Alpine F1 have announced their roster of junior drivers for 2021 who will compete in Formula Two and Formula Three.
Following a rebrand from Renault to Alpine, the Enstone based F1 team, have also rebranded their Renault Sport Academy, instead opting to rename it to the ‘Alpine Academy’ instead.
Oscar Piastri and Guanyu Zhou will remain as members of the academy and race in Formula Two this season, as Piastri makes the graduation with PREMA who guided him to the F3 title in 2020 following a dramatic title decider at Mugello in September.
When quizzed by Alpine Academy launch host, Alex Jacques on his aims for this season, Piastri said: “To be honest, I haven’t really set too many specific goals.”
The Australian junior however has a strong teammate in Robert Shwartzman who Piastri expects to be pushing for the title, saying: “Obviously I have got a very strong teammate in Robert Shwartzman with me, so I expect him to be challenging for the title and I think if I can be matching him if not beating him then I will be in a very good place in the championship.”
Zhou meanwhile will remain with the academy and UNI-Virtuosi Racing in F2 for a third consecutive season as he looks to mount a title challenge, having become first Chinese driver to win a F2 race, in a Sochi Sprint last season that was curtailed due to a huge crash involving Jack Aitken and Luca Ghiotto.
The 21 year-old Chinese however will have another new teammate to battle as he will be joined by Felipe Drugovich for this season at the Norfolk based team.
Virtuosi Team Principal, Andy Roche is ‘very pleased’ to have secured Zhou for a third season, with the aim of further success, saying: “We expect Guanyu to perform well and mount a strong championship challenge.”
Christian Lundgaard will remain part of the academy for a fifth season after joining in 2017 and continue in F2 with ART GP where he finished seventh in 2020, partnering Theo Pourchaire who steps up to the second-tier after a successful F3 season in which he finished as vice-champion.
Lundgaard consequently becomes the first youngster to be part of the programme for more than four seasons after joining aged 16, with the Dane saying: “I’ve learned so much during this process, but there are still lots of things to do and achieve and that’s why we’re continuing.”
The Dane also spoke of how he has developed on so many levels beyond just racing, as he said: “Now, I’ve grown up with the team, learned and matured throughout those years and developed not only as a racing driver, but also as a human being.”
ART Team Principal, Sebastien Philippe is delighted to welcome Lundgaard back to the team, praising the Dane’s ‘natural talent’ in which saw him mount an outside title challenge, until a poor last two rounds in Bahrain cost him a shot at the championship.
Phillipe however is confident of an improved season, saying: “In 2021, Christian will have all the assets to play the title.”
Alpine Academy Director, Mia Sharizman iterated that the F2 title is Zhou and Lundgaard’s aim for 2021, saying: “Win! For Guanyu and Christian the target is to be challenging for the title and they know that themselves. They set the bar high for themselves and I think that is always the aim.”
Caio Collet and Victor Martins will meanwhile step up to Formula Three in third seasons as Academy members and race for MP Motorsport as teammates, with Martins rejoining the programme after being dropped at end of 2019 but fought back with 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup title to secure his return.
On becoming teammates after competing as title rivals in 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup, Collet said: “I think we need to work together to achieve something if we want to and Victor is a good driver and nice guy off the track.”
Martins meanwhile is reuniting with MP Motorsport after racing for the team in 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup, placing a focus on being able to ‘enjoy the season’ as a dark horse given the unlikeness of MP Motorsport fighting for the title, saying: “… I have to consider myself as a rookie and outsider.”
The reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion also feels that there is ‘not too much pressure’ on him and wants to use the experience of everyone at the Dutch outfit, especially because the engineers and mechanics will be different to those who he worked with in 2019 in Formula Renault Eurocup.
MP Motorsport Team Principal, Sander Dorsman described securing Collet and Martins as ‘pure gold’ after having seen his team struggle against the pair last season in Formula Renault Eurocup
Dorsman also is ‘extremely happy to be cooperating with Alpine, vowing to ‘work hard’ to provide Collet and Martins with cars which can push them towards the front of F3 and be ‘worthy’ of the Alpine name.
Max Fewtrell has been dropped from the programme following his disappointing 2020 season, whilst Hadrien David’s fate remains uncertain.
Alpine will announce further details of drivers who will receive support from the academy despite not being full members in due course.
F2 and F3 will meanwhile introduce a new three-race weekend format for this season, alongside reduced race calendars spread out across several months.
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