Lundgaard pulls out of F1 driver market

Christian Lundgaard has withdrawn from the Formula 1 driver market for now - and he hinted that likely Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri will soon join him.

Lundgaard, a highly rated Danish 20-year-old with links to the Alpine team, said earlier this year that 2021 is "a crucial season in relation to my future in Formula 1".

"It is my second year in Formula 2, and to get a third chance, for that I think you need to have a rich father. And I don’t have that," he said.

It now emerges that Lundgaard, who impressed with a one-off Indycar debut in August for the Rahal Letterman team, has now signed for that team on a multi-year deal starting in 2022.

The Danish automobile association is delighted.

"Formula 1 is the highest category in motorsport, but we have dreamed of getting a Dane in Indycar for years," said boss Bo Baltzer.

"In principle, he can also use the opportunity to get back to Formula 1. We have seen drivers do it before."

Lundgaard is not ruling out the prospect of another shot at reaching F1, but he is also staying realistic.

"As a European, my dream has always been Formula 1," he told Ekstra Bladet newspaper.

"But I know that there are only 20 drivers and if they deliver as the team wants, it is difficult for young drivers to get there without financial support and the right results. It’s about timing," Lundgaard added.

"Look at Oscar Piastri, who leads the F2 championship and there’s no room for him next year. For me, I can go over there and prove what I am capable of.

"In four or five years, if the timing and the results are there, then maybe," he said, referring to his prospects of returning to the F1 sphere.

"The opportunity may never come, but if it does, that’s what I want."