Formula 3 held its two official post-season tests as several drivers announce their plans for 2027. Further tests in Europe indicate who’s going where from F2 to F4.

By Finjo Muschlien

By the time of F3’s first official test at Jerez on 20 and 21 October, 21 of the 30 drivers had already been announced. No further announcements have come since then, with Prema Racing, ART Grand Prix and DAMS are yet to announce their line-ups.

All three teams fielded the same three drivers in both tests. Prema ran Alex Powell (#20) alongside Jin Nakamura (#21) and Martin Molnár (#22). All three drivers are expected to race for the Italian outfit next year.

French team ART likewise seem to have their line-up settled as Enzo Yeh (#11) and Emanuele Olivieri (#12) are set to join returnee Taito Kato (#10).

DAMS’ line-up seemed less definitive. Returnee Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi (#30) was joined by Alexander Abkhazava (#29) and Miguel Costa (#31), although the latter was already announced to race for LN4 Fusion in FRegional Europe next year.

LN4 Fusion’s 2027 drivers took part in the test for AIX Racing, whose assets the Italian-licensed team will take over.

Van Amersfoort fielded Francisco Macedo (#14) in place of Yevan David at the first test at Jerez, with the Sri Lankan completing school examinations in Singapore.

F3 at Jerez (20–21 October)

Trident’s Kean Nakamura-Berta (#5) and Macedo topped the times on the first and second days respectively of the F3 test at Jerez.

Jerez, 20-21 October	P1	P2	P3
Day 1	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 1:31.169	Mattia Colnaghi, +0.002s	Ernesto Rivera, +0.011s
Day 2	Francisco Macedo, 1:29.766	Enzo Deligny, +0.169s	Pedro Clerot, +0.186s

F3 at Barcelona (26–27 October)

MP Motorsport’s Matteo De Palo (#9) and ART’s Taito Kato (#10) each took turns at the top of the timesheet at Barcelona.

Barcelona, 26-27 October	P1	P2	P3
Day 1	Matteo De Palo, 1:28.516s	Ernesto Rivera, +0.033s	Enzo Deligny, +0.145s
Day 2	Taito Kato, 1:27.902s	Ernesto Rivera, +0.012s	Alessandro Giusti, +0.069s

GB3, GB4, F4 at Snetterton (28–29 October)

Snetterton hosted a two-day test with two teams from each of GB3 and GB4 and six teams from British F4 participating.

Fortec Motorsport fielded one GB3 car driven by Emily Cotty (#01), who raced in Italian F4 earlier this year. Elite Motorsport brought one car driven by GB4 runner-up Fred Green, who has been announced to be driving at the final GB3 round for the team at Barcelona next week.

Fortec’s sole GB4 car was driven by Max Yuill (#02). Arden fielded Ginetta Junior driver Ethan Brass (#24) in the only other GB4 car at the test.

LN4 Fusion attended the test in F4 machinery with five drivers, one of whom was not identified. Karting graduates Darren Jiang and Conor Large were partnered by British F4 veteran Ethan Jeff-Hall and newly crowned GB4 Winter Series champion Jesse Phillips.

Rodin Motorsport attended the test with five cars. Alongside two unidentified drivers, the team fielded McLaren junior Ella Häkkinen, who came 13th in F4 CEZ this year; AU4 runner-up Marco Manson, who was runner-up in AU4’s Gen 2 class and is expected to race for Rodin next year; and Cameron Nelson, who finished 14th with JHR Developments in British F4 this year.

JHR fielded Michael Koh, who raced for them in the 2026 finale and came 15th in GB4, alongside an unidentified driver. Fortec brought three cars driven by single-seater newcomers Riley Cranham (#40), Luke Kaminski (#41) and Klara Kowalczyk (#42).

Argenti Motorsport brought two cars and Chris Dittmann Racing one car to the test.

F2, F3, at Spielberg (29–30 October)

Track day organisers Kateyama hosted a test for F2 and F3 cars at Spielberg on 29 and 30 October, which underlined some longtime rumours.

Toyota’s Sho Tsuboi (#12) made his first appearance with Prema’s F2 team ahead of his expected switch to the series next year. The 31-year-old is the 2024 Super Formula champion and has won Super GT’s GT500 class four times. He was partnered by Nicola Lacorte (#11), who is also expected to race for the Italian outfit after two years in F3 with DAMS.

Speed Center were present with two F2 cars driven by F3 champion Ugo Ugochukwu (#991) and three-time race winner Théophile Naël (#992), who are expected to form Campos’ 2027 line-up.

Twelve drivers appeared in F3 cars, seven of whom are expected to race in F3 next year. Those are Alexander Abkhazava (#902) and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi (#17) at DAMS, Michael Shin (#1) at Hitech and Alessandro Giusti (#12) and Reza Seewooruthun (#25) at Rodin. Porteiro Motorsport fielded MP’s Chi Zhenrui (#012) and Enzo Yeh (#95), expected to sign with ART.

Also present at the test, but not expected to be part of the F3 grid next year, were Alceu Feldmann (#94) at Porteiro Motorsport and Miguel Costa (#2) at Hitech. Super Formula driver Juju Noda was likewise at Spielberg in a GP2 car.

Other tests

Pursuit Racing was spotted at Navarra on 21 October with F3’s Louis Sharp and Jaime Ambrose on site and a first-generation Tatuus Formula Regional on track.

At Pembrey, Eva Morris (#3) and Harrison Whitticombe tested F4 cars with Argenti, while Double R fielded Zac Green (#26).

On 27 October, Antonio Cocchianella (#2), Richard Mille Young Talent Academy winner Benjamin Mañach (#15), USF Juniors driver Leonardo Serravalle and Kacper Rajpold tested with MP’s F4 team. Monlau was likewise at the test with two Eurocup-3 and three F4 cars.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency