PREMA have confirmed Mercedes Formula 1 junior driver Frederik Vesti as their new driver for the 2023 Formula 2 season, in a move that sees him join Oliver Bearman after the Briton’s signature with the team for his debut campaign.
The Dane has scored five podiums in his first F2 season this year with ART, three of them materialising in feature races. His excellent performances helped him to an ninth-placed finish in the championship.
The arrival of Bearman and Vesti follows the departure of Red Bull juniors, Dennis Hauger and Jehan Daruvala.
Vesti’s former ART team are yet to finalise their plans for next season, with Formula 3 champion, Victor Martins, keen to remain with the French team in F2.
“To join Prema Racing for the 2023 Formula 2 season is great news for me,” Vesti said. “I have known Prema since 2019 when we won the Formula Regional European Championship together.
“Prema is an amazing place to be at and in my opinion, gives me the best opportunity to fight for the F2 title in 2023! I have big dreams and Prema is the team I believe that I can achieve those dreams with.
“There is no doubt that 2023 F2 is going to be incredibly close, but I will give my everything to be fast and consistent throughout the season.”
Rene Rosin, Prema Team Principal added: “We are delighted to welcome Frederik back. He is a quick and hard-working driver, which we already had the chance to appreciate in 2019 and 2020.
“We are obviously looking forward to joining forces again and seeing what we will be able to achieve together next season. With his skills and the experience he has matured, we expect him to be a contender and we are determined to support him the best way we can.”
| Team | No. | Drivers | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | MP Motorsport | 1 2 |   | Dennis Hauger Jehan Daruvala |
 | Rodin Carlin | 3 4 |   | Enzo Fittipaldi Zane Maloney |
 | ART Grand Prix | 5 6 | | Theo Pourchaire Victor Martins |
 | Prema Racing | 7 8 | | Frederick Vesti Oliver Bearman |
| Hitech Grand Prix | 9 10 |  | Jak Crawford Isack Hadjar |
| DAMS | 11 12 |   | Ayumu Iwasa Arthur Leclerc |
| Virtuosi Racing | 14 15 |   | Jack Doohan Amaury Cordeel |
 | PHM Racing by Charouz | 16 17 |  | Roy Nissany Brad Benavides |
| Trident | 20 21 |  | Roman Stanek Clement Novalak |
| Van Amersfoort Racing | 22 23 | | Richard Verschoor Juan Manuel Correa |
 | Campos Racing | 24 25 |  | Kush Maini Ralph Boschung |
