Jenzer Motorsport aiming to capitalise on momentous 2023 campaign

Jenzer Motorsport made a big impact in the latter half of the 2023 Formula 3 campaign, securing a maiden victory in the Championship and so have a big act to follow. Their trio of drivers for the 2024 campaign have been settling in for some time now having taken part in post-season testing with the team and getting prepared for what comes next.

Max Esterson, Charlie Wurz and Matías Zagazeta are the three drivers tasked with leading the team into the new campaign and, while Esterson does have prior F3 experience from last year, all three are preparing for their first full time campaigns in the Championship.

Driving for a team that has been making strides forward in recent seasons after a tricky year or two, Jenzer look like a promising package this year and their new lineup will be hoping to continue their upward trajectory.

Zagazeta took part in the F3 post-season tests with Jenzer at the end of the 2023 season, logging 357 laps in total across all three of the events for the Swiss team. The Peruvian was inside the top 10 in Imola and Barcelona, potentially a big confidence boost ahead of the new season.

He also raced in the Macau World Cup with the team so has built up a working relationship with the squad across a competitive race weekend already. Whether that impacts and shortens his bedding in process with Jenzer remains to be seen but it will surely do his hopes no harm.

He was very happy with the experience upon his announcement as a Jenzer driver back in January, saying the learning process was already well underway and that he and the team had established how better to work with one another.

Jenzer as a team seemed happy also with his efforts so far, and there is no doubt that both parties will be looking to maximise track time in Bahrain ahead of the season getting underway with the first race weekend of the season quickly approaching.

The only one of the Jenzer trio to have raced in FIA F3 before, Max Esterson returns to the Championship for a full campaign with the Swiss team. Last year, the American driver got to make his debut part-way through the season with Rodin Carlin, appearing for the team at the Silverstone and Budapest rounds.

Of course, joining halfway through a season is hardly ideal preparation for a debut, but Esterson was part of the Jenzer lineup across all three of the post-season tests last year, completing plenty of mileage between Imola, Jerez and Barcelona.

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He was also positive about the experience he has had so far with the Swiss outfit, calling the team’s “family environment” a beneficial aspect that has aided his adaptation within the squad. Like Zagazeta, Esterson raced with Jenzer in Macau so already has the working relationship across a competitive weekend, another nice bonus to carry into 2024.

The prior experience in F3 will count for a little bit, but Esterson will hope to hit the ground running having had experience of the Formula 3 car and tyres which could count in his favour even more at the beginning of the season especially with so many rookies getting their first taste of F3 action.

Last but not least, Charlie Wurz was the third and final Jenzer driver confirmed for 2023 but once again, the team will already be very familiar with the Austrian. He, like both of his teammates, were at the wheel during the post-season tests and in Macau at the tail end of last year.

After his partial Formula Regional European Championship and Euroformula Open Championship efforts last season, Wurz arrives with plenty to prove but as Team Principal Andreas Jenzer noted in their announcement, he has already begun on the right foot.

Ahead of his rookie FIA Formula 3 campaign in 2024, Wurz has another three days along with the rest of the grid to get as prepared as possible with pre-season testing in Sakhir, Bahrain. It will be a new venue to many on the ’24 field, but could that offer a level playing field for the Jenzer driver to capitalise on?

He also arrives into this season fresh from an impressive few months in the Euroformula Open series, clinching a maiden victory and a further four podium finishes in the 11 races he entered there in 2023. The Austrian will be hoping to take that strong momentum into the new campaign and opening races of the season.