Red Bull has added Esports star and Toyota Racing Series champion Igor Fraga to its Formula 1 junior programme for 2020.
Fraga, 21, will make his debut in the F1-supporting FIA Formula 3 series this year, as part of Charouz Racing System’s line-up.
“For me, joining the Red Bull Junior programme is a very important thing in my career,” said Fraga.
“Since I was very little, I have dreamed about becoming a Formula 1 world champion.
“But through my career I have realised how hard that is to achieve. But I have never given up and always kept trying.
“I went a different way by racing in Esports and winning the FIA Gran Turismo Nations Cup changed things for me. Since then, I felt I could have a real chance.
“Now becoming a Red Bull Junior makes my dream even more alive and gives me extra motivation to keep going forward.”
A junior class champion in F3 Brazil and a race winner in North/Central American F4 and Formula Regional, Fraga won his first major single-seater title this past season in the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series.
He accomplished this by edging out Red Bull junior Liam Lawson – who himself had become part of the energy drink giant’s programme after winning TRS in 2019 – by six points.
Alongside with his real-world exploits, Fraga is renowned as a top sim racer on the Gran Turismo scene, having won numerous FIA-certified events in the game – including the inaugural Gran Turismo Nations Cup world title in 2018.
He also won McLaren’s Shadow Project Esports competition.
Fraga is the third new addition to Red Bull’s junior team this year, following the arrivals of F4 racer Jak Crawford and Formula 2 rookie Jehan Daruvala.
The team also added ex-McLaren test and development driver Sergio Sette Camara to its ranks, with Fraga’s compatriot set to serve as Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s reserve driver in 2020.
