McLaren junior Nyck de Vries joins Rapax for F2 campaign

Nyck de Vries has signed up to compete with Rapax in the 2017 F2 championship, which was formerly known as GP2.

The McLaren junior already has two junior single-seater titles to his name. He bagged both the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and Alps titles in 2014.

The Dutchman finished in sixth place in last year's GP3 Series. He had previously been expected to join Ferrari's GT programme in 2017. But now it's been confirmed that he will partner series veteran Johnny Cecotto Jr in this year's inaugural F2 season.

“Coming from the important announcement that saw the GP2 Series transition to the new FIA Formula 2 project, we are delighted to announce Nyck De Vries and Johnny Cecotto as our drivers for 2017," said Rapax managing director Andrea Bergamini.

"We worked really hard to make the two deals happen, especially after the great results scored in last December’s test at Abu Dhabi.

"In addition to their undisputed driving skills, Johnny and Nyck quickly established good chemistry with the team, laying great foundations on which to build a challenging yet already fascinating 2017 season."

GP2 Series rebranded FIA Formula 2 Championship

"I would like to thank Rapax for their faith in me and everyone involved," responded De Vries.

"It has been a tough ride, but here we are ready to fight. I have a lot of great memories in Italy from my karting time, so it really feels like coming home.

"I will remain a member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme, which I have been associated with for seven years now," said De Vries. The 22-year-old has been managed by Anthony Hamilton, father of Formula One champion Lewis.

"I hope to achieve success in FIA Formula 2 with Rapax. My ultimate aim of course remains to get to Formula One and achieve success there too.

"I am very grateful for this opportunity. I am confident that we will make it a successful campaign together."

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.