PREMA Racing captured a podium finish in the final race of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship at Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, as Frederik Vesti fought back from the ninth spot on the grid to third place. Despite today’s result and yesterday’s scintillating win, the superb weekend performance was not enough to clinch the championship.
Starting with medium tyres, Vesti made gains at the start, and after a late pit stop, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Junior Driver sliced through the field with the softs to secure P3.
Taking off from P17, Ferrari Driver Academy’s Ollie Bearman was battling for a potential top-5 position as well, as he was looking to maximize the opposite strategy. After a clean pit stop though, a gearbox issue started to emerge, which eventually forced the the British racer to come back to the pits and stop.
As PREMA Racing wraps up a positive year that featured 10 wins and 14 podium finishes, the team wishes to congratulate Theo Pourchaire and ART Grand Prix on their 2023 titles. Action will soon be resuming, with postseason testing scheduled for the next week.
#7 FREDERIK VESTI
“We finished third from P9, and it was a very good race. If we isolate the results, it’s been a great weekend. Obviously, I’m disappointed to finish second in the championship, as we have been giving all this year, we just threw it a little bit away around the summer break and after. I’m frustrated about that, but still proud of what we have done. I’m extremely happy to have had this year with PREMA, my final year as a junior driver. Let’s see what the future holds, but thanks to everyone who supported me and everyone in this fantastic PREMA team.”
#8 OLLIE BEARMAN
“Tough race. It looked like we would be able to come back to the points after the difficult Friday. I mananaged to make a lot of positions in lap 1, and the option stint went really well. Unfortunately, halfway throgugh I had an issue with the car, which meant I couldn’t complete the race. It’s really sad to finish the year like this. Until the next one!”