Pedro Piquet picks Van Amersfoort for 2016 European Formula 3
Pedro Piquet, the 17-year-old son of three-time Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet, will contest next season's Formula 3 European Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing
Piquet moves to the team after two successive Brazilian F3 titles, and has wrapped up the 2015 crown before the season has even finished.
He tested for Dutch team VAR last winter and has been out again with the squad recently at the Red Bull Ring, the Nurburgring and Spa.
"If you look at the results of the last seasons in European F3, you will see that Van Amersfoort Racing is in the battle for the championship every year," said Piquet.
"I also like the atmosphere within the team - a relaxed, almost family atmosphere yet with the ambition to win.
"Above all this season will be a learning year - on new tracks I will have a disadvantage, but for the second half of the season I aim for top-10 results."
Team boss Frits van Amersfoort is delighted to recruit Piquet, who will move to the Netherlands, for his Volkswagen-powered squad, which now has four cars.
"The family Piquet know all the tricks of the trade," he said, "for us it's a big compliment that Pedro and Nelson opted for us.
"Pedro has the dedication it takes to be a successful racing driver, and we are going to help him turn his ambition into results."
Nelson Piquet finished third in the previous incarnation of European F3 in 1977, his maiden season in Europe, before switching to a title-winning campaign in Britain in '78.
Van Amersfoort was a European F3 race winner with Charles Leclerc this season and ran Max Verstappen to third in the standings in his maiden single-seater campaign last year.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments