Photo: Renault Sport/DPPI
Lotus F1 protege Esteban Ocon will make his Formula 3 debut at next month’s Macau Grand Prix behind the wheel of a fourth Prema Powerteam car.
The 17-year-old Frenchman currently lies third in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings with a round remaining and has been linked with a move into F3 next season. That follows an impressive test with leading squad Prema last month at Imola.
Ocon joins team regulars Raffale Marciello, Alex Lynn and Lucas Auer – all winners in the FIA European F3 Championship this year – in Prema’s Macau assault. The outfit’s usual fourth driver Eddie Cheever is not currently set to make the trip.
“I am very happy and proud to have the opportunity to do the Macau GP with Prema Powerteam,” said Ocon.
“It’s a huge proof of trust from Lotus F1 Junior Team and Rene Rosin [Prema’s team manager]. I will have a lot to learn during this week but as always I’ll do my best to score the best possible result.”
Team principal Angelo Rosin said: “We are happy to have Esteban Ocon in our line-up. He’s a young racer who drove with us in Formula 3 testing in the last weeks at Imola and he left us quite favourably impressed. The race at Macau will be a tough test for him but we’ll try to assist him in at the top of our possibilities.”
Autosport report that Ocon will contest the MSV F3 Cup round at Snetterton on 26/27 October to gain eligibility for Macau. There he will join Red Bull driver Carlos Sainz in action.