One month after winning the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix – the most prestigious race in junior motorsport – Lynn has secured a berth on the Red Bull scheme, which prepares talented young drivers for Formula 1.
The 20-year-old will switch from the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, in which he finished third this year as a rookie, to compete in the GP3 Series with the Carlin team.
GP3 cars are more powerful than F3 machines, and all nine rounds support Formula 1 Grands Prix, meaning the drivers race in front of all the influential figures of the sport. The 2014 calendar kicks off at the Spanish GP weekend on 9th-11th May, and visits Silverstone for the British GP meeting on 4th-6th July.
Alex is following in the footsteps of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who drove for Carlin with Red Bull backing in 2007 before being plucked from the junior ranks into F1. Other current F1 drivers to have raced with Carlin as Red Bull Juniors include Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat.
“Everything has been a bit of a whirlwind since winning Macau,” said Lynn. “Getting the Red Bull opportunity is massive, and I think Macau helped me get it. Now I’m ready to do the job I need to and make the most of the opportunity.
“Joining the Red Bull Junior Team takes away a lot of the uncertainty of whether I can get to Formula 1. Now I know that if I perform well I will get the chance. That’s all a driver can ask for.”
Alex has never driven the GP3 car, which is powered by a 400bhp V6 engine. “It’s going to be a new experience after doing Formula 3 for two years,” he said. “Carlin are an amazing team with fantastic history, and had a really good year in GP3 in 2013. Hopefully we can win races together and, if we can do that, we can go for the championship.”
Carlin team principal Trevor Carlin said: “We’ve always wanted to run Alex, and we realise what a talent he is. We’re very excited about having him in the team, especially after he dominated Macau.
“Alex has qualifying pace and he is also a very intelligent racing driver. He will be a championship favourite in GP3 and the pressure will be on us to deliver for him!”
