While Lewis Hamilton’s contract renewal is still pending, Mercedes-AMG Petronas has announced today the newest addition to their junior programme: Frederik Vesti.

The young driver, born in Vejle, Denmark, in 2002 has been racing since he was just eight years old. Racing is in Fred’s blood, as his father previously competed in rallying and owned a team in Danish Formula Ford. Vesti has now joined the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s junior programme as a new signing for the 2021 season.

Vesti commented on the deal stating that he admires “Mercedes so much for their mentality and their hard-working attitude, which has helped them become so successful”. He has “dreamt of being a Mercedes junior driver” and worked extremely hard for it.

The youngster believes that to be working with Mercedes, “the best team in the world”, as he himself claimed, will give a decisive boost for his career and he is really looking forward to building a (hopefully, long-term) powerful relationship for the future.

Mercedes has been following Vesti's career for many years and has decided to sign him up ahead of what they hope will become a title-winning F3 season for the Danish driver, who finished fourth in the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Indeed, Gwen Lagrue, Driver Development Advisor for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, commented the team’s new signing stating that:

“Fred’s commitment and dedication is something we love to see and hugely respect. […] His Formula Regional European Championship in 2019 was impressive and in FIA F3 last year, he was very consistent. We are happy to welcome him into the Mercedes family and look forward to seeing him fight for the title this season in FIA F3!”

The young Danish driver has proved his talent in the last few years. In 2019, he won the Formula Regional European Championship as part of the Prema team. That year he claimed 13 wins out of 24 races and earned his move up to FIA Formula 3 in 2020.

Last year, during his rookie season, Vesti claimed three wins and one podium ending the season in style with a nice fourth place in the standings – with the most feature-race wins of any other driver in 2020. He will remain in FIA F3 for the second season in 2021, moving from Prema to ART Grand Prix. 

Vesti recognized the amazing opportunity he was given adding that: “[Mercedes, ndr] choose their junior drivers very carefully, so I am really excited to be part of the programme, working with them and developing as a driver. Thank you to Toto and the team for their trust in me and my future.”