‘It wasn’t easy’ – Vesti on the unusual way he became a Mercedes Junior and why his F1 dream is still ‘very much alive’

Mercedes’ Third Driver Fred Vesti has shared an insight into the unusual way that he became a part of the squad’s Junior Programme, as well as reflecting on why he feels “deep in my heart” that there will be a seat for him on the F1 grid in the future.

Vesti was competing in his second season of Formula 3 in 2021 when he was signed up as a Mercedes Junior – a pathway that occurred after he found a way to quiz Team Principal Toto Wolff at an event away from the racetrack.

“I had followed Toto in Germany in Hockenheim,” Vesti explained on the latest episode of official podcast F1 Beyond The Grid. “I knew he was coming to a party. I was almost like a journalist at the red carpet.

“I stopped him at the red carpet and I asked him, ‘How do I become a junior driver with you?’ That was how I started the conversation with Mercedes. I just had this vision of being a Mercedes Junior and it could take me all the way to Formula 1, so yeah, it was a very different way of approaching a junior programme.

“I think he respects that a lot and I think he respects passion massively, and if he can see that you are motivated beyond anything he has seen before, I think that's where you make the difference. It wasn't easy getting signed by Mercedes at this point.

“One of the reasons why I really liked the Mercedes Junior Programme was actually because they only had a few drivers. They had George [Russell] and a couple of other drivers and that was it. So to be a Mercedes Junior driver is something very few people get to do.”

Since getting signed to the squad, Vesti – who went on to finish as runner-up in the 2023 Formula 2 championship – became a reserve driver from 2024 onwards, which has seen him participate in FP1 sessions for the team as well as undertaking plenty of simulator work.

The role also means that Vesti works closely with Russell and Kimi Antonelli, with the Dane admitting that, when it comes to the difference in their driving styles: “For me as the third driver in the sim, I sort of have to do both.

“I have to balance both drivers because we are equally using their data. I think Kimi, one thing that he does quite a lot is he sends in a lot of speed into the corner, which, with this car, it seems to work really well. George in some ways backs it up a bit more, focusses on the exit, but it's not as simple as this because it changes weekend to weekend, corner to corner.”

And while Vesti is currently focused on supporting Mercedes’ main drivers each race weekend, the 24-year-old is still chasing his own F1 dream, a goal that he feels confident he can achieve.

“It's a very unforgiving job as third driver,” he explained. “You are helping making champions but it's not yourself. Obviously, I've had my own dreams of racing in Formula 1 since I was a kid and that dream is still very much alive. The team sees me as a Formula 1 driver.

“Sometimes they say, ‘Fred you're not a rookie, you have done so much testing, you are so prepared for a Formula 1 seat’, so I'm living and breathing like a Formula 1 driver. That's the trust I have from the engineers first of all.

“They need a lot of trust in the driver that they lean on if that [stepping in for Russell or Antonelli] would happen, and it's taken me some good time, some years to become the driver I am today and to be ready for that scenario.

“I'm working with the best engineers, the best drivers in the world and I'm really improving rapidly as a driver towards Formula 1. My dream is to be on the grid, winning races, fighting for championships in Formula 1 and that's what I wake up thinking about every morning.

“I'm working so hard for it. I have this feeling so deep in my heart that there is a seat for me, and I am so hungry and ready to do anything to achieve that goal. The goal is a Formula 1 seat and I can feel it's coming.”

To listen to this week’s episode of F1 Beyond The Grid – sponsored by Salesforce – simply hit go on the audio player above or click here to listen via your preferred podcasting platform.

You can also check out a huge selection of previous episodes – spanning every decade of F1 – in our dedicated F1 Beyond The Grid library.

You can also watch the podcast on the F1 YouTube channel.