Ferrari protégé Guan Yu Zhou will move up to Formula 2 next season with the UNI-Virtuosi team.
Zhou, 19, has competed in European Formula 3 since 2016 and took two wins in 2018 en route to eighth in the championship, equalling his placing from the previous campaign.
Zhou tested Formula 2 machinery for Russian Time in Abu Dhabi last week and on Tuesday it was announced that UNI-Virtuosi had taken over its entry and assets for 2019.
Virtuosi has extensive experience in the series, having run Russian Time for several years.
Zhou is UNI-Virtuosi’s first signing for the new campaign.
“We’re very happy to welcome Guan Yu to our team and we are looking forward to working with him,” said team boss Andy Roche.
“He is a very talented driver and rapidly got to grips with the F2 car.
“The championship is extremely tough and we feel Guan Yu has the talent to progress quickly and have a very strong competitive year with us.”
The squad fielded veteran Luca Ghiotto alongside Zhou during testing last week.
Zhou is the sixth driver to be confirmed for next year’s Formula 2 championship.
Prema and ART Grand Prix have already finalised their respective line-ups, with Mick Schumacher joining Sean Gelael at the Italian marque, and Nyck de Vries partnering Nikita Mazepin at the French team.
Carlin, meanwhile, has recruited Honda-backed Nobuharu Matsushita, who returns after a year’s absence.
