Brazilian racer Sergio Sette Camara has announced his departure from his development driver role with McLaren F1 team.
Ex-Formula 2 driver Camara has announced his departure from his role at McLaren as a development driver. The Brazilian had joined the Woking-based F1 team back in 2018 with the relationship continuing for two seasons until the start of 2020.
McLaren has already removed Camara from its driver list on its website which has regulars Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris along with Oliver Turvey, who stays on in his role as development and simulator driver. The former Red Bull driver released a note.
The statement reads: “Today I announce the end of my work in McLaren. Since 2018 I learned a lot with them and helped in the development of last year’s car. I am very grateful for every moment and will keep them for all my career! Thank you.”
Camara had hoped to race in F1 in 2020, however, the opportunity never came. In the off-season, he was linked to a F2 seat with Hitech GP as it announced its entry in the championship. But it went to Luca Ghiotto, who is to partner Nikita Mazepin in 2020.
Nothing is confirmed for Camara at the moment but it looks like he is in the running for a seat with Carlin in the IndyCar series this year. He tested with the outfit in an open test at Circuit of the Americas alongside Felipe Nasr and Max Chilton.
Nasr, though, replaced him for the more recent IndyCar test at Sebring. The British team hasn’t got its full line-up set and this announcement suggests he may have a deal there, which would have conflicted with McLaren, who has its own outfit.
UPDATE: McLaren’s spokesperson responded to FormulaRapida.net’s query regarding Camara leaving. The Woking-based F1 team stated that it didn’t want to prevent the Brazilian with future opportunities by being tied to them.
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The story was edited by Darshan Chokhani