Correa back on track with tribute to Hubert

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American driver Juan Manuel Correa is another step closer to making a full-time return to the race track this weekend by taking part in an two-day FIA Formula 3 pre-season test at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria with ART Grand Prix.

Correa was involved in a horrific accident at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019 while competing in Formula 2 with the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz.

The accident claimed the life of fellow competitor Anthoine Hubert after the pair collided at Radillion on the second lap of the F2 sprint race at the end of August 2019.

The wreck left Correa with serious injuries that required more than a year of multiple surgeries, extensive treatment and rehabilitation.

Read also: Correa back behind the wheel 533 days after Spa tragedy

But finally the Ecuador-born 21-year-old is able to back to get back to racing in the F1 weekend support series.

"I’m extremely happy to be back after what I’ve been through," Correa said earlier this year. "F3 is a transition year, my dream is still to reach F1 and this is the first step in my comeback."

In February, Correa was behind the wheel of a single-seater race car at Paul Ricard for the first time since the accident.

And for this week's official F3 test, Correa paid tribute to Hubert with his choice of helmet design for the occasion.

"I just wanted to give you a quick sneak peek of my new helmet," Correa explained in a video posted on social media.

"Obviously this helmet is very special for me, as it's the helmet I'm going to do my comeback with," he continued. "And to commemorate Anthoine, as he will always be racing with me."

"This year will be no exception, I have his logo on the top and the rear. The rest is my design as always. I think it looks nice!"

There are two further F3 test sessions planned, with the first race of the 2021 season scheduled to take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya over the weekend of May 8-9.

Correa's team mates at ART will be Frederik Vesti and Alexander Smolyar.

Last year's F3 campaign was dominated by Prema, which not only won the team championship but saw lead driver Oscar Piastri clinch the drivers title ahead of ART's Théo Pourchaire. Piastri's team mate Logan Sargeant finished third.

Piastri moves to Prema's F2 squad this year, while an all-new line up in the F2 team will consist of Dennis Hauger, Arthur Leclerc and Olli Caldwell.

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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.