One of the surprises of last year’s Formula Regional Europe season, Enzo Peugeot made an unexpected team change over the winter, leaving Saintéloc Racing for RPM. Ahead of his sophomore FR Europe campaign, the 19-year-old opened up on why it’s a make-or-break year for him.

By Perceval Wolff-Taffus

FR Europe will kick off its 2025 season this weekend at Misano with two natural favourites for the title. After a season-long battle, Evan Giltaire beat Freddie Slater to the FR Middle East title, but the Briton will be keen to get revenge in FR Europe, a championship in which his Prema team have won all drivers’ or teams’ titles for the past three seasons.

But several outside contenders have emerged, such as FR Middle East race winners Enzo Deligny, Rashid Al Dhaheri and Kanato Le – or even a driver who hasn’t raced since the final FR Europe race of 2024: Enzo Peugeot.

The French-Japanese driver finished 10 of the 20 races in the points for Saintéloc. His start was even more impressive, with five top-10 finishes in the first seven races and a best qualifying position of second in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps. That made the 2023 French F4 runner-up the leading driver within Saintéloc’s three-car line-up, which also included rookies and Spanish F4 graduates Théophile Naël and Matteo de Palo.

“Looking at the pre-season tests, I wasn’t expecting it,” Peugeot tells me on Twitch, 10 days before the season opener at Misano. “I wasn’t expecting to be in front of Théophile and Matteo. I just drove. I enjoyed it without putting myself under pressure, and I believe that was what made the difference.”

Peugeot had become used to fighting for wins and podiums in French F4, but the expectations were different for the next step up. While in this mindset of serenity, Peugeot said he delivered “the best race of [his] life” in the first race of round four at the Hungaroring – despite the fact that, on paper, he came home sixth from fifth on the grid. 

“I had a good start and was in fifth, in front of [points leader Rafael] Câmara. I knew he was faster so I let him through,” Peugeot explained. “But then there was [James] Wharton, and I was willing to give everything to stay in front of him. For 20 minutes, I defended at every corner, all the time. It was the best race of my life. It was fair play and at the end we shook hands. He’s a good guy.”

A few hours later, Peugeot lost the points he had earned after being disqualified for a technical infringement hours after the race. He was reinstated to his original position more than five months later following a successful appeal from Saintéloc Racing.

After that race, however, Peugeot hit a slump. He  made several mistakes and did not score again until the eighth round at the Red Bull Ring in September. There, on a greasy track, Peugeot finished fifth, and he remained near the front of the field for the final two rounds. With five top-eight finishes in the last six races and a rookie win in the final race in Monza, he ended the season 13th overall.

“There was a lot of raw pace, especially in qualifying,” Peugeot explained. “But in races, there were too many mistakes from my side, too much haste. I wanted too strongly to do well and I think it cost me a lot at the middle of the season, such as at Imola or at the Red Bull Ring, where I lost a lot of points. Overall, we didn’t deliver enough in the races, but the raw pace was there, so there was still a positive.”

“I thought [this year] was still a bit early to step up to F3. I need to deliver more in the races, to gain experience on that and to constantly fight at the front. It’s true that it’s frustrating, but it’s necessary to gain more experience in FRECA with the hope of stepping up to F3 next year.”

Peugeot committed to another year in FR Europe, but he made a surprise team change over the winter, announced in early March: leaving Saintéloc for RPM, the team that last year took new Mercedes junior Noah Strømsted to sixth overall and the rookie title.

“We thought we were stagnating and that there wouldn’t be any big realisations if we stayed [at Saintéloc],” he said. “I wanted to change so that I could discover new ways of working. They are Italian people, not French. It’s only my second real team because before that I was with the FFSA Academy, so to discover new things is good. […] It was a natural choice even though it was quite late as the deal was made in January.”

In seeking a change, Peugeot could have gone to Eurocup-3 or GB3, one of the championships emerging as a rival to FR Europe, but he said a move to these series was never on the table. Their growth has also indirectly affected FR Europe, which now boasts the smallest grid since its merger with Formula Renault Eurocup ahead of the 2021 season. Still, Peugeot said he had no fears that a smaller grid would make talent go unnoticed.

“In truth, I don’t think so. There might be a smaller percentage of good drivers compared with last year, but I think the level in front is still very high with Slater, Evan, [Pedro] Clerot, Deligny. It won’t change a lot. With Slater, the series will be heavily followed, while Evan was champion in FR Middle East,” he said..”

“This year, it will be difficult to win the championship against the Prema of Slater, Evan, the Van Amersfoorts too, but the target will be to achieve a top-three finish in the championship,” Peugeot explained.

And for the Frenchman, who turned 19 in December, time is of the essence.

“I know financially, this is my last chance to step up to F3. I have to prove myself on track, to make the fewest mistakes possible. It’s the last year and I have to give my everything to do it,” he added. “I thought [this year] was still a bit early to step up to F3. I need to deliver more in the races, to gain experience on that and to constantly fight at the front. It’s true that it’s frustrating, but it’s necessary to gain more experience in FRECA with the hope of stepping up to F3 next year.”

While many of his rivals raced all winter in FR Middle East, Peugeot stayed at home practicing on the simulator – his way to keep sharp when budget limited him from travelling. Does he feel that missing out would put him at a disadvantage at the start of the season?

“I had some struggles with extracting the maximum out of the tyres in testing. “On used tyres, we were really in the mix, but on new tyres, I have used only seven or eight sets of new tyres since the start of the year, while all the others have used many more. Even if they were Giti tyres, you have the same feeling. I have to do the job, on the simulator too, with my engineer. I need to make this step up,” Peugeot said.

“We worked a lot on the race pace. With used tyres, we were really quick, but as I said, with new tyres, we had difficulties with extracting the maximum of the tyre. There were difficulties from the two sides, mine and the team’s, so that’s really what we will be working on Friday in the tests at Misano,” he added. “We have only four sets of new tyres for two days, so we needed to work a lot on worn tyres. That’s why we worked more on race pace.”

Alongside his FR Europe campaign, the son of Michelin-starred chef Laurent Peugeot is also working to complete the coursework for his DEJEPS (Diplôme d’État de la jeunesse, de l’éducation populaire et du sport), including a final oral examination. His degree programme would enable him to become a coach or driver manager while gaining real-world experience.

“Many drivers are doing it – Victor Martins, Reshad de Gerus, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, Sacha Lehmann, Pierre-Alexandre Provost. There are many drivers that want to work in motorsport in other ways, whether they are still driving or afterwards. For me, FR Europe is the last step where I’ll have the time to do it, because later, if I go to F3, I will have less time,” he said.

Peugeot looks after several karters already, but his primary focus is on mentoring current French F4 leader Alexandre Munoz, who turns 16 on Sunday. In overseeing the young Frenchman’s career, he has also gained another perspective on the series that moulded him in his earliest days in single-seaters.

“For the DEJEPS, I need to make a project around one driver. I came to him to offer him my experience. It’s not only coaching. You have to look after the driver from A to Z, his sleep, his nutrition, his stress. There are a lot of things to do. I’m a bit like his babysitter!,” he said.

“I really think he has great potential. He did only two or three years of karting. He doesn’t have a lot of budget and he doesn’t test a lot alongside. There are also some other interesting drivers in F4 such as Andy Consani. If he puts everything end to end, he can be a threat… There is also Arthur Dorison, who I know made a very good step forward relative to last year. These three are title contenders in F4, the next generation.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency