Red Bull places Dean Stoneman at DAMS in Formula Renault 3.5

Stoneman joins McLaren protege and 2014 Formula Renault Eurocup champion Nyck de Vries at DAMS, which took Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz Jr to the last two FR3.5 titles.

"To be part of the Red Bull Junior Team has been one of my life goals and it is fantastic to be given the chance," said Stoneman.

"You just have to look at the names that have gone before to see that only the best drivers get into the programme.

"I'm thrilled about the year ahead, to be in the DAMS team in World Series is a perfect opportunity.

"I'm aiming very high, Carlos came from GP3 to World Series and won with DAMS last year.

"I think I showed last year in GP3 what I can do so I have no reason not to jump into Renault 3.5 and do well, get on the podium early and start racking up the points."

DAMS boss Jean-Paul Driot said it was a mark of the French squad's achievements that it will be running two F1 juniors in FR3.5 this year.

"I'm delighted to welcome Nyck and Dean - they are both very talented with very different career paths, and they have considerable experience so they will really be a top class duo," he said.

"It's also very satisfying to see that teams like McLaren and Red Bull continue to entrust DAMS with budding champions.

"We've got the right weapons to enjoy a really great season in 2015 and defend our titles.

"We must remain humble given the quality of our rivals, but we must not lower our sights."

Stoneman won the Formula 2 title in 2010, but then had to pause his racing career to undergo treatment for cancer.

He had been set to take up an ISR FR3.5 drive for 2011 as team-mate to Red Bull-backed Daniel Ricciardo prior to his diagnosis.

Stoneman initially returned in Radical and Porsche racing before coming back to single-seaters when he joined Koiranen for the 2013 GP3 season finale, where he took a podium finish in race two.

A full GP3 programme followed for 2014, initially with the Marussia-branded Manor team.

When this squad dropped out of the series before the final two events, Stoneman returned to Koiranen and won first time out at Sochi.

A second victory in Abu Dhabi took his tally for the year to five and secured second in the championship behind Alex Lynn.

2015 FR3.5 LINE-UP SO FAR

DAMS
Nyck de Vries, Dean Stoneman

Fortec Motorsports
Oliver Rowland, tba

Arden Motorsport
Egor Orudzhev, Nicholas Latifi

Lotus
Meindert van Buuren, Matthieu Vaxiviere

Strakka Racing
Gustav Malja, tba

AVF
Beitske Visser, Alfonso Celis

Tech 1 Racing
Aurelien Panis, tba

International Draco Racing
Pietro Fantin, tba

Pons Racing
Oscar Tunjo, tba

Carlin
Tom Dillmann, Sean Gelael

Yet to announce any drivers: Zeta Corse, Comtec Racing