Sophia Flörsch will finally make her FIA European Formula 3 Championship debut next weekend at Zandvoort, joining Van Amersfoort Racing alongside Artem Petrov and Keyvan Andres.
Flörsch had been linked with the seat earlier in the year, with a potential seat for the second round of the season at the Hungaroring, but nothing came of that, and it appeared the young German racer would not make the step up from Formula 4 as she had hoped.
But the seventeen-year-old will now join the field from the race at the former home of the Dutch Grand Prix in Van Amersfoort Racing’s third car, which will make its first appearance of the year as a result. She will race it for the remainder of the year and will also get her maiden Macau Grand Prix appearance in November.
Flörsch says it is now time to focus again on her racing career after taking some time away from racing to concentrate on passing her school exams, although she admits it will be a steep learning curve for her as she adapts to Formula 3 machinery.
“After a period in which I had to give priority to passing my school exams, it feels great to know I will be back in the racing seat again to fully focus on my racing career,” said Flörsch. “I am very grateful to my loyal sponsors and the effort put in by VAR and their engine partner HWA and the further partners that will join our project, which we will announce soon.
“Stepping up from Formula 4 into the highly competitive FIA Formula 3 European Championship is an extreme challenge, but we all see it as a next step up the learning curve. I will give my utmost to reward all stakeholders and with the experience and support of VAR, I am convinced that I will learn a lot.
“I have more than ever an excited feeling about my future career.”
Team owner Fritz van Amersfoort is happy to welcome Flörsch to the team, and he hopes that the Dare to be Different ambassador can get familiar with the series sooner rather than later.
“We warmly welcome Sophia to the team,” said van Amersfoort. “Her drive to climb the autosport ladder deserves lots of respect. During winter testing her performance behind the wheel convinced us of her qualities.
“We expect that with enough mileage and time to learn, she can be competitive in Formula 3. Of course it is not ideal to enter the series now the season is already underway, but we will use all our experience and dedication to help Sophia get familiar with Formula 3 as soon as possible.”
The team had started the year slowly and failed to score points in either Pau of the Hungaroring, but with Andres, they had a breakthrough performance last time out at the Norisring, with the young German securing his maiden series points in race one before taking an amazing podium finish in race two.