Van Amersfoort Racing have completed their driver-lineup for 2022 F2 season with the signing of Amaury Cordeel.
Cordeel’s decision to step up to F2 comes after he endured a frustrating season with Campos in F3 last year, where he failed to score a single point and recorded his best finish of 11th in the second Austrian Sprint Race.
Cordeel though did test with Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) in last month’s F2 Post-Season Test where he steadily improved across all three days of running.
Feeling “extremely excited” to step up to F2, Cordeel spoke of the difference between the Dallara F2 2018 and Dallara F3 2019 cars as he “felt comfortable” in the F2 car more despite a “very noticeable” difference in power between the two cars.
Cordeel also iterated that he isn’t expecting an easy season as he added: “I am very well aware that the season ahead will be a challenging one and I will face a steep learning curve. However, having Van Amersfoort Racing as my team to rely on gives me great confidence.”
The 19 year-old Belgian also praised VAR for bravely placing trust in him and paid compliments as he said: “The level of dedication and professionalism shown during the test at Yas Marina was impressive, the least said. I will put my learnings from F3 to best use and together with the support of VAR, will build up from there onwards.”
VAR CEO, Rob Niessink meanwhile added that the decision to sign Cordeel was made after the post-season test.
Explaining why the team decided to sign Cordeel, Niessink said: “He is very committed to perform and forms a good match with the team. He proofed to be an intelligent driver and learns quickly, something we highly value in a driver.
“Our crew is excited and set up to support him in every way possible, assisting him to reach his full potential.”
Like Cordeel, Niessink also spoke of the challenge that lies ahead for the team as both driver and team enter F2 for the very first time, with Niessink warning that “it won’t be a walk in the park,” but insisted that the team is “extremely dedicated to perform and leave a mark starting with the very first outing at Bahrain and onwards!”
Cordeel will partner Jake Hughes who was confirmed as VAR’s first-ever signing for their inaugural F2 campaign on Monday (17 January).