked a fastest lap of 1:31.239 in Monza, Italy. Although the result is the worst among 24 competitors, he and his team hailed it as a positive result, which, in the Ma's words, gave him confidence.

"I'm very happy to drive the F112 for a second time in a row and I really appreciate the opportunity HRT is giving me...I am looking forward to it and the laps that I added to my tally at the last Grand Prix in Monza have given me plenty of confidence," said the Chinese driver.