Yifei Ye has signed to drive for Hitech GP in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, taking the final seat in the team’s line-up alongside Juri Vips and Leonardo Pulcini.

The Chinese driver came third in last year’s Formula Renault Eurocup in his second season in the category, behind Renault proteges Max Fewtrell and Christian Lundgaard.

He previously dominated the French Formula 4 championship in 2016, and last weekend finished second in the Asian F3 Winter Series with Absolute Racing, battling Hitech’s Rinus Veekay for the title.

?I am extremely happy and excited to join Hitech GP for the upcoming 2019 season in the FIA F3,” said Ye.

“Hitech GP is one of the leading teams in Europe given the results they?ve shown in recent years.

“I have also proved myself as a Chinese driver to have led a big part of the championship and fought for the title last year in the Formula Renault Eurocup.

“I feel very confident to team up with Hitech GP alongside two experienced and highly skilled teammates. This year will be a tough fight with the newly-introduced F3 in a 30-car field but I am absolutely sure that with the team we will be fighting right at the top.”

Team boss Oliver Oakes added:??We are delighted for Ye to join us in the newly formed FIA Formula 3 Championship for the upcoming season.

“His pedigree to date in French F4 and Formula Renault is evident. We were impressed by him in the Asian F3 Winter Series, so we are looking forward to having him as part our line-up for the season.”

With Hitech’s three-car line-up now complete, it means there is no space in the team for Enaam Ahmed, who won races with the outfit in European F3 last season and was aiming to move to FIA F3.

Eight of the 10 teams have now announced full line-ups. One seat remains at Jenzer Motorsport alongside Yuki Tsunoda and Artem Petrov, while MP Motorsport is yet to announce any drivers. The Dutch team fielded Richard Verschoor (who is also testing Formula 2 with the team this week) and Simo Laaksonen in last week’s Magny-Cours shakedown.