Mercedes Junior Team

The Mercedes Junior Team is an initiative by the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team to help nurture talent from karts through the feeder series ladder to promote them to their Formula One team. All eligible drivers have been promoted to Formula One, with Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon and George Russell, the latter driving for Mercedes from 2022.

Mercedes Junior Team

Founded	Mercedes Junior Team (2014 (2014))
Base	Brackley, Northamptonshire, England, UK
Team principal(s)	Gwen Lagrue (co-Director)
Current drivers	FIA Formula 2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Formula 4 Alex Powell Yuanpu Cui F1 Academy Doriane Pin Karting Luna Fluxá Kenzo Craigie
Website	https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/team

Current drivers

Driver	Years	Current series	Titles achieved as Mercedes Junior Team member
Andrea Kimi Antonelli^[1]	2018–	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Formula Regional European Championship Formula Regional Middle East Championship Italian F4 Championship ADAC Formula 4 Championship CIK-FIA European Championship - OK (2x) WSK Euro Series - OK WSK Euro Series - OKJ WSK Super Master Series - OKJ WSK Open Cup - OKJ WSK Final Cup - OKJ 23° South Garda Winter Cup - Mini ROK 24° South Garda Winter Cup - OKJ WSK Champions Cup - 60 Mini ROK Cup International Final - Mini ROK
Alex Powell^[2]	2019–	Formula 4 UAE Championship Italian F4 Championship Euro 4 Championship	ROK Cup Superfinal - Mini ROK 24° South Garda Winter Cup - Mini ROK WSK Final Cup - 60 Mini Champions of the Future - OK
Yuanpu Cui^[3]	2021–	Formula 4 UAE Championship F4 British Championship	none as Mercedes Junior Team member
Frederik Vesti^[4]	2021–	European Le Mans Series	none as Mercedes Junior Team member
Luna Fluxá^[5]	2022–	Karting (OK)	none as Mercedes Junior Team member
Kenzo Craigie^[6]	2023–	Karting (OKJ)	none as Mercedes Junior Team member
Doriane Pin^[7]	2024–	Formula 4 UAE Championship F1 Academy IMSA SportsCar Championship FIA World Endurance Championship Formula Regional European Championship	none as Mercedes Junior Team member

Former drivers

Driver	Years	Series that driver competed as Mercedes Junior	F1 Team(s)
Pascal Wehrlein^[8]	2014–2018	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (2014–2015, 2018) Formula One (2016–2017)	Manor (2016) Sauber (2017)
Esteban Ocon^[9]^[10]	2015–2019^[note 1]	GP3 Series (2015) Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (2016) Formula One (2016–2018)	Manor (2016) Force India (2017–2018) Renault (2020) Alpine (2021–2024)
George Russell^[11]	2017–2021	GP3 Series (2017) FIA Formula 2 Championship (2018) Formula One (2019–2021)	Williams (2019–2021) Mercedes (2020, 2022–)
Paul Aron^[12]^[13]	2019–2023	Italian F4 Championship (2019) ADAC F4 Championship (2019) Formula Renault Eurocup (2020) Formula Regional European Championship (2021–2022) Formula Regional Asian Championship (2022) FIA Formula 3 Championship (2023)	None
Daniel Guinchard^[5]^[14]	2022	F4 British Championship (2022)	None

Notes

1. Despite Ocon apparently being released from the junior team, he is still managed by the academy's boss Toto Wolff.

References

1. "Mercedes: sarà Andrea Kimi Antonelli l'erede di Lewis Hamilton? (Mercedes: will Andrea Kimi Antonelli be the heir to Lewis Hamilton?)". Motorsport.com (in Italian). 3 February 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
2. Korney, Stephanie (10 April 2019). "Alex Powell, 11, Becomes First Jamaican, Caribbean Driver to Sign with Formula 1 Team". Jamaicans.com. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
3. "Mercedes sign 13-year-old Chinese karter Yuanpu Cui to junior programme". Formula 1®. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
4. . Mercedes AMG F1. 19 January 2021. Archived from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
5. "Class of 2022: The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team's Junior Programme". Mercedes AMG F1. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
6. "Mercedes announce seven junior drivers for 2023 – including new British recruit". Formula 1®. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
7. "Doriane Pin joins Mercedes Junior Programme for 2024 F1 Academy campaign". Formula 1®. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
8. . Mercedes AMG F1. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
9. Collantine, Keith (7 May 2015). "Ocon joins Mercedes' young driver roster". RaceFans. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
10. Noble, Jonathan (30 August 2019). "Renault "very clear" Ocon deal is no Mercedes loan". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
11. "George Russell: World champions Mercedes sign teenager from King's Lynn". BBC Sport. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
12. Scott, Mark (5 July 2019). "Mercedes add 15-year-old Aron to junior ranks". PlanetF1. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
13. Scout, Formula (27 November 2023). "Paul Aron confirms exit from Mercedes-AMG F1 Junior Team". Formula Scout. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
14. Feeder Series. "Daniel Guinchard has confirmed to F1 Feeder Series he would part ways with the Mercedes Junior Team". Twitter. Retrieved 5 November 2022.