Mercedes Junior Frederik Vesti is set to make his F1 practice debut this year at the Mexican GP. The Danish driver currently sits 2nd in the Formula 2 Drivers’ Standings. He was leading the championship before the latest race. However, he lost it to Theo Pourchaire after having 2 terrible feature races in the last 3 weekends.
Second F1 outing for Vesti
Mexico will mark Frederik Vesti’s debut in an F1 practice session. However, it will not be his F1 debut. That came in Abu Dhabi last year in the young driver test for the teams. According to reports by the Danish outlet TV2, he will be replacing George Russell for the session. It is to be noted that this hasn’t been officially confirmed by Mercedes.
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A Championship Charge by the young Dane
This is Frederik Vesti’s second year in Formula 2. In his debut season in 2022, he finished 9th in the standings while driving for ART. The year was compounded by poor qualifying and a lot of bad luck. This year, he switched teams and went to serial winners Prema. He was paired with Ferrari junior and F2 debutant Oliver Bearman and has since led the team.
He had mixed results in the first few races. However, his consistency and improved qualifying helped him claw his way back into championship contention. He took the lead in Monaco and held on to it till the latest feature race at Spa. Damage to his car due to a collision with Dennis Hauger ended his feature race at Silverstone. Spa’s feature race was worse as he spun out by himself during the reconnaissance lap, and didn’t even start.
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Vesti said, “I’m incredibly proud to be doing the FP1 session in Mexico City with the Team – it’s a dream come true.” Toto Wolff said, “Fred has executed an impressive Formula 2 campaign so far this season. Driving in an FP1 session is the next step in his development and we’re looking forward to giving him that opportunity.”
Vesti currently sits just 12 points behind Theo Pourchaire with 3 more rounds to go. It will be an exciting battle with Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa not far behind either. As of now, Vesti can enjoy the fact that he will be driving a Formula 1 car in a few months.
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