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Mercedes Junior Driver Fredrik Vesti will have high aspirations for his rookie F2 season.
The twenty-year-old Danish driver makes the move up to Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix this year. He is also a Mercedes Junior Driver, having joined the programme last year. Vesti is the first Mercedes Junior to compete in F2 since George Russell in 2018.
Karting Career
Vesti emerged on the karting scene in 2012 aged 10. He made an impact from the get-go winning the Rotax Mini category of the Rotax Nordic Championship.
During this season he also placed 12th in the Kart Cup South Cadett Junior with 383 points.
Moving into the 2013 season Vesti won the Cadet Junior category of the Danish Championship with an impressive 957 points. He also competed in the Rotax Max Challenge Denmark Challenge moving into the Junior category where he placed 26th.
2014 proved to be another successful season as he placed 3rd in the NEZ Cup and 1st in the Danish Championship competing in the KFJ category. During this season he also competed in the Rotax Max Challenge Denmark in the Junior category placing 9th with 538 points.
Moving into 2015 Vesti competed in multiple series. He placed 6th in the Andrea Margutti Trophy and 10th in the Trofeo Industrie both in the KFJ categories. Alongside this, he placed 28th in the CIK-FIA European KF-Junior Championship. Vesti also competed in multiple WSK events winning the KFJ section of the Final Cup. In addition, he finished 38th in the WSK Super Master Series as well as 13th in the Champions Cup.
2016 was Vesti’s last year in karting. He placed 7th in the 21 South Garda Winter Cup in the OKJ category. Finally, he competed in the WSK Champions Cup placing 28th in the OK-Junior category.
Single Seater Success
Vesti transitioned into single-seaters during his final year of karting in 2016. Making the move to Vesti Hoyer Motorsport, he raced in Formula Ford Denmark where he finished 4th. During his first season, he gained 254 points, two wins and eight podiums.
Moving into 2017, Vesti stayed with Vesti Hoyer Motorsport. However, this year he competed in the F4 Danish Championship where he placed 2nd with 320 points, eight wins and 15 podiums.
From here, he moved to Global Racing Group where he took part in two races of the F4 US Championship.
Moving through the season, Vesti joined VAR where he campaigned in Formula 4 ADAC placing 7th with 113 points, one win and three podiums.
Going into the 2018 season, Vesti stayed with VAR competing in the Suncity Group Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix where he placed 15th. He also made his debut in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship as well as the Italian F4 where he placed 10th with two wins and three podiums. During this time, he also returned to ADAC Formel 4 where he placed 4th with 211 points, two wins and eight podiums.
As 2019 approached, Vesti made the move over to Prema. He started off the season once again returning to the Macau Grand Prix where he improved from the previous year placing 10th. His impressive performance came, however, from winning the Formula Regional European Championship. Here he gained 467 points, 13 wins and 20 podiums.
Making the move up to FIA Formula 3, Vesti chose to stay with PREMA following his previous success. During this season he placed 4th with three wins and four podiums.
For the 2021 season, Vesti remained in FIA F3. However, this time he made the move to ART Grand Prix. Here he placed 4th once again. But this time he achieved one win and five podiums.
The 2021 season also saw Vesti become the newest addition to the Mercedes Junior Driver Programme.
Current
For the 2022 season, Vesti has stayed with ART Grand Prix, joining teammate Théo Pourchaire in FIA Formula 2. The driver has maintained his connections with Mercedes appearing at their 2022 car launch.
Vesti is yet to score points in the Formula 2 Championship. He is currently 19th in the Drivers’ Championship with ART GP 6th in the Team Standings.
Head Image Credit: Getty Images