Oliver Bearman will compete for PREMA in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship, the Italian squad has confirmed.
The Briton raced for PREMA in FIA Formula 3 this year and ended the campaign third in the Drivers’ Championship, just seven points down on title-winner Victor Martins.
Bearman is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
The 17-year-old is the second driver to be confirmed on the 2023 F2 grid after Dennis Hauger, who is racing for PREMA this year, announced that he will move to MP Motorsport.
“I’m really excited to continue another year with the PREMA family, this time in F2,” Bearman said. “I’m really happy with how my first season went in F3.
“It was a really nice introduction and I felt like the team coached me throughout the year really well.
“I will continue to work hard over the winter with the Ferrari Driver Academy, in order to be fully prepared for 2023.
“It will be a tough challenge, but everyone works so hard and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I’m already really excited for the test in Abu Dhabi and for the first round of 2023 in Bahrain.”
Bearman took one victory and seven further podiums en route to his third place finish in F3 this year.
PREMA team boss Rene Rosin added: “We were amazed by how quickly and successfully Ollie transitioned from F4 to Formula 3 racing.
“He is a really talented driver, and while he will be making his first steps in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, we are confident he will improve race by race with the support of our team and the Ferrari Driver Academy as well.
“It won’t be easy, because the step from F3 to F2 is considerable, but we are confident in his potential for the season ahead.”
| Team | No. | Drivers | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | MP Motorsport | 1 2 |   | Dennis Hauger Jehan Daruvala |
 | Rodin Carlin | 3 4 |   | Enzo Fittipaldi Zane Maloney |
 | ART Grand Prix | 5 6 | | Theo Pourchaire Victor Martins |
 | Prema Racing | 7 8 | | Frederick Vesti Oliver Bearman |
| Hitech Grand Prix | 9 10 |  | Jak Crawford Isack Hadjar |
| DAMS | 11 12 |   | Ayumu Iwasa Arthur Leclerc |
| Virtuosi Racing | 14 15 |   | Jack Doohan Amaury Cordeel |
 | PHM Racing by Charouz | 16 17 |  | Roy Nissany Brad Benavides |
| Trident | 20 21 |  | Roman Stanek Clement Novalak |
| Van Amersfoort Racing | 22 23 | | Richard Verschoor Juan Manuel Correa |
 | Campos Racing | 24 25 |  | Kush Maini Ralph Boschung |
