Mansell earns immediate F2 graduation
After a breakout F3 season, Australia’s Christian Mansell will step up to FIA Formula 2 with Trident this weekend.
Mansell will make his debut for the Italian team at the very next round at Baku this weekend replacing Roman Stanek and will stay in the seat for the rest of the year also racing at Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The Newcastle born 19-year-old, who races with Type 1 Diabetes has earned the progression after an impressive second F3 campaign.
Having finished 12th in his rookie 2023 season, Mansell took a maiden pole and five podiums to secure a top-five championship finish for ART.
Now Mansell will be the first Australian to race F2 since 2023.
“I can’t wait to make my FIA Formula 2 debut with Trident Motorsport,” said Mansell.
“I’m extremely happy to race with this Italian team on the Baku street circuit and in the next two events before the end of the season. It will be a fiery debut on a challenging track like the Azerbaijani one, but I must confess I’m more excited than nervous.”
“It is something that would mean the absolute world to me,” Mansell told Auto Action after the Monza F3 finale.
“I would be pretty stoked if I was able to be in F2.
“Top five in F3 means realistically you should be able to make that jump work.
“It would just be awesome, especially starting in Melbourne. That makes me very excited.”
After making the move to Europe in 2020 Mansell finished seventh in F4 Britain before finishing a strong third in GB3 the following year.
This led to a berth in Euroformula Open Championship in 2022 where he took three wins to secure another third place in the points standings.
In that same 2022 season Mansell made his F3 debut in two cameo appearances in Belgium and Monza, which prepared him for a full time debut in 2023.
Mansell had his rookie campaign for Campos where two podiums were the highlight.
A move to ART worked wonders in 2024 as he was a championship contender until the final three rounds and collected five podiums.
But now Mansell turns his attention to F2 on the latest step on chasing his F1 dream.
“We are extremely delighted to field Australian driver Christian Mansell in the next three rounds of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Team Manager Giacomo Ricci added.
“I consider him one of the most talented emerging drivers we have seen this year in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, where he was in contention for the title until the final round in Monza.
“Christian is a complete driver, quick in qualifying, and extremely good at managing tyres and overtaking. Making his debut in Baku will certainly be an ambitious goal, not easy at all.
“We have carried out dedicated preparation work with him, and I am convinced that it will pay dividends, especially if there will be no interruptions in the free practice session. I am sure there are all the conditions to do well.”
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