Sebastian Montoya back in Europe with PREMA for 2021

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Sebastian Montoya is continuing his progress through the ranks of world motorsport by extending his partnership with PREMA Powerteam into 2021.

The 15-year-old Colombian-American switched from karting to single-seaters by competing for the team last season in the Italian Formula 4 championship.

He will return to the series again this year, as well as taking part in selected rounds of the German counterpart competition.

The son of former F1 and NASCAR driver and double Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian finished in the top ten on 13 occasions, including three top-five finishes at Misano and Monza during his maiden season

Read also: Montoya 'always McLaren's top choice' for 2021 Indy 500

However he was only 11th in the final standings following setbacks arising from what the team described as logistical challenges, while his PREMA team mate Gabriele Minì took the title.

“We are very pleased to work with Sebastian again for 2021," said PREMA team principal Angelo Rosin. "Last year, he didn’t have the easiest rookie season, but he showed great potential and we cannot wait to see him progress even further in the season ahead.

"We are making good progress with our preparations and we look forward to hitting the track soon with our full line-up.”

Since the end of the season Montoya has returned to his karting roots in order to keep himself race-sharp.

He will be back in Italy to begin testing ahead of the first F4 weekend of 2021 in May at Circuit Paul Ricard, with the German ADAC series also getting underway on the same weekend at Germany’s Oschersleben circuit

“I’m super happy to be with Prema once again in F4," he said. "Last year, the team helped me massively to learn and improve throughout the season. I am excited to see what we can accomplish together after one year under my belt."

Joining Montoya in the line-up will be Danish Formula 4 champion Conrad Laursen, who like Montoya has a racing driver in his genes courtesy of father Johnny who has raced a Ferrari GT car at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“I am extremely proud and happy to join PREMA Powerteam,” said the 15-year-old. “My goal has always been to drive with PREMA. I am sure this is the best place for me to develop as a driver.

"I can’t wait to get started, and I am sure that together we will accomplish great results."

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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.