Turkish driver Cem Bölükbaşı announced Wednesday that he would race for the Formula 2 championship in the upcoming 2022 season.
In doing so, Bölükbaşı will go down in history as the first Turkish Formula 2 driver and the first to have made a transition to the professional circuit from esports.
The 23-year-old, who participated in Formula 2 preseason testing in Abu Dhabi with the Netherlands-based Van Amersfoort Racing, has signed for Charouz Racing System.
This will be a major step toward the young Turkish driver’s dream of becoming a Formula 1 racer.
Bölükbaşı, just in his second year in single-seaters, won twice and took a pole in a part-time Euroformula season, as well as doing a Formula Regional Asian Championship campaign, in 2021, according to Formula Scout.
"I’m really, really happy to join Charouz Racing System for the Formula 2 2022 season," said Bölükbaşı.
"I worked so hard to get an opportunity like this and first of all, I want to thank Charouz for putting their trust in me, I’ll do my very best to honor it. I obviously cannot wait to get in the car for the testing sessions, after my first taste of an old GP2 car later last year. It’s as close as you can get to an F1 car and I’m fully determined to give my 110% to learn how to master it and prove my potential as a driver.
"I also can’t wait to start working with the team, the season ahead is going to be very long and demanding, and establishing the best possible relationship with all the guys is going to be crucial for the final outcome," he added.
Born in 1998, Bölükbaşı started his racing career in motocross at the age of 5 before moving onto karting. In 2006, he participated in the Turkey Karting Championship and continued to join different European junior-level competitions. He also tested different Formula 4 and Formula 3 cars, in the following years.
'From virtual to real'
Bölükbaşı then went on a lengthy hiatus from real-world racing and became a big name in sim racing. He picked up a series of wins in the official Formula 1 Esports Series for AlphaTauri and in the GT iRacing World Championship.
Over three years in European GT4, which came to 10 rounds in total, Bölükbaşı took an overall pole position and podium while sharing a Pro-Am class car. Class honors included the 2020 title runner-up spot and three wins.
Last year he also made a European Le Mans Series cameo at the Red Bull Ring and was second in the LMP3 class.
"We’re more than delighted to welcome a brilliant driver like Cem in our F2 team," Charouz team owner Antonin Charouz said following the signing.
"It will be a challenging and exciting new experience for him, but he has already shown that he has the numbers to learn quickly and get some good results in some of the most competitive and difficult F1 feeder categories.
"It’s going to be a long and tough season with 14 rounds, and that could be something he can take advantage of. On our side, we’ll obviously do everything we can to provide him the best car and guide him in his learning path," he added.