Such as Lotus before, Renault continues backing young drivers inside the new Renault Sport Academy with already four drivers involved.
With Renault’s commitment into developing young drivers with the World Series by Renault, the choices of the first drivers of the academy is not innocent as three of the four drivers have been WSR champion in 2015.
The first driver who will be the leader of the Academy is British Oliver Rowland, the last champion of Formula Renault 3.5. With scoring eight victories last year, he is the most successful champion of the category. At 23 year-old, Rowland goes to GP2 Series for a full year with MP Motorsport, after four meetings attended in 2015.
Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and ALPS champion in 2015, Jack Aitken also was a natural candidate for the Academy. The 20 year-old Korean-British driver commits himself in GP3 Series in 2016 with Arden International.
Aitken’s rival for the Eurocup title and NEC champion, the Swiss Louis Deletraz is also part of the Academy. He will take part in the Formula V8 3.5 championship with Fortec Motorsports. His compatriot Kevin Jörg, runner-up in NEC, completes the group. He joins Aitken in GP3, running with DAMS though.
Fréderic Vasseur, Renault Sport F1 team manager explains the choice of the Academy:
“The Renault Sport Academy underlines the commitment of Renault Sport Racing to nurturing young talent and to developing the Formula 1 stars of the future.”
“The motivation is not just altruistic; we want these drivers to become future Formula 1 World Champions and we are putting every tool at their disposal to achieve this aim.”
