F3 News: American Max Esterson Graduates To FIA F3
American Max Esterson, currently living in London, will compete in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport. America is desperate to have one of its own compete for wins in F1, along with Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant.
Max Esterson may just be that driver.
Having become the first American to win the world-famous Formula Ford Festival in 2022, Max joins the series full time from Great Britain’s premier open-wheel series, the GB3 Championship, where he was a race winner and was chosen as a member of the BRDC Rising Star program.
An acclaimed sim racer and the 2021 Team USA Scholarship recipient, Max made the transition from iRacing to real racing in 2020, so last season marked only his third full year in motorsports.
Team principal Andreas Jenzer noted, “After completing the official post-season 2023 test days with our team as well as the prestigious Macau World Cup, American racing driver Max Esterson will take on the challenge of competing as a rookie in the FIA F3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport this season.
“As Max is competing with the American flag and sponsors, we will work to bring the next American driver into the FIA F1 paddock!”
“I’m excited to be joining Jenzer Motorsport and to be racing in FIA F3. Jenzer has a great history of success and has proven they can run at the front in F3, which has to be considered one of the most competitive series in the world,” said Max Esterson.
“It’s a big step up for me with more power, more downforce, and a heavier car, but I feel like I’ve gelled well with Jenzer’s family environment in the post-season tests last year and at the Macau Grand Prix in November.
“I’m grateful to Andreas and everyone at the team for the opportunity and to all my supporters like iRacing who have stepped up and helped me make this move. We’re working hard to be well-prepared for Bahrain in February and I’m excited to get going!”
Max Esterson’s Racing History
Max Esterson is a 22-year-old American racecar driver who moved to the UK in 2021 to pursue a racing career overseas. He grew up loving racing and immersed himself in it, but living in Manhattan he only had access to sim racing.
So Max worked with what he had and became one of the top five iRacers in the US and top 35 in the world out of over 100,000 users.
In 2019 he was able to run his first part-year in karting, and in 2020 ran his first year in a racecar – that culminated in a strong 6th place in the world famous, year-end BRSCC Formula Ford Festival.
In 2021, he competed in the BRSCC National Formula Ford Championship. After finishing third in the championship, second at the Formula Ford Festival, and winning the Walter Hayes Trophy as a Team USA Scholarship driver, Max stepped up to the GB3 Championship with Douglas Motorsport in 2022 where he took one win and finished 7th in the championship.
In 2022 Max also was on pole, won both his heat and semi-final, and the Grand Final of the Formula Ford Festival; two weeks later, he led every lap of the Walter Hayes Trophy for the second year in a row, thus becoming the first American ever win both the Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy.
Max again competed in the GB3 Championship in 2023, this time with Fortec Motorsports.
In 2024, he moves up to the FIA Formula 3 Series.