‘I know what I can achieve’ – Fred Vesti on life as a Mercedes reserve driver and his plan to reach the F1 grid

With the city’s Grand Prix still relatively in its infancy on its third year, only a select group of drivers have had the unique experience of racing around the streets of Las Vegas. It feels like a huge privilege, then, when I strap in for a hot lap of the circuit alongside Mercedes reserve Fred Vesti.

In the gap between Thursday’s first and second practice sessions – where, as in the main event, the track is under darkness, lit by the dazzling lights of the city – we set off for one flying tour onboard a Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro.

“Just let me know if it’s too fast, or too slow,” says Vesti as we head towards the first corner. Needless to say, when a racing driver is at the wheel – especially one targeting a full-time F1 seat (more on which later) – it soon becomes clear that lack of speed will not be an issue…

After we tackle the first hairpin followed by the Koval Lane straight, I make a concerted effort to take in the iconic sights that flash past, including the inimitable Sphere that greets us as we take a sweeping left and enter the twisting section between Turns 7 and 9.

Further landmarks are in store when we reach the Strip itself, charging down the 1.92km straight at speeds of up to 170mph. My respect for drivers like Vesti grows even higher as I get just a small taste of the G-forces they experience at such speeds.

Once another tight run of corners from Turns 14 to 16 has brought us back towards the start/finish straight, an unforgettable hot lap – marking a maiden visit to Vegas for both myself and Vesti – is over before I know it.

“That was my second-ever lap on this track,” Vesti tells me as we pull up. The Dane has logged a vastly higher number on the simulator as part of his reserve duties, however, as he explained 24 hours earlier when we caught up on that – as well as his journey so far and his F1 aspirations – in the slightly calmer setting of the Mercedes hospitality…

What being a reserve driver entails

That hot lap was just one aspect of a typically busy race weekend for Vesti. When he’s not supporting the team trackside, the 23-year-old plays a key role by carrying out simulator work back at the squad’s Brackley headquarters, providing information that can be beneficial to drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

“The sim work that I do is the main role that contributes to the team every single week,” Vesti explains. “And when I’m back at the base in Brackley, we spend hours, like eight, nine hours a day in the sim, pushing towards more performance and learning.

“Right now, all eyes are on 2026, and so 80% of the laps I do is in next year’s car and has been for a while. But we use the sim to prepare weekends like this as well, also with Kimi and George, so it’s a very important way to prep. For example, this weekend, Kimi has never been here before, so for him to get some experience in the sim is very important for him to start on the right foot.”

Alongside that extensive time in the simulator, Vesti has also had the opportunity to translate his knowledge into real-time by participating in two Free Practice 1 outings in 2025, the first being in Bahrain while another followed more recently in Mexico. These sessions are vital, he admits, in more ways than one.

“I think for any young driver, the FP1s are very valuable,” he concedes. “It’s a way to showcase our talent as young drivers, but it’s also a way to embed ourselves with the team. The work we do in the sim, it’s a chance to test if those theories actually work out in real life.”

Getting behind the wheel on these occasions is something that Vesti acknowledges brings “a lot of nerves”, adding: “Of course, you want to do as well as possible. You get one hour in a car you don’t really know – that’s a challenge.”

Adapting to an ‘insane’ schedule

His outing in Russell’s W16 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez formed part of a particularly industrious few days for Vesti, a week that saw him start out in the simulator before flying to Mexico for FP1 as well as providing race weekend support, staying on for a 2026 Pirelli tyre test on the Wednesday post-race and then jetting back to Brackley to work in the simulator until late on Thursday evening.

“That’s sort of how we work in Formula 1 – to any normal person, that would seem insane, but that’s the kind of things in F1 you have to do to get the maximum performance on track,” says Vesti.

Yet such a process brings rewards, as the Danish driver explains: “Sometimes we start in the simulator at 10 o’clock in the evening, and finish at eight or nine in the morning, and it’s very demanding on the mind and body to do these kind of sessions.

“But when you then see results on track, and you see that you’ve made a step forward, it’s very rewarding, and you can tell the whole team is appreciating the work that the sim team and myself are putting in, and that’s a good feeling for sure. That’s why we do it, and that’s why we work so hard to achieve that.”

Such scheduling will no longer be a shock to Vesti, whose impressive junior career saw him join the Mercedes Junior Programme back in 2021 before making the step up to the reserve role in 2024, off the back of taking the runner-up spot in the 2023 Formula 2 championship.

One of F1’s recent batch of rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto, has admitted that adjusting to working alongside a much larger team in the top echelon has been one of his “biggest challenges” in his maiden season. Does Vesti feel that his reserve role has offered him an earlier opportunity to adapt?

“Yeah. When you’re in F2 or F3, you’re working with two or three people at maximum in your team,” he responds. “It’s a very small team, so you know everyone very well. You know everyone’s procedures and how they work.

“When you make the step towards a Formula 1 team – so that can be even just an FP1 – you have an army of engineers, like 50 engineers, that would want information from you, and also you need to ask the right questions to the right people, and that’s a huge challenge when you come from F2.

“That’s something Kimi this year has had to get used to pretty quickly, and it’s something I’ve been learning over the past few years with Mercedes.”

Antonelli, of course, is another young driver to have made the step up to Formula 1 in 2025. Has seeing this wave of youngsters being given an opportunity acted as inspiration for Vesti when it comes to his own next steps?

“Yeah, absolutely,” the Danish driver – whose past accolades include winning the inaugural Formula Regional European Championship in 2019, as well as collecting victories in each of his two F3 and F2 seasons – concedes.

“Obviously, initially, seeing all the rookies getting the chance was quite frustrating from my side. I want to be in an F1 seat – it’s always been my dream to be a Formula 1 driver.

“But when that frustration left the body quite quickly, I saw it as an opportunity, because the young drivers are showing how strong the transition from F2 to F1 can be. I would say all are doing a fantastic job and probably exceeded most of the expectations.

“And that makes my case better when I go and speak to teams about a possible seat, because I’ve had seven race wins in Formula 2 and I know what I can achieve. Seeing Kimi and other young drivers definitely helps me to believe that there is a seat for me.”

Support from Denmark and life in SportsCars

As has been the case for the rookies, Vesti recognises that there has been “a lot of learning” on his own path to this point of his career, a stage in which he now feels “very integrated” with the team as he continues to work closely with Russell and Antonelli. The Dane also pays tribute to boss Toto Wolff, who he credits as being a “huge part of my career”.

It marks the latest step in a journey that started when the young Vesti developed a passion for karting as a child, as he recalls: “My dad used to be a driver, and he was working three jobs to race on the weekends.

“He never really made it to be a professional driver, but he always had such a passion for cars and racing. I think on the exact date that I turned eight years old, I was allowed to get a go-kart and that’s where it all began.

“I used to watch F1 with my brothers and my dad and I got into go-karts, and it very quickly got quite serious, fighting for championships quite early on. I’ve never really looked back since then, just been loving living my dream, and I love what I’ve been doing.”

Vesti is of course one of only a small number of drivers from Denmark to get behind the wheel of an F1 car; indeed, only four Danes have competed in a Grand Prix, the most recent – and experienced – being Kevin Magnussen.

The country might be small – with a population of around six million people – but Vesti very much feels the support from his homeland.

“It’s quite amazing to see how many great racing drivers we have coming from such a small country,” he says. “There is a good passion for racing in Denmark, and I definitely feel that support.

“Also my investors, who have been supporting my career through F3, F2, towards F1, it’s been amazing to have that support, and to be fighting for the same dream.”

That dream is clearly never far from Vesti’s mind, voicing his excitement about the work he has carried out for Mercedes in preparation for 2026’s sweeping regulation changes as he explains: “It’s been new things that we’ve been discovering that no one really knew before we discovered it in the sim, and that’s been a fun journey.”

Alongside his duties for the Silver Arrows – who will field an unchanged line-up of Russell and Antonelli in 2026 – Vesti will enter into his third season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, teaming up with Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber for a second campaign in the #31 Whelen Cadillac off the back of collecting two races wins in 2025.

While endurance racing might be a very different beast to Formula 1, Vesti believes that this venture can only benefit his work with Mercedes.

“I’m a single seater by heart – I’ve been my whole career, so changing to SportsCars has been definitely quite a challenge,” he admits. “It is a different car. There is lots of different set-up changes and tools that I’m not used to.

“But it’s been a big learning curve, and I’ve had amazing team mates with Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber, who have been very experienced. Having back-to-back race wins at the end of the 2025 season was quite special, and it’s something I’m looking to build on for 2026.

“Driving this SportsCar, yes, it’s not a Formula 1 car, but it massively helps me to jump into the F1 car, that I have that driving experience of new tyres and all those kind of things, so I’m happy to be doing that.”

Vesti on his ‘plan’ to reach F1

Formula 1 might be heading into its winter break, but there is still plenty to keep Vesti occupied in the weeks and months ahead. After getting behind the wheel as part of the end-of-season test in Abu Dhabi – where he logged a sizeable 145 laps – the Dane has more commitments coming up.

The departure of fellow reserve driver Valtteri Bottas – who will make his return to the grid with Cadillac in 2026 – also looks likely to open up further opportunities for Vesti going forward.

“There will still be lots of sim days to do until the end of the year,” he explains. “We are probably in the most important time right now, getting the 2026 car ready. January is coming up pretty quickly, and the car needs to be ready for that Barcelona test, which is exciting. I can feel the whole team is very motivated to do that, so that’s a cool project.

“And of course, with Valtteri going to race in F1 next year, it opens up a gap for me as reserve driver, and I’m excited to further that role and continue building on this great relationship I have with Mercedes, and just continue my steps towards a Formula 1 seat.”

Which begs the question – does Vesti have a timescale in mind for making that F1 dream happen?

“Well, the short answer is as soon as possible,” he smiles. “But I’m also a realistic person and, looking into the 2027 season, I think that there could be some changes in F1.

“Obviously most teams have secured drivers for 2025 and 2026 to have a smooth transition into the new cars, but the new regulations are very different, and the cars are very different to drive. So I’m sure there’ll be drivers enjoying it, but there will also be some drivers who struggle with the new cars, and hopefully that opens up a gap for me.

“But I’m very process orientated – I focus on here and now, how I can make a difference to the team and how I can showcase my talent to the teams around, and that’s my plan to how I’ll get into Formula 1.”