Ferrari announced Maya Weug as its first FIA Girls on Track programme winner, as Marcus Armstrong’s 2021 F2 switch to DAMS is confirmed.
Ferrari announced Weug as winner of its FIA Girls on Track selection programme, as she became the first female racer to be inducted in the Italian manufacturer’s driver academy. As the winner, she will now get a chance to compete in F4 in 2021.
The half Belgian/Dutch driver living in Spain will be part of the full Ferrari Driver Academy, which saw the likes of Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher move into F1 in recent times. The 16-year-old seemingly surprised everyone with her performances.
In fact, Head of Ferrari Driver Academy, Marco Matassa, noted that one of the drivers broke their scouting programme record at Fiorano. Additionally, Laurent Mekies announced that the remaining finalists Julia Ayoub, Antonella Bassani and Doriane Pin, will get to test a Ferrari Challenge car.
Here’s the video recap of announcement: https://www.facebook.com/FIAWomenInMotorsport/videos/230157995450277/
Earlier in the day, Ferrari Driver Academy’s Armstrong confirmed his move to DAMS in F2 for the 2021 season for his second year after spending his rookie tenure with ART Grand Prix. The move was on certainly after the Kiwi tested with the team in Bahrain.
Armstrong started the 2020 F2 season on a good note with two podiums but together with Christian Lundgaard had a rough patch in between. He becomes DAMS’ first signing, who are expected to announce Williams test driver Roy Nissany as his teammate.
The duo will be an all-new line-up for DAMS after it ran Daniel Ticktum and Sean Gelael in 2020. “I’m very excited to be joining DAMS, it’s been a long time coming as there was a lot of interest in working together last season,” said Armstrong. “Formula 2 is such a competitive championship and with only eight events it’s important to start on the right foot in an experienced team that’s used to winning.
“DAMS has a massive history, especially in GP2 and F2 – it’s one of, if not the, best to be with. In the short time I’ve worked with the team it’s already clear they bring out the best in people and have the resources to give me exactly what I need. We are aiming for the title.
“We’ve discussed that it’s not in my interest to finish second and they firmly agreed because they have the exact same targets. By no means is it going to be easy with such fierce competition, but I feel that when I’m in the right environment with a great team I can really do special things.”
At the same time, Gregory and Olivier Driot, Co-Team Owners, said: “We are very happy to welcome Marcus to DAMS. We have been following his career and his performance for several years so we are glad to finally join forces for this season. It’s going to be an important year for both of us. Looking at Marcus’ track record, it is obviously one of our main targets to challenge for the titles this year.
“Marcus drove for us in the 2020 post-season test in Bahrain and he gave some great feedback to the engineers. It was good for him to get to know the team ahead of the 2021 campaign, and everything so far has been positive. This is Marcus’ second year in Formula 2 and he has big goals, as does DAMS. We won the teams’ title in 2019 and we would like to be back at the top. We are really looking forward to starting in Bahrain.”
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
Carlin: Jehan Daruvala
MP Motorsport: Lirim Zendeli
Campos Racing: Ralph Boschung
DAMS: Marcus Armstrong
Here’s Carlos Sainz talking of sim session, Charles Leclerc streaming on Twitch
IndyCar postpones 2021 opener:
With COVID-19 restrictions still prevailing, IndyCar announced the postponement of the 2021 opener from April 11 to April 18 at Barber Motorsport Park, where the rest of the calendar remains the same – for now.
“The schedule changes we’ve had, while partially prompted by ongoing pandemic conditions, give us a powerful start to the 2021 season,” said Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles. “With six of our first eight races on network television and all in a more compact timeline, it’s an enormous opportunity to drive even more momentum as we deliver our exciting brand of racing to our fans.”