After numerous rumors over the last weeks, Japanese driver Nobuharu Matsushita was confirmed as a Carlin driver for 2019.
The Honda protégé raced for ART from 2015 to 2017 when he competed in GP2/F2, winning at least a race per year for a total of four. He took one pole and scored his best finish of 6th in the championship in 2017. During his time in Europe, he became development driver for McLaren and tested for Sauber when the team initially signed a deal to use Honda engines in 2018.
While 2015 was a rather promising rookie campaign, he failed to improve significantly over the following two years although both his team and the machinery stayed the same over the years. In 2018, he raced in Super Formula for Dandelion Racing, for which Stoffel Vandoorne also competed two years earlier. Matsushita scored points in two out of seven races and just missed a podium in Motegi. Overall, he finished the season in P11. His 2019 season will begin on Thursday, when the Japanese driver will take part in this year’s post-season test for three days.
Matsushita thanked Honda for their support and mentioned: “I am extremely excited to be returning to the FIA Formula 2 Championship where I feel I have unfinished business. Carlin have done a fantastic job this season to take the teams’ title and second in the drivers’ standings. We will be working hard from the outset this week to prepare a strong campaign for 2019.”
Trevor Carlin, Carlin’s team principal stated: “We are thrilled to welcome Nobu to the team for the 2019 FIA F2 season. He is an exciting driver to watch and we believe he will be a great asset to the team and. He’s already a race winner in the championship so we know that together we are more than capable of providing a really strong showing next season. We’re extremely proud to be working with Honda again and to have been entrusted with such a promising Honda Junior driver.”
F2 Fanatic 