Following his impressive performances in the GP3 Series last year, Ralph Boschung will step up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula 1’s premier feeder series, in 2017 with the highly-successful Campos Racing outfit.
In his second season of GP3 last year, the Swiss stormed to his maiden victory in Spielberg, Austria, and narrowly missed out on a top 10 placing at the end of the season, despite only taking part at selected rounds of the championship.
The move to F2, which shares many similar elements to Formula 1 including DRS (Drag Reduction System), continues his natural progression to the pinnacle of world motorsport, where a Swiss driver last featured in 2011.
For this season, Boschung joins 2008 GP2 Teams’ champions Campos Racing, which played a crucial role in the development of Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez on their way to Formula 1.
F2 is supporting 10 F1 rounds this year, including the Monaco Grand Prix (25-27 May), which Boschung will be discovering for the first time in his racing career.
Additionally, the 19-year-old will be returning to many familiar circuits he has previous experience of during his time in GP3, including Silverstone, where he achieved his first podium, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza.
Boschung is yet to drive this the latest-specification F2 Dallara, but will make his debut during the Barcelona test next week (13-15 March) before the season gets underway in Sakhir, Bahrain on April 14-16.
Ralph Boschung said: “I have been in contact with Campos for quite a while now and I’m incredibly thankful to the team because there’s a lot of competition for a seat in F2. It’s an amazing opportunity for me and I’m really grateful that they took the decision to bring me on board.
“I’ve moved to Spain now and have already started to meet all of the team and worked on their simulator. I’ve been training hard over the winter to be ready, so I believe I’m at the right level of fitness.
“The competition is going to be strong, I have raced against many of these drivers before in GP3 and have a huge amount of respect for them.
“I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Malbuner, the leading meat business in Switzerland, with its newest snack innovation, the Pocket Sandwich, who helped me get this fantastic opportunity, as well as the Valais-based building company CP3 and Patrick Polli, Platinum Fighter Sales, Avanthay and B63. I am also extremely grateful to the ‘Club 50’ members for their valuable support.”
Official Tests
1. Barcelona, Spain, March 13-15
2. Sakhir, Bahrain, March 29-31
2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship Calendar 1. Sakhir, Bahrain, April 14-16 2. Barcelona, Spain, May 12-14 3. Monte Carlo, Monaco, May 25-27 4. Baku, Azerbaijan, June 23-25 5. Spielberg, Austria, July 7-9 6. Silverstone, Great Britain, July 14-16 7. Hungaroring, Hungary, July 28-30 8. Spa, Belgium, August 25-27 9. Monza, Italy, September 1-3 10. Jerez, Spain, October 6-8. 11. Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates, November 24-26
___________________________________ Image copyright: Campos Racing
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