After a disappointing rookie campaign in Formula 3, Kacper Sztuka stepped back to FRegional-level competition, After a late call gave him a chance to race the FR Europe car at Misano, Feeder Series met Sztuka in the paddock to talk about his one-off experience and his expectations for his full-season Eurocup-3 campaign. 

By Francesca Brusa

“That year was career changing,” Kacper Sztuka told Feeder Series in Misano about his championship-winning season in Italian F4 in 2023. And how could it not be? 

With nine wins – eight of which he achieved in the last three rounds – and three further podiums to his name, the Polish racer was crowned Italian F4 champion with a 35-point advantage over runner-up Ugo Ugochukwu. He also brought home the first title in the series for US Racing in his third year of F4 competition.

“It was really great,” he added. “The style in which we won made it even better. Dominating the last part of the season made it look very good.”

Evidently, his results – which also included the Formula Winter Series title earlier that year – interested the wider motorsport world too. He secured a seat in F3 for 2024 with MP Motorsport as well as a partnership with the prestigious Red Bull Junior Team. 

“The fact I won made me go to F3, made me go to Red Bull academy,” he said. “I got all of the chances for 2024 because of that. And it made my name in the motorsport stronger. And I’m not a no-name on the driver market in the feeder series.”

Unfortunately for Sztuka, this fairytale story didn’t have a happy ending. The Polish driver only ended up claiming one points finish in the whole 20-race season, doing so in the sprint race at Imola, and ended the year 27th overall. The lack of headline results early on also caused Sztuka and Red Bull to part ways. 

“The season didn’t go our way. We had some better moments and some unlucky moments also where we had potential but we didn’t maximise it. In the end, just one time scoring points.

“I think in the end it was a good season for learning. I learned a lot about tyres, about management, about set-ups. I saw how the proper motorsport world looks like. And I can bring it on in any other series,” he said.

“The Red Bull academy helped me a lot to get to F3, to also prepare on the simulator to get knowledge before starting the season. The simulator, I must say, was really great and I think it was helping me in the preparation. But then I was left with no Academy, so it was a bit difficult mentally. 

“But I got over it and there were still some good and bad moments after. I don’t think it was life-changing, but it was not optimal to leave the academy during the season. A shame it happened so quickly. 

“We know it’s ruthless and Red Bull makes quick decisions. Results were not there, and simply, we just had to leave the academy.”

So what exactly went wrong in 2024?

“The car is really different from the F4, so that was a huge jump for me. I had to adapt quickly, which didn’t really happen in the end. So basically no testing days, just a huge jump of 15 seconds per lap, which was like going from F3 to F1,” Sztuka said.

“The thing that didn’t go well was the race in Imola where I started on pole. I just didn’t warm up the tyres well and didn’t do a proper start, which cost me actually a win or a podium at least. Also another unfortunate moment was when I got track limits by literally a few centimeters in Spa, where I could start in pole position for the sprint race.”

In early February, after months of uncertainty about his career, the Bielsko-Biała native returned to the cockpit again for the first two rounds of the Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship with the satellite team of Campos Racing, MP’s longtime rivals. A podium and three further points finishes put Sztuka 11th in the standings.

“Getting anything else from F3 – if you don’t go to F2 – it’s a downgrade clearly,” he said. “The winter series was fun. I didn’t have much preparation so I just went for it with no mileage in the car. I think in the end, with the podium in Portimão we made good progress and I’m very positive for the actual season.”

The Polish driver’s focus is now on his main campaign in Eurocup-3, which will kick off at the Red Bull Ring in Austria this weekend. 

“Before the season, expectations are high, as always,” Sztuka said. “We are with Campos, who is the team that won both championships two years ago and last year. We expect to be there on top. There are many good drivers, good teams, which are competitive, so we aim to do the best job we can in each session, each lap, and we see what the result is. But we aim for the championship.”

The plan didn’t stop Sztuka from making a cameo appearance with G4 Racing in FR Europe for the championship’s first round at Misano, where Feeder Series met with him to talk about his decision.

“The call was quite late,” he said. “We had an opportunity to drive in the first round. For the moment, it’s only the first round. There was a chance and we used it.”

Sztuka ended up claiming a best finish in 13th in race two after coming 18th in race one, not scoring any points but still beating some full-time racing drivers in the championship. G4 teammates Édouard Borgna and Arthur Aegerter, classed as rookies, had best finishes of 18th and 20th respectively, both in the second race. 

Having now tried his hand at FR Europe, commonly known as FRECA, does he wish he’d done so sooner?

“Going to FRECA last year with a good team and having a good year would’ve been way better, as we know now – to do more testing and prepare better,” he said. “The jump between F4 and F3 was just too big and it would’ve been more optimal to do FRECA.

“I’m happy to at least see how I would do if I did FRECA. I think it’s good preparation. If I could turn the time back, I would go to FRECA.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency