Former Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi will return to Formula 2 this weekend, replacing Ralph Boschung at Campos.
Boschung has suffered a season disrupted by injury. He withdrew from the Barcelona and Monaco rounds without a replacement, returned for Baku but was forced to withdraw at Silverstone round last weekend with persistent neck pain.
At the age of 31 years and 109 days when the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring takes place on Saturday, Merhi will take the title of oldest ever F2 entrant from Sergio Canamasas. His fellow Spaniard last competed in Formula 2 during the Hungary round in 2017, and was 31 years and 91 days old when he made his final start.
Merhi returned to both GP2 and F2, intermittently, after his Formula 1 career ended after 2015. His last F2 outing was at Abu Dhabi in 2018, also for Campos.
In a message posted to social media, Merhi said: “Happy to announce that I will be back in a Formula 2 car this weekend after four years.
“Last time I was driving in a Formula 2 car was in 2018 in Abu Dhabi where I finished in the podium with Campos. I would like to thank Ralph Boschung and Campos for giving me the opportunity to drive his car this weekend. I hope he gets well soon!”
Merhi has competed in various serious since his last appearance in F2 four years ago. He placed second in Austria’ S5000 series last year, winning the second race at Sydney Motorsport Park.
He made three starts for G-Drive in the European Le Mans series at the wheel of an LMP2 car. He also raced at the Fuji and Suzuka rounds of Super GT this year, driving an Audi R8.
Merhi was involved in a controversial incident on a previous visit to the Red Bull Ring. He was excluded from the Formula Renault 3.5 event at the circuit in 2015 after he stopped by the start/finish line at the end of one race and was struck by Nicholas Latifi.
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