The 2023 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season has not come to an end yet, but it has already crowned its new champion: Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The 17-year-old Italian was crowned at Zandvoort with one round to go. Ahead of the season finale and the first post-season testing, it is now time to see where this year’s FRECA drivers will go in 2024 and who will replace them. Feeder Series was at Zandvoort to collect all the information.

By Perceval Wolff

The leavers

From a crazy rumour a few months ago to a now-fact: Andrea Kimi Antonelli moving directly to FIA Formula 2 with Prema Racing is undoubtedly the feeder series move of the year. Although it hasn’t been officially announced, Antonelli jumping F3 and going straight to F2 is a done deal, confirmed to Feeder Series by Mercedes Junior Team representatives at Zandvoort.

The Mercedes protégé has not yet tested F2/GP2 machinery, as he was focused on his FRECA campaign, and his objective won’t be to get the title on his rookie season, given the level and the experience of his rivals. However, it was decided a year of F2 would be more useful than an F3 campaign for the development of the young Italian star as a driver.

If Antonelli’s FRECA crown was expected, the success of Martinius Stenshorne has surprised more people. The 17-year-old Norwegian has been crowned as this season’s rookie champion and could soon be runner-up in the overall standings. Managed by Nicolas Todt and All Road Management, the R-ace GP driver will take Gabriele Minì’s seat at Hitech in FIA Formula 3. 

Tim Tramnitz made headlines at Zandvoort, as his signing to the Red Bull Junior Team was announced. After two seasons in FRECA, Ollie Bearman’s former F4 arch-rival will be stepping up to F3. In talks with several teams, his future would most likely be at MP Motorsport, where he could be lined-up with two other FRECA drivers, Emmo Fittipaldi and Hadrien David.

Kas Haverkort, to the delight of many of his fans, won on his home soil at Zandvoort. The 19-year-old Dutchman has participated in every FRECA round since the creation of the series in 2021 from a merge between FREC and Formula Renault Eurocup. If F3 is still his main target, his lack of budget could be an issue. The Van Amersfoort driver has evaluated other options, including ELMS and Porsche Supercup.

Lorenzo Fluxá is also eyeing a move to F3 after three FRECA seasons. However, as most of the very competitive F3 seats are already taken, the Spaniard would reportedly be trying to force his way directly to F2. If no option is satisfying enough for the Prema driver, he could also switch to endurance racing, as he will be doing the ELMS Rookie Test with Cool Racing in the LMP2 category.

Sami Meguetounif will move to F3 next year, and should be taking reigning champion Gabriel Bortoleto’s seat at Trident with Santiago Ramos as a teammate. Laurens Van Hoepen will also join him in F3, staying with ART GP. Joshua Dufek, who stepped out from FRECA during the season and replaced Hugh Barter at Campos Racing for a round of F3 at Monza, is also tipped to join F3 with PHM Racing. Matías Zagazeta is one the favourites to join Jenzer in F3 next year, alongside Charlie Wurz.

Alongside his engineering studies at ESTACA, Macéo Capietto will be moving on from single-seaters and is currently considering his options in GT racing. Victor Bernier has some contacts to continue his racing career outside of single-seaters, as does Tom Lebbon. Owen Tangavelou’s future looks quite obscure after what was a difficult season.

Despite a strong rookie season, Maya Weug’s future sounds more and more likely to lie in F1 Academy with Ferrari’s support. Joshua Dürksen’s future is still uncertain, but he remains confident about staying in single-seaters. Niels Koolen and Adam Fitzgerald could soon be joining the Road to Indy, with the former testing in IndyNXT and the latter in USF Pro 2000.

FRECA in 2024

Despite many talks with F3 teams, it seems Rafael Câmara will be the highest-finishing returning driver in FRECA next year. Currently fifth in the standings, Ferrari would want their junior to get the title before moving him up to a higher category. Alongside him, two rookies coming from F4 should be joining him in Prema.

Italian F4 runner-up Ugo Ugochukwu and James Wharton have been preparing for a move to FRECA for several months already. Ugochukwu’s tests in F3 with Carlin could show his preparation for 2025 is already starting. 

With two drivers (Stenshorne and Tramnitz) finishing in the top three this season, R-ace GP has some of the most coveted seats for next year. Spanish F4 title contender and highest-placed rookie Enzo Deligny is believed to be joining the French team, keeping the support of the Red Bull Junior Team. Coming from Italian F4, Zachary David and Tuukka Taponen could be forming an all-rookie line-up for the French team.

Indeed, Taponen now seems the favourite for this seat, after being in contention with Brando Badoer. However, it’s interesting to note that some of Roman Bilinski’s relatives have been seen at R-ace garage in Zandvoort and that the Pole is still considering his options between F3 or another year in FRECA. 

Van Amersfoort Racing has started its preparations for 2024 by engaging rookie driver Ivan Domingues for the final rounds of this year. The Portuguese driver has already done several days of testing in this car, alongside Pedro Clerot. Clerot, the reigning Brazilian F4 champion, is currently racing with MP in Spanish F4 and could switch to another Dutch squad.

Following a difficult year, ART GP is getting ready to bounce back next year. They promoted 2023 French F4 champion Evan Giltaire for the final two rounds of 2023 to prepare him for the upcoming season. Alongside him, Feeder Series believes that following a very surprising campaign with G4 Racing, Alessandro Giusti will take the role of the leader within the team, at least for the start of the year. 

The third seat is less certain. After showing a steady progression in the last few rounds, Marcus Amand could stay one more year with the team.

Despite a winning campaign with Giusti, G4 Racing has not signed any driver yet. Some drivers that are assessing their options between a top team in Eurocup-3 and a FRECA team are believed to be talking to G4 Racing, including Matteo De Palo. 

The Irish-Italian team RPM has confirmed its progression with a couple of podiums this year. After one impressive first outing at Monza, Noah Strømsted has already been confirmed to race for the team next season.

MP Motorsport seems to be promoting Valerio Rinicella from Spanish F4, as he is currently fighting for the title. He could be racing alongside Bruno del Pino from Eurocup-3, who already did one round of FRECA with the team. Javier Sagrera could also be an option.

At Trident, two rookie drivers could be joining the team, McLaren-optioned driver Brando Badoer and Nicola Lacorte, who could also be joining a Formula 1 junior programme. Roman Bilinski could be staying with the team, even if, as mentioned earlier, he has other options.

After dominating his two other teammates, Nikhil Bohra has confirmed to Feeder Series his intention to stay in FRECA one more year, with Trident or another team.

Saintéloc Racing has had a solid first learning year with one maiden podium. Spanish F4 championship leader Théophile Naël is set to move up to FRECA, even if Eurocup-3 is not totally excluded for him. Regardless of his future series, he drive in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Saintéloc this winter.

He could be mentored by Esteban Masson, who already collected a podium for Saintéloc this year. The Eurocup-3 championship leader has narrowly missed out an F3 seat at Campos for next year and could be going for a third FRECA season. However, the French-Canadian is also exploring other options, as he has tested a GT3 car with AKKODIS-ASP.

French F4 runner-up Enzo Peugeot also seems to be heading to Saintéloc next season.

It is important to note that the launch of Eurocup-3 this year has made the talks more complicated for the smallest FRECA teams. Many drivers prefer to have an opportunity of getting on the podium at every round with an EC-3 top team, even if it is a championship with less F1 junior drivers, no FIA Super License points awarded, etc. 

FRECA has also not yet announced the details of its 2024 season. Some news regarding the promotion of the best 2023 F1 Academy drivers to FRECA could be announced next weekend. Contacted by Feeder Series, the championship promoters have not confirmed nor denied this information that would represent good news for the likes of Marta Garcia, for example, who could land in a fourth Prema car.

We will be able to collect much more information in the coming weeks, thanks to post-season testing that will take place from the end of October to the beginning of December. FRECA will then start its 2024 season at the Hockenheimring on 11 May.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency