European Formula 3 champion Mick Schumacher will make the jump to Formula 2 in 2019 as he remains with the Prema team.

The son of seven-time F1 champion Michael scored eight wins, including five in a row at one stage, to secure the F3 crown at Hockenheim, matching the achievement of his father in 1990.

While some pondered if he would make the same leap as Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen directly to F1, Schumacher always made it clear F2 would be his next step on the ladder.

“I'm really looking forward to contesting my next season with Prema in FIA Formula 2 - a logical step on my sporting path in my view, because I want to further improve my technical experience and driving skills," he said.

"For me, it was very clear to go into F2 with Prema and I can't thank the Prema family enough for what we achieved together as a team, especially this year, how we continued to develop together.

"I’m also really excited to drive the Formula 2 tests in Abu Dhabi.”

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It is a team with recent history too, as new Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc raced with Prema in F2 during his championship-winning year in 2017 and team boss Rene Rosin was all too happy to welcome Schumacher into the squad.

"We are proud to welcome Mick to our F2 operation for 2019. He is an extremely talented and dedicated racer, working with him is a pleasure and we can't wait to begin this adventure together," he said.

"This championship is not an easy one due to its learning curve for rookies especially with the introduction of the new car, but we think that Mick has the maturity and skills needed to make it and we are excited for the start of the next chapter in his career and we are happy to be part of it."

George Russell claimed the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers’ title with his seventh victory of the season in an eventful feature race tonight at the Yas Marina Circuit, losing and then regaining the lead while turmoil reigned behind as he sailed to victory by three seconds over Artem Markelov and Luca Ghiotto.

It was the first night start of the season for the grid, bringing with it pressure of starting in the unknown: Russell made a poor getaway from pole, allowing a fast starting Nyck de Vries to grab the lead at turn one from the championship leader and Markelov, but there was chaos behind as DAMS duo Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi stalled, along with Sergio Sette Câmara.

Arjun Maini was unable to get around the Canadian and the pair had an enormous impact, with Nirei Fukuzumi being tagged as he went around the stricken cars: with 5 vehicles in various states of undress on the front straight there was no choice but to release the safety car, with the remainder of the field coming through the pits each time around, including the restarted Albon and Sette Câmara, for 5 laps as the marshals cleared a path for them.

When the race went live Russell was pushing de Vries all around the circuit, with Markelov in hot pursuit: both drivers ran heavily over the kerbs in their efforts to gain ground on the man ahead until the Briton headed into the pits on lap 9: an incredible out lap allowed him to blow past de Vries as he exited the pits, and a record-equalling victory was on the cards.

Markelov came in next time around, slotting in right behind de Vries on his return, handing the lead on the road to Ghiotto, one of the few to risk the alternate tyre strategy from P16 on the grid. The Italian had a 24 second lead but the rest of the field were closing, cutting 5 seconds in 6 laps before the gap started to reverse, stretch back out to 24 seconds over the next 6 laps and handing Ghiotto an unexpected opportunity at victory.

Unfortunately for the Italian he ran too deep at the marina chicane just before his stop, picking up a 5 second time penalty for gaining an advantage and undoing his good work: he served it before his team swapped tyres on lap 26, and re-emerged in P5 on fresh rubber. He made short work of Lando Norris and was soon storming after de Vries, who had been unable to contain a charging Markelov a few laps earlier.

On the penultimate lap Ghiotto blew past de Vries at the marina, but ran out of time to improve his podium position: Russell cruised to the win, equalling the F1 feeder record of 7 wins held jointly by Stoffel Vandoorne and Charles Leclerc, by 3s ahead of Markelov, who was almost 5s to the good over Ghiotto at the flag. De Vries was disappointed with P4 ahead of Norris, with Louis Deletraz a second ahead of teammate Antonio Fuoco after he mugged Roberto Merhi for 7th on the final lap, and Tadasuke Makino and Jack Aitken rounding out the points in the final feature race of the season.

Provisional Feature Race Classification

Antonio Fuoco has closed the FIA Formula 2 Championship season with a strong win, his second of the season, in this afternoon’s Sprint Race at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, leading all race long for victory ahead of Lando Norris and Roberto Merhi.

The win was set up when the lights went down: poleman Merhi has a poor getaway while his fellow front row starter Fuoco had a great one, easily leading the Spaniard into turn 1 ahead of Nyck de Vries, Norris, new champion George Russell, Louis Delétraz, Luca Ghiotto and Dorian Boccolacci up the hill to the top of the circuit.

Norris was soon moving forward, slicing up the inside of de Vries at the marina for P3, while further back Sean Gelael tagged Niko Kari and spun, leaving Tadasuke Makino nowhere to go: the pair were out on the spot and the VSC signs came out as the Finn limped back to the pits and retirement on the first lap.

The race was live again 2 laps later, with Delétraz making a lovely move inside Russell at the marina to move up to P5: Artem Markelov was looking for more too, easily dispatching Boccolacci: Russell soon repaid the favour to take his position back, while the Russian continued his forward momentum by dispatching Ghiotto on lap 7, just as Russell nicked another place by mugging de Vries at the marina for P4.

Russell was soon closing on Norris and looking for a last F2 podium, but too many laps in his countryman’s slipstream meant his front tyres were soon unable to assist him, while further back Markelov has tyre troubles of his own, running wide all around the circuit and forcing him to look closely at his mirrors as Ghiotto started to come back at him.

Having held off his rival behind, Norris started to look at what he could find ahead of him, closing the gap to Merhi as the laps rolled down until he pounced on the final lap: the Spaniard locked up under pressure at turn 9 and simply didn’t have enough left to retake the position at the marina.

And at the flag it was Fuoco who took all the plaudits, controlling the pace for a strong 2nd victory of the season, with Norris delighting his team by stealing 2nd before almost blotting his copy book by losing control of his car as he waved to them on the pitwall, and Merhi bringing home a second podium of the weekend for Campos. Russell hung on for a lonely 4th, with de Vries following a few seconds back ahead of Delétraz, Markelov and Alexander Albon, who dispatched Ghiotto for the final point of the season in the closing laps of the race.

At the end of the 2018 season George Russell has been declared the FIA Formula 2 champion, with Lando Norris grabbing the vice-championship position ahead of Alexander Albon with today’s podium finish. In the teams’ title fight Carlin have claimed the honours in their debut F2 season, ahead of ART Grand Prix and DAMS.

Provisional Sprint Race Classification

George Russell has put one hand on the trophy by claiming a fifth pole position at this evening’s FIA Formula 2 Championship qualifying session to extend his lead over title rival Alexander Albon to 41 points with just 44 left to claim this weekend, with the Briton flying on his second run to grab the top spot ahead of Nyck de Vries and Nicholas Latifi.

The Briton stopped the clocks with a lap of 1:49.251 with a minute remaining in the session, while Albon had a wide ride over the kerbs in the final sector of the lap, destroying any chance he had of getting one over his rival ahead of tomorrow’s feature race.

The temperatures remained up as the sun dropped down ahead of the session, and with the lights blazing overhead the teams concentrated on making the final preparations until the circuit opened for business. Russell was the 2nd driver on track and was clearly keen to stamp his authority on the session: Carlin pair Lando Norris and Sergio Sette Câmara briefly alternated the lead before Russell claimed the top spot for himself, with Albon and Artem Markelov slotting onto the timesheets just behind him.

Nyck de Vries and Latifi emerged for their first runs just as their rivals were returning to the pits, and both men put the clear track to good use, with first the Canadian and then the Dutchman annexing the top spot, although de Vries made it clear to his team that he didn’t think his lap was good enough to hold on as he returned for fresh tyres. It was a point that was soon to be proven correct.

With six minutes remaining everyone was back on track and looking to find the time they left on track last time around: Russell’s sectors went green and then purple before holding on the final sector to claim provisional pole, with de Vries and Latifi improving as well but both being unable to usurp the ART driver, and when Albon had a ragged final sector after a trip across the kerbs Russell’s pole was secure.

Behind the top three Artem Markelov made a tremendous improvement on free practice to claim a second row start ahead of Jack Aitken, Louis Deletraz, Norris, Albon, Tadasuke Makino and Sette Câmara: tomorrow’s feature race promises even more fireworks with the title potentially to be secured.  

Provisional Qualifying Classification