Max Verstappen, the son of ex-Formula 1 racer Jos, is to contest the Formula 3 European Championship for his first full season of car racing.
The 16-year-old will compete with Van Amersfoort Racing, the Dutch team that provided Verstappen Sr. with his first steps in car racing in 1992.
Team boss Frits van Amersfoort said: “We’re very excited about it and of course we are very much looking forward to working with Max. His talent is undoubted so let it come!”
Verstappen Jr., a World Karting champion, starred in his first F3 tests with the German F3 car of Motopark at Valencia in December. He made his car racing debut earlier this year in the Florida Winter Series, taking two wins from the 12 races. But he has yet to drive a latest-spec Dallara F312 chassis, and VAR is hoping to get him some testing with its Volkswagen-powered machine before the first official European F3 running.
“We have a lot of work to do first,” added van Amersfoort. “We sincerely hope to get him one or two days before the first official test.”
Van Amersfoort added that the team’s history with the Verstappen family helped in the deal being completed.
Verstappen Sr. dominated the 1992 Dutch Formula Opel Lotus series with VAR, scoring eight wins in nine races, and also trounced the Euroseries regulars in two of the seven races he contested as a “guest” driver.
“That’s one of reasons why we came to this deal,” said van Amersfoort. “It’s good for a kid to act in his first season of car racing in a team that speaks his own language.
“He will make some mistakes but that’s what he can learn from, and it will help if he can talk them through in Dutch.”
2014 F3 European line-up so far:Prema Powerteam Antonio Fuoco; Esteban Ocon; Dennis van de Laar; Nicholas Latifi Mucke Motorsport Lucas Auer; Roy Nissany; Felix RosenqvistCarlin Jordan King; Tom Blomqvist; Antonio Giovinazzi; Sean Gelael; Ed Jones; Jake Dennis Fortec Motorsport
tba T-Sport Spike Goddard; Alexander Toril Van Amersfoort Racing Gustavo Menezes Max Verstappen Double R Racing
tba EuroInternational Riccardo Agostini; Michele Beretta; Santino FerrucciMa-Con
tba URD Rennsport
tba Jo Zeller Racing
tba Signature Oscar Tunjo Team West-Tec Felix Serralles Italicised drivers still tbc
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