Aussie Alex Peroni will graduate to FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2019 with Campos Racing, it has been announced.

The 19-year-old joins Sebastian Fernandez to be Campos’ second driver for the 2019 F3 season with one more name to be added. He is the 10th driver confirmed for FIA’s new F3 series which will run alongside F1 and F2 races.

Peroni takes a step up to F3 after competing in Formula Renault Eurocup and Formula Renault NEC in the last two seasons where he scored a total of four wins and a podium. He also won the V de V Challenge Monoplace series in 2016.

I was made to feel immediately comfortable with the Campos team in Abu Dhabi,” said Peroni. “The team did everything they could to help me and good lap times came very quickly.

I was very impressed with how hard they worked and from that moment I wanted an opportunity to work with the Campos team throughout the Formula 3 championship and I’m very happy that we have reached an agreement.

Adrian Campos, President, Campos Racing, said: “Alex is a driver who last season showed some impressive performances despite his young age. Therefore, we believe that he has great prospects and, with the right preparation from Campos Racing, he will reach his full potential.

“Internally, we were very pleasantly surprised in the postseason tests in Abu Dhabi, getting a quick adaptation and achieving rather competitive lap times. We expect him to continue his progression, that’s why everybody at Campos Racing will put everything at his disposal to grow together.”

Salvatore Gandolfo, CEO, Campos Racing, added: “We are finalizing a potent driver line-up for the upcoming 2019 season. Alex, as all our new drivers, completely reflects the Campos Racing philosophy of signing up young talents who are hungry for success just like our team itself.

We are delighted to help them develop their racing careers. It’s so nice to give young drivers a chance to advance into the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

2019 F3 line-up so far:

Prema – Marcus Armstrong, Jehan Daruvala

Jenzer – Yuki Tsunoda

HitechGP – Juri Vips

ART – David BeckmannChristian Lundgaard & Max Fewtrell

Campos Racing – Sebastian Fernandez, Alex Peroni

Carlin – Teppei Natori