Frederik Vesti has made the switch from reigning champions PREMA to ART for the 2021 FIA Formula 3 season as he aims to take the title.
He raced for the Italian squad in 2020 and secured three race wins – a tally only matched by Liam Lawson – on his way to fourth in the championship.
But having signed up to be a Mercedes F1 junior driver, the Dane will now race for ART just as Williams F1 driver George Russell did during his time in the Mercedes junior team.
“I am changing to ART, to evolve further as a driver and learn to work within a new environment,” Vesti said. “I’m convinced that will take me one step closer to my goal, which is to reach Formula 1. The collaboration between ART, Mercedes and me is the beginning of an incredibly exciting journey for me.
“The thing I find most interesting about ART, is their incredible success with young drivers. ART is a tough team in the most positive sense, and they focus a lot on data and my development as a driver. What I look forward to the most is starting the teamwork and learn from skilled people that I trust will take me to my limit.
“Many thanks to Seb for deciding for me as a new team member and believing in my skills as a driver. And many thanks to PREMA to taking me to where I’m today.”
His former team PREMA have already announced their line-up for 2021 with Dennis Hauger and Olli Caldwell being joined by rookie Arthur Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Vesti is yet to discover the identity of his third teammate after Alexander Smolyar was announced as ART’s first driver earlier today.
ART Team Principal Sebastien Phillipe added: “We know Frederik very well since he was one of our most formidable opponents last season in Formula 3. He lacked a bit of success to secure the crown and we were eager to start our collaboration with him, in Barcelona during the offseason testing.
“He merged into the ART Grand Prix mould and immediately met our expectations in terms of technical feedback, reliability and speed. With Frederik, ART Grand Prix will try to win back the FIA F3 title.”
