Photo: Ida Wood
Christian Mansell will replace Zdenek Chovanec at Charouz Racing System for the next two FIA Formula 3 Championship rounds, becoming the seventh driver the team has used this season.
The 17-year-old has been racing in Euroformula so far this year, taking three wins and currently sitting second in the points. In F3 he will race at the Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps, the two most recent tracks he has visited in Euroformula.
Last year the Australian came third in GB3 with Carlin and claimed two wins. One of those was at Spa-Francorchamps, where he subsequently made his Euroformula debut with the same team.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for me to pit myself against an incredibly talented grid of drivers and get my name out there racing on the Formula 1 weekends,” Mansell said of his move across to FIA F3 during Euroformula’s summer break.
“It will be my first time in the car so there will be a lot to learn from the start, but I like both circuits so will be able to hit the ground running with those. I’m mega excited and can’t wait to get started this weekend in Hungary.”
Antonin Charouz, owner of the eponymous team, added: “I’m really happy to welcome Christian in the team and I’m looking forward to see him in the car. He’ll need all of our support to get confident with a single-seater different from the ones he already raced with, but I’m confident that it will happen very naturally and very quickly given how talented he is.
“The fact that he already had experiences at both Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps is definitely an optimum starting point for his debut. The team and I are really excited to have him on board, I’m sure that he’s excited too, and he’ll show everybody what he’s capable of.”
Ayrton Simmons started the FIA F3 season in the car Mansell will occupy, but he vacated it after one round due to budget issues and David Schumacher and Lirim Zendeli each had a weekend in the car before Chovanec took over for the past two events.
Charouz is currently last in the FIA F3 standings having scored just one point this season, courtesy of Francesco Pizzi’s 10th place in the Imola sprint race.
Mansell’s Euroformula title rival Oliver Goethe will also be on the FIA F3 grid this weekend, as he stands in for the injured Hunter Yeany at Campos Racing.