Matevos Isaakyan joins Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Matevos Isaakyan will complete Sauber Junior Team by Charouz’s driver line-up for the remainder of the 2019 season. The Russian will link up with the Czech based team alongside Callum Ilott.

The 21-year-old is a member of the SMP Racing Programme and will debut for the team in Sochi next week, at his home event, as well as taking part in the season-closer in Abu Dhabi in November.

The car has been vacant since Juan Manuel Correa was injured in a tragic accident in Spa-Francorchamps last month. The American remains in a stable condition in a UK hospital.

Isaakyan has previous experience in the GP3 series, but his greatest achievement to date, was arguably in the World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship, when he finished second in 2017.

This year, the Russian has raced an LMP1 car in the FIA World Endurance Championship, for SMP Racing.

Antonin Charouz, Charouz Racing System owner, said: "We’re pleased to welcome Matevos to the team for his home F2 race in Russia and also the final round in Abu Dhabi. He has a proven pedigree in single-seater racing and we’re excited to see him join the F2 grid. It’s always a difficult situation when one driver stands in for another but we’re ready to do our best and to finish the season positively."

Matevos Isaakyan added: "I’m excited to drive in the F2 championship, especially in my home Grand Prix. This is quite an unexpected development in my season but I’m very thankful for this opportunity and happy to join the team.

“It won’t be an easy job as I’ll be jumping straight in the car for Sochi practice. The biggest thing will be understanding the tyres – that will be the main focus for me as it was when I did GP3. But I don’t think it will be an impossible task to try and get into the top-ten and score some points."