Marino Sato will remain with Trident in F2 for the 2021 season, while Bent Viscaal has signed up for the Bahrain weekend.
The 2021 F2 grid is near complete with the announcement from Trident on Monday, where they have retained the services of Sato for another full season, while Viscaal has been signed for the season-opener at Bahrain International Circuit.
With the idea to continue beyond that, which if happens, means only MP Motorsport is to announce its second driver alongside Lirim Zendeli. For Sato, it will be his second full year in F2 after joining for selected rounds in 2019 with Trident.
“I’m really looking forward to continue our journey together with team Trident,” said Sato.
“We had a very tough season last year but we were improving race by race.
I need to thank everyone who’s Involved to make this happen.”
Team boss Giacomo Ricci added: “Team Trident is proud to line-up 21-year-old Marino Sato for the second consecutive season after the positive experience started twelve months ago. In the 2020 championship, Sato showed remarkable progress that makes us confident in his potential ahead of the new season, which will start at the end of March at Al Sakhir.
“I strongly believe that the new format of the series, featuring three races with reverse grids, will enable Marino to cruise to the points zone repeatedly and continue his growth in the FIA F2 Championship. At the same time, Trident Motorsport is greatly satisfied to announce that Bent Viscaal will make his FIA Formula 2 Championship debut under the team’s banner in the opening round of the season at Sakhir.
“We had Bent with us for one day of testing last December in Bahrain, and we had the chance to appreciate his speed skills multiple times. We remember the win he snatched from our driver Zendeli last July at Silverstone in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. We are convinced we will be able to reach great results together, and we will provide him with our best support to help him to find his fit with our family as quickly as possible.”
Having raced full-time in F3, Viscaal will like to complete a full year in F2 as well, post the Bahrain weekend. “I cannot wait to make my debut in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Motorsport,” he said. “I will be on-track for collective pre-season testing in just about two weeks, and I am really excited! We did great preparation work. I have been aware of the value of Trident Motorsport for quite some time, and it’s finally time to work together. I am sure that we will achieve great results.”
2021 F2 line-up so far:
Prema: Robert Shwartzman, Oscar Piastri
Hitech GP: Juri Vips, Liam Lawson
HWA Racelab: Matteo Nannini, Alessio Deledda
UNI-Virtuosi Racing: Felipe Drugovich, Guanyu Zhou
Carlin: Jehan Daruvala, Daniel Ticktum
MP Motorsport: Lirim Zendeli
Campos Racing: Ralph Boschung, Gianluca Petecof
DAMS: Marcus Armstrong, Roy Nissany
ART Grand Prix: Theo Pourchaire, Christian Lundgaard
Charouz Racing System: Guilherme Samaia, David Beckmann
Trident: Marino Sato, Bent Viscaal (Round 1 only)