American prodigy Juan Manuel Correa will return to Prema Powerteam for a second season of the German and Italian Formula 4 Championships after a solid campaign in 2016.
The 17-year-old will commit to the ADAC Formula 4 series with selected rounds in the partner championship. This move is a surprise to many after Correa picked up just a single podium in Germany last year as opposed to his four podiums and three wins in Italy.
The news also all but confirms that the Prema team will stray commitments away from their national championship for the first time since Italian F4’s inception in 2014.
Correa will be joined by his team-mate from 2016, Jüri Vips, who was announced towards the end of December. Vips also performed better in Italy, winning the Rookie title, while finishing runner-up in Germany. The Estonian beat Correa in both series that the two raced in together.
“It really is a pleasure for me to continue working with such a special group of people that is Prema for 2017.” started Correa. “Both the Team and I have big ambitions for this coming season, and I’m sure that it will be another very enjoyable year together.”
While Correa made strong progress throughout his debut year, the American left the year with the unfortunate title of lowest place Prema driver in all series the team competed in.
“Being able to continue our collaboration with Correa for 2017 is very meaningful for us as a team.” said team principal Angelo Rosin.
“As well as his teammate Jüri Vips, he showed huge potential and delivered remarkable results in 2016. After working with such a talented pairing last year we know that, with more experience together, we will be strong right away in an effort to bring home some high-profile results.”
The Italian F4 Championship begins on the 1-2 April at the Misano World Circuit, while its German counterpart begins on the 29-30 April at Oschersleben.
