Charouz have announced that Cem Bölükbasi will drive for the team in 2022 F2 season.
Bölükbasi began his motorsport career within the Esport industry as he drove for Toro Rosso in Formula One Esport between 2017-19, en route to becoming the inaugural champion of Formula Renault Esport Series in 2020.
2019 though saw the now 23 year-old Turkish driver also move across into real-life motorsport as he joined GT4 Series for two seasons, where he won three races and finished the 2020 season as vice-champion.
Bölükbasi graduated to single-seater racing in 2021 as he finished ninth overall in F3 Asian Championship, followed by a fifth-placed finish in last season’s EuroFormula Open campaign with two wins for Vans Amersfoort Racing, despite having missed the opening three rounds.
Vans Amersfoort Racing consequently called him up for the final day of the 2021 F2 post-season test, where he finished slowest but just 1.708 seconds off UNI-Virtuosi’s pacesetter – Jack Doohan after a single day of running.
Speaking about his official move into F2 with Charouz, Bölükbasi said that he “really, really happy” after having “worked so hard to get an opportunity like this and first of all, I want to thank Charouz for putting their trust in me, I’ll do my very best to honour it.”
Looking ahead to pre-season with Charouz after having tested an old GP2 car towards the end of 2021, Bölükbasi added: “I obviously can’t wait to get in the car for the testing sessions, after my first taste of an old GP2 car later last year.
“It’s as close as you can get to a Formula 1 car and I’m fully determined to give my 110% to learn how to master it and prove my potential as a driver.”
“I also can’t wait to start working with the team, the season ahead is gonna be very long and demanding and establishing the best possible relationship with all the guys is going to be crucial for the final outcome.”
Charouz Team Principal, Antonin Charouz added that the team is “more than delighted” to welcome Bölükbasi to F2, yet iterated that the series “will be a challenging and exciting new experience for him,” despite his impressive rookie form and quick learning in EuroFormula.
With F2 racing across 14 rounds of two races per round this season following another format shake-up, Charouz believes that Bölükbasi can take advantage of “a long and tough season” as he vowed that his team will try to assist Bölükbasi with “the best car and guide him in his learning path.”
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