Juan Manuel Correa Re-joins Sauber Academy for 2021 Season

Juan Manuel Correa has re-joined the Sauber Academy for the rest of the 2021 season, with the young American coming back into the programme that guided his career prior to his horror crash in a FIA Formula 2 race at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019.

Correa is currently racing in FIA Formula 3 with ART Grand Prix, his first competitive action since the crash at Spa in 2019 that put his career on hold due to horrific leg injuries, with the accident also costing the life of Anthoine Hubert.

After intensive programme to get back to fitness, against all odds, Correa has made a dramatic return to racing in 2021 and has been brought back into the young driver programme that gave him a chance to test a Formula 1 car just weeks before the accident at Spa.

“It’s very special to be back with the Sauber Academy: they’re the junior programme of the team I was with in 2019, when I had my first and only F1 test, and it’s a great feeling to be working with them again,” said Correa.

“I am very excited to show the Academy’s branding on my car and my helmet already from this weekend in France and I am looking forward to helping the team whenever needed, be it in the sim or elsewhere.

“I am very grateful to ART and Sébastien Philippe, and of course to Fred Vasseur, for all the support he has given me, and to everyone else at Sauber, from Beat Zehnder to all those who have been absolutely amazing and so supportive since my accident and throughout my recovery.

“It’s an honour to be back with this team.”

Beat Zehnder, the Sporting Director of Sauber Motorsport, says Correa’s recovery and return to racing is ‘an inspiring story’, and he is delighted to welcome him back into the fold for the rest of the current campaign.

“Juan Manuel always displayed skill and determination, but his remarkable comeback from injury is an inspiring story that shows all his strength and will power,” said Zehnder.  

“We have nothing but sheer admiration for his tenacity and we are happy to help him, through the Sauber Academy programme, as he resumes his motorsport career.”