The Ferrari Driver Academy is pleased to announced that five of its students will race in Formula 1’s feeder series, the FIA Formula 2 championship, in 2020. Current F2 drivers Callum Ilott, Mick Schumacher and Giuliano Alesi will be joined by Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong, who have been promoted from FIA Formula 3, in which they both performed very well this year, finishing first and second respectively in the championship.
Callum. 21 year old Englishman Callum Ilott has gone well this year, with two podium finishes and pole position at Monza. For 2020, he will continue with the fast improving UNI Virtuosi Racing team. The British team was set up in 2012 and 2019 has been its first year in Formula 2. It took three wins and 12 podiums to finish second in the teams’ classification and will provide Callum with a great opportunity to show what he can do.
Mick. 20 year old Mick Schumacher will continue with Prema Racing, aiming to be a consistent front runner after a debut season in which he took his first win in Hungary. Other highlights included storming through the field from 19th to fifth at the flag in Baku and from 18th to fourth in Austria.
Giuliano. During the second half of the current season, Giuliano Alesi has consistently finished in the points and next year he will race with the HWA Racelab team, which is making its Formula 2 debut, off the back of plenty of experience in the DTM and GT series and it also had a good first season in the FIA Formula 3 championship this year.
Robert. Robert Shwartzman will also be at Prema Racing, the Russian having just won this year’s FIA Formula 3 championship, crowned at his home race in the penultimate round at Sochi, with a total of three wins in the year. It’s not the first time that an FDA driver has won with Prema Racing, given that current Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc took the Formula 2 title with them in 2017.
Marcus. Runner-up in the FIA Formula 3 series, 19 year old New Zealanders Marcus Armstrong will make his F2 debut with the category’s most successful team, ART Grand Prix. It’s roll call of drivers includes many champions.
Tenth year. The Ferrari Driver Academy thus confirms its success as a breeding ground for young drivers, something it has done for ten years now. The programme began in 2009, when its first student was the much missed Jules Bianchi. Since then, 17 youngsters have passed through the Maranello academy, with several of them making it to Formula 1, including Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll. Another success story is definitely Charles Leclerc, who thanks to his training with the FDA, soon made his mark and that has led to him racing today for the most famous team in Formula 1.
Laurent Mekies, Scuderia Ferrari Sporting Director
“2019 was a good learning year for our three Formula 2 rookies, Callum, Mick and Giuliano. We have seen them progress and we have high hopes for next year. We will have even more interest in this series, given that the existing trio will be joined by Robert and Marcus, off the back of their great year in Formula 3.
Our priority will be to help them make further progress, both at Maranello and at race tracks around the world, so that our Academy continues to prepare talented youngsters to set their sights on being potential champions of the future with the Scuderia”.
Marco Matassa, FDA Technical Responsible
“2020 looks like being a very interesting season from both a technical and racing point of view. It will be a very important year for the FDA, as it will be the first time that we will have no fewer than five drivers on the grid. That’s a big responsibility which motivates us to really work as hard as ever to reach our ultimate goals”.