Honda protégé Nirei Fukuzumi, 20, competed in the GP3 Series with ART Grand Prix across 2016/17. The Japanese driver finishing third in the points behind ART teammates George Russell and Jack Aitken with feature race wins in Barcelona and Jerez.
Fukuzumi will now graduate to FIA Formula 2 with Arden, having run for the team during post-season testing in Abu Dhabi - held after the final race of the 2017 season. He will be combining his FIA F2 Championship campaign with a Super Formula drive by long-time backers Honda, as he will drive for Team Mugen, effectively taking over the place vacated by Pierre Gasly.
It will be a busy campaign for Fukuzumi, but he and the team are confident of a strong season ahead - building on his success from his second season in GP3.
Fukuzumi's teammate is set to be announced in the coming weeks, before attention turns to the pre-season tests at the Circuit de Catalunya, Spain and the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain.
Pre-season testing will be more important than ever, since all the FIA F2 teams will be testing the new for 2018 Dallara F2/18 chassis. All teams will be quick to learn as much about the new halo-equipped single seater, as well as the brand new 3.4l V6 turbocharged engine, in preparation for the season opening race on the 6-8 April in Bahrain.
The team aims to maximise the opportunities for the top spots in 2018.
Arden Motorsport will be releasing more announcements regarding our driver line-ups in all championship are coming soon.