Alessio Lorandi replaces axed Santino Ferrucci at Trident F2 team
GP3 Series and European F3 race winner Alessio Lorandi will replace the banned and dropped Santino Ferrucci at Trident Racing in Formula 2 for the remainder of the season
Lorandi switched to Trident from Jenzer Motorsport in GP3 for 2018, and finished on the podium at the recent Austrian round, despite driving with a broken collarbone that he feared would interrupt his campaign.
Lorandi held seventh in the standings, the position he achieved last year, but will now step up to Formula 2 alongside Arjun Maini at Trident, which maintains an all F2 rookie line-up, starting in Hungary this weekend.
"I'm really happy and extremely motivated," said Lorandi of the new challenge.
"I will need to adapt myself to the car really quickly and there will be a lot of things to learn.
"I am working hard with the team to prepare for my debut at Hungaroring.
"I am really excited about this amazing new challenge."
Giacomo Ricci, team manager and 2006 Italian Formula 3000 champion as a driver, added:
"His experience and driving style impressed Trident's technical staff, and they believe he is ready to make the step-up to Formula 2.
"Lorandi will receive maximum support from the team so he will be able to quickly learn all the secrets of the new series for him.
"With Alessio and Arjun, the team will be able to rely on a tight-knit pairing. They have already been team-mates in Formula 3 so we are sure that they will work well together."
Ferrucci was dropped last week after receiving a four-race ban for crashing into his team-mate Arjun Maini after the Silverstone sprint race.
Red Bull Formula 1 protégé Dan Ticktum had been rumoured to be replacing Ferrucci but Red Bull have elected to keep him in European Formula 3 for the immediate feature.
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