Does Prema hold the key to Ferrari & Mercedes future success?

The Prema team have been an Italian racing power house since its inception in 1983. Over the years they have become a leading competitor in the junior single seater categories of Formula 2, 3 & 4, recently adding the World Endurance Championship and LeMans to their resume. Many of today's Formula 1 drivers have made there  way to F1 via Prema, the most recent being Oscar Piastri but other names include LeClerc, Gasley, Ocon, Schumacher, Stroll & Zhou, winning the F2 championship with half that list.       

© Prema team 

© Prema Team

Prema's 2023 season so far has been a positive one. Largely down to their acquisition of former ART and current Mercedes Academy driver Fredrik Vesti and their continued partnership with Ferrari backed Brit Ollie Bearman, bringing him up from FIA formula 3, where he also raced for Prema. Despite getting caught up in some first lap incidents, DNFs or no points finishes at a couple of races for each driver, after 6 rounds and 12 races the Prema boys boast 6 wins, multiple podiums and points finishes and occupy 1st (Vesti) & 4th (Bearman) in the championship. Proving so far they are both worthy of their Prema machinery.

Danish Fredrik Vesti made his FIA Formula 2 debut in 2022 with ART at the age of 20 but after a less than ideal rookie season, was excited to join the legendary Prema team. That change proved great for both team and driver as Vesti currently leads the f2 championship with 110 points, 11 clear of his former ART team mate Theo Pourchaire. He is rapidly cementing himself as the man to beat in the drivers championship but more than that Vesti ultimate goal is to follow in the footsteps of former Mercedes Academy driver George Russell and progress to a seat at Mercedes but he has big competition. Mike Schumacher former F2 champion (did it with Prema) and now mercedes man is his biggest rival for any potentially empty seat at Merc, the advantage Vesti has is he is racing and has the platform to show the team his potential and skill in a way Schumacher isn't able to do anymore.

© Prema Team

© Prema Team

Equally so Ferrari backed Ollie Bearman is feeling the weight of knowing he has big shoes to fill at Prema. Charles LeClerc was F2 champion with Prema and currently occupies 1 of 2 seats in formula 1 Bearman covets above all others and with both Ferrari seats being open after 2024 now is the time for Ollie to show his real skill and exceptional ability to get his name at the top of the list of drivers that deserves a place at the Mighty Ferrari. So far in 2023 he has made sure that nobody in red has forgotten the name Bearman. 3 wins, topping all sessions at Baku and some really inspired performances in qualifying and the race have not just the Scuderia taking notice.

It goes without saying that racing is an unpredictable and formidable sport and FIA Formula 2 is no exception. Anyone of its teams could as you read this be developing F1 next Legend or stars of the future but for now its incontestable that Vesti and Bearman are the brightest hopes for Mercedes and Ferrari's future world championship campaigns and that the pressure is on for both of them to deliver this year for Prema in the hope of proving themselves talented, hardworking and ruthless  enough to make it to Formula 1 and occupy 2 of the top seats it has to offer.

© Prema Team

Joanna Blackmore 
Formula 1 writer @F1journal