ART Grand Prix is pleased to announce that Alexander Smolyar will drive one of their trio of Formula 3 challengers in the 2020 championship season.
The 18-year-old Russian driver followed the typical course of most racing drivers, starting with karting and then crossing over to single-seaters in 2017. Here he raced in the Spanish Formula 4, a championship where he took 8 victories in his first season, ending the championship in 2nd place overall. In the same year, he also finished on the SMP F4 rostrum with 11 podium finishes from 21 races. Since that first successful year, Alexander’s career has followed an expediential path culminating in fighting for the championship title in Formula Renault Eurocup last year.
Alexander Smolyar :
“I am very happy that I will take part in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with the well-known and experienced ART Grand Prix team. This championship will be a big challenge for me. I think for the first time in my life I will encounter a serious level of competition. I will try to meet the expectations that SMP Racing and ART Grand Prix have put on me. I’m sure that with their support and help it will be easier for me to adapt to the new championship, and I’m already looking forward to the start of pre-season testing in March”.
Sébastien Philippe (ART Grand Prix President) :
“Alexander has been on ART Grand Prix’s radar since his remarkable debut in single-seaters. He is still young, he only has 3 years of single seaters under his belt but he has the maturity to manage a championship and the pressure of a race weekend, where the slightest error is paid for in cash. He is part of a thriving Russian industry and he impressed ART Grand Prix with his skills and character. He is one of those drivers with whom we know we will have all the tools to do a good job, starting from the first race in 2020”.
