Ferrari have announced that Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc will step up to respective reserve and development driver roles for the 2024 season, providing extra support to the iconic F1 team.
Bearman will share the reserve role with former F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman ready to step in should either Leclerc or Sainz be unable to race.
Arthur Leclerc, meanwhile joins Antonio Fuoco and Davide Rigon in the development driver ranks, which includes working in the simulator, car development, set up works and any updates throughout the season.
After an impressive rookie season that saw him take four race wins, six podium finishes and placed sixth in the championship standings, British driver Bearman will stay in F2 for a sophomore campaign with Prema Racing this year.
As for Leclerc, brother of Charles, the Monegasque will move from the single-seater category to the Italian GT Championship, having recently left the Ferrari Driver Academy but stayed within the manufacturer’s overall set-up.
DAMS have announced that Ferrari junior, Arthur Leclerc will be joining the French team for his debut Formula 2 season in 2023.
Leclerc steps up off the back of two solid Formula 3 campaigns with PREMA Racing, where he scored victories in his rookie season at Le Castellet and Zandvoort.
Returning for a second campaign this year, the 22 year old finished sixth in the Drivers’ Championship with one win in the Silverstone feature race and further feature race podium in Sakhir.
He got his first taste of F2 machinery with DAMS during the post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit this week.
The Monegasque driver has been steadily rising through the ranks across the past five seasons. His debut year in single-seaters came in 2018 French F4 Champuonship where he finished fifth, before switching over to the ADAC Formula 4 Championship the following year, finishing third.
In 2020, Leclerc scored six victories, 12 podiums and eight pole positions on his way to claiming second in the Formula Regional European Championship Standings with PREMA and continued with the team on his move up to F3. At the start of 2022, he also took third in the Formula Regional Asian Championship.
I’m delighted to be making the step up to Formula 2 with DAMS in 2023. They’re a very successful team that has achieved great results in the championship, and I hope I can be a part of that and continue the team’s success. Charles Pic has done an amazing job to help the team back to winning ways throughout the season and I’m aiming to keep that going next year. We’ve a lot of work to do before the start of the new campaign in Bahrain in March, and I’m really looking forward to getting started in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi!
Leclerc on his move.
It’s great to have Arthur join DAMS for 2023. We’ve seen his talent and skill throughout his career so far, and he’s shown in the last two years in F3 that he’s capable of challenging for victories. We’re excited to have him in the car for the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, preparing for next season. The team is aiming for a strong campaign in 2023, and we’ve no doubt that the addition of Arthur will help us towards our goals.
Holding his nerve until the final few minutes of the race, Isack Hadjar took the victory out of Victor Martins hands, with a breath-taking lunge around the ART Grand Prix driver on the penultimate lap was enough to secure his second Formula 3 win in his rookie season.
Martins was forced to settle for second after sustaining pressure from rookie, Reece Ushijima in the final few laps, a brilliant effort from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, who started on reverse grid pole, paid off to seal his maiden F3 podium in third.
12th placed qualifier, Reece Ushijima had a little bit longer to wait to get off the line in his highest ever starting position. Ushijima had to led the field for a second formation lap after an issue for a slow Brad Benavides led to an aborted start.
Determined to make up for a disappointing Fridays, Martins wasted no time driving up the inside of Ushijima to snatch the lead of the race and the VAR racer found himself under a bit of pressure from Maini going side-by-side in the opening sectors.
But the full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Martins, P3: Ushijima, P4: Maini, P5: Frederick, P6: Stanek, P7: Maloney, P8: Leclerc, P9: Bearman and P10: Crawford.
Day 3-
Zak O’Sullivan covered off Arthur Leclerc to retain the lead in the opening corners. Jak Crawford fought with Zane Maloney for third but was squeezed out by the Trident driver, allowing PREMA teammater Ollie Bearman to gain a run onto the Wellington Straight. The Briton tried to hang it around the outside, but Maloney made his Trident as wide as possible, heading into Luffield, Bearman didn’t back out which resulted in contact which spun the Bajan off track and down the order.
Looking at the front of the gird, Leclerc had fought back and with a two down Hangar Straight, swept around the outside of O’Sullivan into Stowe. Just as the move happened the Safety Car was deployed and Leclerc relinquished the position to the Brit.
O’Sullivan got a good restart, but Leclerc had clung with him and with DRS enabled on Lap 6, the Monegasque made a move and led the race. Hadjar and Crawford were fighting for fifth and the pair came to blows on Lap 8. Side-by-side out of the final corner and down the main straight, the duo entered Abbey with Crawford on the outside but just ahead, Hadjar narrowly clipped the rear right tyre of the PREMA driver, sending him off track and down to P8.
A slight collision between Gregoire Saucy and Roman Stanek required both to pit at the end of lap 9 for repairs. The ART GP driver was able to re-join but the Trident driver was out of the race. Another Safety car was deployed, following a crash for Rafael Villagomez at Copse. Contact with Nazim Azmna resulted in the front wing becoming stuck underneath the VAR driver’s car, sending him straight into the barriers.
With just three laps remaining, the top five was separated by just 1.5s, Bearman had been shaping up a move on Collet for several laps and finally made a lunge into Brookland on the penultimate lap for third.
However, Leclerc was untroubled and secured his third victory in F3 and his first of the 2022 season! O’Sullivan came home to finish 2nd, his first podium in F3 and infront of his home crowd. And Ollie Bearman finished the podium places, in front of his home crowd aswell.
The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: O’Sullivan, P3: Bearman, P4: Collet, P5: Hadjar, P6: Crawford, P7: Martins, P8: Edgar, P9: Vidales and P10: Ushijima.
We don’t have long to wait until we see F3 cars back on track, we are returning next week for Round 5 at Spielberg, Austria from the 8th to 10th July!
Jordan's Track Talk 