Maximilian Gunther to Prema for European 3 as new team joins

The 18-year-old Mercedes-supported German, who took victory at the Norisring this season in his rookie F3 campaign, continues with Prema after joining the Italian squad for the final round of 2015 at Hockenheim.

Gunther finished runner-up in the ADAC Formel Masters series in 2013 and '14 with Mucke Motorsport before graduating to F3 with the Berlin team, but left the operation in September this year.

Since his end-of-season one-off at Hockenheim with Prema he has tested with the team in Italy, Spain and Portugal over the past weeks.

"The first race weekend with the team at Hockenheim as well as the testing days afterwards have been very impressive for me," said Gunther.

"The atmosphere inside the team is fantastic and their way of working is very professional, so I'm very much looking forward to a successful cooperation."

Prema boss Rene Rosin added: "He impressed us all as a really quick and consistent driver, and these are the two major elements needed to be a successful part of Prema.

"So we did not miss the chance to sign him and I am proud to have him for 2016."

Gunther joins fellow F3 race winner Lance Stroll and Italian F4 champion Ralf Aron in Prema's squad of Mercedes-powered Dallaras.

The fourth driver is yet to be announced although Japanese F3 champion Nick Cassidy is strongly tipped for the seat after testing with the team.

NEW TEAM JOINS FIELD

Italian team DAV Racing has joined the provisional entry list for next year's F3 European Championship.

DAV, which is best known for its Euroformula Open activities, takes its name from team boss Matteo Davenia, while seasoned single-seater engineer Roberto Costa is technical director.

All 11 teams that contested the majority of this year's championship are on the list, which represents 39 cars, with Swiss F3 stalwart Jo Zeller Racing - absent from the series in 2015 - also committing to pre-registration.

There is no pre-registration from Russian-owned team Artline Engineering, which gave the ArtTech chassis its first two race outings at the end of the 2015 season.