Nirei Fukuzumi moves up to F2

Arden Motorsport and Honda have confirmed that Nirei Fukuzumi will race with the team in FIA Formula 2 for the 2018 season.

Honda protégé Nirei Fukuzumi, 20, competed in the GP3 Series with ART Grand Prix across 2016/17. The Japanese driver finishing third in the points behind ART teammates George Russell and Jack Aitken with feature race wins in Barcelona and Jerez.

Fukuzumi will now graduate to FIA Formula 2 with Arden, having run for the team during post-season testing in Abu Dhabi - held after the final race of the 2017 season. He will be combining his FIA F2 Championship campaign with a Super Formula drive by long-time backers Honda, as he will drive for Team Mugen, effectively taking over the place vacated by Pierre Gasly.

It will be a busy campaign for Fukuzumi, but he and the team are confident of a strong season ahead - building on his success from his second season in GP3.

Fukuzumi’s teammate is set to be announced in the coming weeks, before attention turns to the pre-season tests at the Circuit de Catalunya, Spain and the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain.