“Vesti” commented on the arrival of Mercedes F1 for the test of young pilots in Abu Dhabi

The test will feature two cars from each team, with one car featuring drivers on 2023 Pirelli tires and the other a rookie, defined as those who have started no more than twice at a Grand Prix.

There is room for newcomers at Mercedes, as Nico de Vries has been let go to run the AlphaTauri team, as Faenza boss Franz Tost recently confirmed.

In January 2021, Vesti was announced as a junior Mercedes driver and is the most qualified candidate in the Stuttgart manufacturer’s program.

Giving him a W13 role would be a logical step, as he has already trained for the team at Brackley and plans to do more in 2023, when both de Vries and occasional simulator driver Stoffel Vandoorne leave the Mercedes camp.

A day in the W13 will give the Wests valuable real-car experience and help with correlation.

The 20-year-old has an impressive resume. A karting star, he quickly progressed in the Danish Formula Ford and the Danish and ADAC F4 series, finishing fourth in the latter in 2018.

He won the first European Formula One regional championship in 2019 with Prem, before moving to FIA F3 with the same team in 2020 as teammate to Oscar Piastre and Logan Sargeant.

He won three races that year and finished fourth in the championship behind Piastre, Theo Purser and Sargent.

Having attracted the backing of Mercedes, he moved to ART for his second F3 season in 2021. It was a less productive season overall with one race win, although he again finished fourth in the championship.

This season he moved up to F2 with ART. He won the sprint race in Baku and claimed four other podiums, including second places in both the sprint and sport events at Monza last month.

He sits eighth in the championship with only the Abu Dhabi final to go and is just nine points short of fourth place.

He is a few places away from being granted an F1 super license, which would make him a potential back-up driver for any team that might need one.