Sauber Junior Team by Charouz have announced Fabio Scherer, Lirim Zendeli and Raoul Hyman in their full-driver line-up for the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship.
Sauber Motorsport tied up with Charouz Racing System in November to launch the Sauber Junior Team programme.
Scherer, one of the pilots within the squad, finished fourteenth in the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship, which included a podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps.
The 19-year old Swiss driver is ready to compete in what would be the most important season of his career so far.
“Joining the Sauber Junior Team is a big moment in my career and I’m determined to take my chance,” Scherer said.
“I had a solid rookie season in F3 last year and I feel ready for this opportunity. I’m hugely proud to be Swiss and it’s an honour to represent Sauber in 2019.
“My target is to be the first driver from Switzerland to run in F1 with a team that is based in my homeland. I will give everything I can to try and achieve this dream.”
Scherer‘s team-mate Lirim Zendeli, won ten races in 2018 ADAC Formula 4 Championship en route to clinching the title by the end of the season. The 19-year old German finds this an incredible opportunity for him to compete on the F3 grid.
“Joining the Sauber Junior Team programme is a big honour,” Zendeli added.
“There are so many junior drivers in motorsport but many of them don’t get the chance to progress to the next level – like F3 – for many reasons.
“To have the chance to race at the top level of F3 in 2019, and to be affiliated to an F1 team at the same moment, is incredible. I’m thankful to everyone that has helped to bring this opportunity together.”
The last of the drivers to be announced Raoul Hyman, had already competed in FIA Formula 3‘s predecessor GP3 Series in 2017 for Campos Racing.
In his 15 races, he had won the Sprint Race in Austria and his points in that helped him to twelfth in the drivers’ standings.
The 22-year old South African then joined Hitech Grand Prix in the 2018 FIA Formula 3 Asian Championship, which saw him claim the title despite not winning a single race.
Hyman is looking forward to joining the Sauber Junior Team this year.
“I’m excited to join the Sauber Junior Team in the new FIA F3 Championship and build on my title-winning success in the FIA F3 Asia series last year,” Hyman said.
“The Charouz team performed extremely well in their first year of F2 during 2018, and also has a great record in other championships.
“With their technical and engineering skill, I am confident the team will be strong in FIA F3. I can’t wait to start testing and prepare for what promises to be an exciting season.”
The team also confirmed their 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship line-up of Callum Ilott and Juan Manuel Correa, as well as their Formula 4 category line-up of Roman Stanek, Alessandro Ghiretti and Theo Pourchaire with one more driver still yet to be confirmed.