The other Mercedes F1 young gun facing a big 2022

Frederik Vesti has high expectations on his shoulders heading into his FIA Formula 2 rookie season in 2022.

The Mercedes junior makes his move up the single-seater pyramid with ART Grand Prix, having finished fourth with the team in FIA Formula 3 in 2021, a result he was not happy with.

Vesti had entered 2021 as one of its highest hopes, having won the Formula Regional European Championship in 2019 before his year with Prema in F3, scoring one win and five podiums, amassing 138 points – a good tally by most standards.

However, having scored more points along with three wins and four podiums in his debut year with Prema Racing in 2020, having also finished fourth, the Dane was left wanting for more in 2021, saying it was “not a good result.”

“I cannot be happy about the way the season unfolded,” he says. “We were really unlucky as well, in terms of the car breaking down, like three times, especially on the Saturday. I think maybe it was in Budapest, it broke down, which ruined a lot of points on Saturday. DRS problem in Zandvoort in qualifying.

“You know, it's not only the car, it’s not only me, it's a combination of different things. All of this, all of last year was quite frustrating in many episodes. But this is really also the fuel on the fire right now for me, because I want to make sure that this year, I’m as well prepared as possible and mentally ready for F2.”

Frederik Vesti secured just one win in F3 last year compared to three wins in 2020

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Vesti might be pessimistic about his form last year, but he still showed great promise. His start to the season was solid, taking third in the second sprint in Barcelona, while finishing in the points in the two other races.

Another great weekend came in Austria, with a win and a second out of three results. Mechanical problems hampered his chances at the Hungaroring and in Zandvoort, but he still managed a third in the second sprint race in the Netherlands, before rounding the season off with a second in the feature race in Sochi.

“It’s a great thing to be a part of the Mercedes programme, because they really want me to succeed, and they are there to help me. They are on my side, and that's the feeling I got, which gives me the belief and the motivation to do that a little bit better in every area” Frederik Vesti

Despite his disappointment, Vesti says “in some ways, it's really built the foundation for where I am today with ART.”

“I feel like the season somehow turned me into a different driver, because with Prema in the year before I achieved massively, a lot of success, but also a lot of down periods,” Vesti reflects. “But with ART I was able to really work on myself and the way we work together as a team. And at times, obviously, we were not as successful as we'd hoped for during the season. But we still did do pole positions and race wins.

“The main thing I'm trying to say is that this second year with ART, actually, I feel in a better position. Because the communication, the way of working, knowing the people within the team, and all these sort of things, makes a big step.

“So yes, last year wasn't the year I’d hoped for, but it's also put me in a position to really work hard and really to put the right things in place this year.”

Vesti celebrates winning race three at the Red Bull Ring

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Vesti is incredibly thankful for the opportunity to progress into F2, noting that it’s “only one step away from Formula 1,” although he is keen not to take that for granted and is acutely aware of the work needed to make that colossal step.

He is also grateful to have Theo Pourchaire as his team-mate, with the French Sauber junior heading into his second F2 season, finishing fifth in 2021 after clinching two wins and three podiums.

He adds: “It's not really the way I see it because to race F1 we need to develop every single day and even if you reach that point, you need to develop to stay in F1, and this is completely my mindset throughout this beginning of this year and during the first part of the season is really my progression and the way I interact and work with the team.

“I'm really lucky to have Theo as my team-mate, because he's really strong. He has already built a good foundation last year, and I'll be able to learn a lot from him during this season. Yeah, so I'm in a good position in terms of my development.”

Vesti joined the Mercedes junior programme in 2021

Vesti’s Mercedes backing is something he is clearly proud of, and intends to take full advantage of the Brackley team’s support in 2022, moving to Oxford in a bid to be closer to their UK base.

He appeared at its 2022 F1 car launch alongside boss Toto Wolff and drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, leading the team’s roster of junior drivers as the most senior member, and says they are “involving me, including me a lot more into the team.” Vesti is also keen to extract as much information and experience as possible from “the best engineers in the world” at Mercedes.

“It’s a great thing to be a part of the Mercedes programme, because they really want me to succeed, and they are there to help me," he says. "They are on my side, and that's the feeling I got, which gives me the belief and the motivation to do that a little bit better in every area. So yeah, I'm very proud to be part of the Mercedes junior team.”

"I’ve really just got to focus on this year, I can't even look a month ahead. It's really important to focus and just be in the present time and enjoy that moment, because it's also the journey which is a part of the whole thing, and it's that momentum that you need to bring" Frederik Vesti

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Despite their fierce rivalry with Red Bull in F1, Vesti says such competition doesn’t exist in the same form in F2.  Red Bull, who guided Max Verstappen to last year's drivers’ championship, have five juniors on the F2 grid this season, compared to two Alpine Academy members, while Vesti is the sole Mercedes representative, and his new ART team-mate Pourchaire is linked to Alfa Romeo through the Sauber junior programme. 

He jokes: “Honestly, it's so confusing, because as you said, half the grid is Red Bull in Formula 2, and obviously on track, it's a bit funny because normally you sort of know who you are racing or who you see on track, but the Red Bull cars in F2 you cannot see any difference – it could be a Prema, could be a DAMS. So yeah, it's a bit strange, but it's good.”

Russell, a product of the Mercedes junior programme, makes the step up to the factory team in 2022

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

With the team’s selective approach to juniors, it’s clear that Mercedes have big plans for Vesti. All of their juniors have ended up in F1 seats: Pascal Wehrlein raced in DTM before making his F1 debut with Manor in 2016, scoring the team’s sole point, before moving to Sauber the following year. Esteban Ocon took a similar path, first racing in DTM before moving to Manor, Force India and then Renault, where he remains under its new Alpine moniker.

Russell has proven the most successful yet, taking both the GP3 and F2 titles in his rookie years before making his mark in F1 at Williams, taking the team’s first front-row start and then podium in four years during a controversial weekend at Spa. He has finally been given a seat with the factory team for 2022 in a long-awaited move, having so very nearly won the Sahkir Grand Prix in 2020 when he sat in for a Covid-stricken Lewis Hamilton.

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So Vesti is all too aware of what could happen should he prove himself in F2. But for now, this season is his priority, and he wants to enjoy the journey along the way.

“I’ve really just got to focus on this year, I can't even look a month ahead,” he says. “It's really important to focus and just be in the present time and enjoy that moment, because it's also the journey which is a part of the whole thing, and it's that momentum that you need to bring.

“And if you always try to think ahead and try to make a plan, you know, if I've learned one thing over the past three years, the plan never sticks, you need to be able to adapt, and you need to be able to work out solutions to get the most out of everything. And that's in a race, it's in qualifying, it's in life in general. Because of this, I really tried just to enjoy my time in Bahrain, enjoying my time in the UK, you know, all these different things.

“And with that, momentum will come and it's the momentum that will take me into Formula 1.”

Although for now his focus is on achieving the best F2 rookie year possible with ART, Vesti’s F1 dream might not be too far away should the stars align for him in 2022.

Vesti is looking to grab the headlines in F2 this year to line up a dream F1 move

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd