Renault F1 Team has confirmed their 2020 academy line-up with details of Guanyu Zhou, Christian Lundgaard, Max Fewtrell and Caio Collet is revealed.
After confirming Oscar Piastri and Hadrien David as part of the Renault Driver Academy, the French manufacturer has revealed the other names and their programmes for the 2020 season, with the omission of at least three drivers.
Senior pro, Zhou, will remain in the FIA Formula 2 (F2) Championship as he embarks on his second season with UNI-Virtuosi Racing alongside Callum Ilott. The Chinese racer ended up as the best rookie driver in 2019 after string of solid performances.
At the same time, Lundgaard is graduating to a full-time F2 season after making his debut in 2019 with Trident in Abu Dhabi. He raced in F3 with ART Grand Prix, where he finished a fine sixth as a rookie in the championship. He will remain with French outfit, ART.
As a result, he joins Marcus Armstrong in the team for 2020. His F3 teammate Fewtrell will remain in the championship, though, but has switched to Hitech GP from ART. He becomes the second from Renault in the series with Piastri already signing up with Prema.
Outside the three, Brazilian Collet also remains with the academy as he will continue to compete in the Formula Renault Eurocup for his second year. He will continue with R-ace GP and he becomes the second in the series with David.
Upon the announcement, Renault Sport Academy Director, Mia Sharizman said: “This year’s line-up is the strongest we’ve had in the last four years of the Renault Sport Academy. We’ve struck a balance between experienced and rookie drivers and we believe we can compete for titles across all junior championships in which we’ve entered our members.
“As the years progress, we are moving closer to the point where we want to have an Academy driver in contention for the F1 race seat. We remain hopeful that this year is a breakout year for this to happen. We already know what Max and Christian can do, and they are entering their fourth year on the programme.
“We were also pleased with how both Zhou and Caio performed in their first season with the Academy. All drivers have their own targets this year, which they know they have to meet. It’s great to welcome two very talented individuals in Oscar and Hadrien and it’s exciting to see what they can do this season.
“I’m sure all the drivers will push each other to perform to their best ability.” At the same time, Renault Sport Racing Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul, added: “Our Academy continues to grow in strength each year. We now want the programme to progress to the next level, and target championship wins in 2020.
“The Academy was first set-up in 2016 with the long-term objective of progressing a driver from the RSA to a seat with the F1 team, and with the talent we have in the Academy we are still confident of achieving this in the relative short term. The ability within the Academy is there for all to see.
“On a wider level I am also pleased to see Renault global markets getting behind the programme and supporting their local drivers. I am very proud of the programme and its activation and I look forward to following the success on and off track.”
While the names for 2020 is set, it also means that the likes of Victor Martins, Leonardo Lorandi and Ye Yifei haven’t got a seat with Renault. It is also sad that Anthoine Hubert wis not going to feature in the line-up.
2020 F2 line-up so far:
Prema: Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman
HWA Racelab: Artem Markelov and Giuliano Alesi
ART Grand Prix: Marcus Armstrong and Christian Lundgaard
UNI-Virtuosi Racing: Callum Ilott and Guanyu Zhou
DAMS: Daniel Ticktum and Sean Gelael
MP Motorsport: Felipe Drugovich
Carlin: Yuki Tsunoda
2020 F3 line-up so far:
Jenzer Motorsport: Calan Williams
Prema Racing: Logan Sargeant, Frederik Vesti and Oscar Piastri
ART Grand Prix: Alexander Smolyar, Theo Pourchaire and Sebastian Fernandez
HWA Racelab: Jake Hughes, Enzo Fittipaldi and Jack Doohan
Trident: Lirim Zendeli
Hitech GP: Max Fewtrell
Here’s Renault news on academy drivers
Here’s news on Pat Fry start date
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on where team needs to improve
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on his move to Renault
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on his personal high and lows of F1 2019
Here’s Esteban Ocon on early advantage with Abu Dhabi run
Hitech GP entry in F2 for 2020 confirmed to make it 11 teams