Trident Motorsport has announced Max Esterson for rest of the FIA F2 Championship, replacing Richard Verschoor.
Trident Motorsport announces a change in its FIA Formula 2 Championship line-up for the upcoming rounds at Qatar and the season finale at Abu Dhabi. The team welcomes the up-and-coming American Max Esterson who will be making his FIA Formula 2 Championship debut by competing with Trident Motorsport in the last two rounds of the season.
Born and raised in New York City and currently residing in London, Max started his career racing online when he was 10 years old and quickly became one of the top ranked iRacers in the world. From 2020 – 2023, Max moved to the UK and achieved 14 wins, 12 poles and 34 podiums in British Formula Ford and GB3, including winning the 51st Anniversary Formula Ford Festival – the first American to do so. 2024 saw Max move to FIA Formula 3, his first season in international competition.
While not initially part of Max’s 2024 plans, an unexpected change arose providing the opportunity to have Max step up and sample the bigger, faster F2 machinery. Having had several strong showings in Formula 3 this year – including multiple point- scoring opportunities and a front-row starting position at Silverstone – Max adapted well despite being on a steep learning curve of new circuits and the fierce competition of FIA Formula 3.
Max has tested with Trident in years past, and he has spent time with our engineering team and on the sim several years ago and again earlier this year, and most recently in prep for Qatar and Abu Dhabi. On each occasion the team have been impressed with his speed, hard work, feedback, and overall professional approach.
Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager Trident Motorsport: “We are excited to finally be working with Max in a race situation. We first met him over two years ago when he was still driving Formula Fords and have closely followed his progress since then. He had some very strong outings this year in FIA Formula 3, his first year in international competition, especially as he was with one of the smallest teams, and on circuits which were almost all new to him.
“He is smart and has a mature, calm personality; he is hard working, and while he has already shown great pace, he is only in his fourth full year of racing and still learning – so we’re excited to see his progress this year.”
Max Esterson, driver Trident Motorsport, FIA F2 Championship 2024: “It’s great to be making the step up to Formula 2, even if it’s a little sooner than I had imagined. Just two years ago I was running a Formula Ford and winning the FF Festival, and now I’m about to make my debut in Formula 2. It’s all happened quickly but the people closest to me are all confident about my ability to successfully make the jump.
“I’ve been working hard with the team at Trident and feel I’m well prepared and ready to go. I want to give a special thanks to Maurizio Salvadori and Giacomo Ricci for making this happen, and to the rest of the Trident team for making me feel so welcome.”
[Note: The story is as per press release]