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Arthur Leclerc heads to Formula 3 with Prema in 2021

Formula 3 reigning team champions Prema Racing have announced that Arthur Leclerc will be one of their drivers for the 2021 season.

The 20-year-old Monegasque driver is the younger brother of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

He is himself a member of the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy that has also included Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman and Mick Schumacher.

Leclerc started his single-seater racing career in 2018 in the French Formula 4 Championship and was third in the German Series the following year.

Read also: Arthur Leclerc gets first taste of Formula 3

Most recently he picked up six wins and eight pole positions and was runner-up in the Regional Series, setting himself up for a promotion to F3 next year.

He's already worked with the team in two F3 postseason test sessions at Barcelona and Jerez last October.

"I am delighted to welcome Arthur to our FIA Formula 3 operation," said Prema team principal René Rosin on Tuesday.

"He experienced a high-quality season in 2020, ending up with more wins than anybody else in the Regional championship.

"His skills come with a dedicated approach to the hard work behind the scenes, which is clearly what we are looking for at this level. We can’t wait to start preparing for the season ahead!”

Leclerc spoke of the 'special relationship' that he's already developed with the Prema team that he felt would set him up well for next season's endeavours.

“I am really happy to announce that I will step up to FIA F3 with Prema Racing next year," he said. "It will be a completely new challenge for me.

"[There will be] a lot more drivers on the grid and a weekend format that looks really exciting! I can’t wait to start the season.”

"I have quite a bit of experience with the team," he added. "It will be my second year with them and we established a special relationship."

Prema have been the top team in F3 since the championship began in 2019, when it replaced the former GP3 Series.

Their drivers Robert Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Jehan Daruvala topped the driver standings in the first year, and Oscar Piastri was champion in 2020 with Logan Sargeant and Frederik Vesti also finishing in the top four.

Charles Leclerc also competed for Prema's Formula 2 operation in 2017 and won the inaugural championship before getting taped to join Alfa Romeo in F1, a year before he made the move to Maranello.

The brothers competed against each other in the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix series that took place while worldwide motorsport was suspended as a result of the global lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

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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.