Ye Yifei joins Renault’s young drivers academy

It was during this race weekend in Shanghai that Renault announced they had recruited Ye Yifei as the new driver for their young driver program. He joins the ranks alongside his compatriot Guanyou Zhou, who is also a recruit of the brand with the diamond logo.

At 18 years old, Yifei has already honed his skills in the French Formula 4 Championship, in which he secured a total of 14 victories by the end of his second season, more than enough to claim the title. He will continue to win over the hearts of Europe with a final third place in Formula Renault 2.0. This year, the young Chinese driver will have the opportunity to race in Formula 3 with the British team, Hitech Grand Prix.

He will be surrounded by other promising talents at Renault. Among them are: Antoine Hubert, GP3 champion in 2018, fellow Frenchman Victor Martins, Brazilian French Formula 4 champion Caio Collet, Christian Lundgaard, and Max Fewtrell.

A promotion that demonstrates a real growth of motorsport in Asia, with the most representative example being the entry of Thai driver Alexander Albon into Formula 1.

Cyril Abiteboul, director of Renault Sport, declares: “We have been observing Ye Yifei for some time. He has impressed us with his results in all categories, but also with his ability to integrate into any sporting or cultural environment. We believe a promising future awaits him, and we look forward to guiding him in the next stages of his career and development. We are also delighted to further promote Chinese interests in motorsport with our partners Renault China and DRAC.”

Rising Chinese motorsport star @Yifei_YE signs with the #RenaultSportAcademy, joining compatriot Guanyu Zhou and the rest of the Academy which includes Anthoine Hubert, Victor Martins, Christian Lundgaard, Max Fewtrell and Caio Collet.
👉 https://t.co/o3k2TsWxVU#RSspirit pic.twitter.com/gqGS7urgeS

— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) April 11, 2019