Written by Vyas Ponnuri, Sean McKean and Sophie Harvey
Welcome to Feeder Series Recap, a new series bringing you the best of driver announcements from the world of Formula 2, Formula 3, as well as F1 Academy. With as many as ten Formula 3 seats confirmed ahead of the 2025 Formula 3 season, and yet more, Vyas, Sean, and Sophie delve into the news for the week....
FORMULA 2: Jak Crawford remains at DAMS heading into 2025
DAMS Lucas Oil announced their decision to continue a successful partnership with American racer Jak Crawford into 2025, penning a new deal with the 19-year-old to take him into his third Formula 2 outing, and second with the team.
The Aston Martin junior has driven an excellent season so far, displaying a strong uptick in performance from his maiden Formula 2 campaign in 2023. The highlight of his Formula 2 season was victory at Barcelona, spearheading a DAMS double podium, with teammate Juan Manuel Correa finishing third on the road.
Having commenced his season with second at the Bahraini sprint, Crawford regularly proved a strong driver on the alternate strategy. Often running a long first stint on harder tyre, he would put on a fresh tyres for the end, and charge up into the points. This was his case at Melbourne, when he finished tenth and took home the fastest lap of the race
Crawford's consistency improved as the season progressed, as he backed up a watershed Barcelona weekend with points at Austria and Silverstone. A five-second penalty for an unsafe release at Silverstone meant he gave up victory despite taking the flag first on the road, dropping down to third.
Further podium appearances followed at Spa-Francorchamps and Baku. With two rounds still remaining, Crawford can yet better his fifth position in the standings currently, with Formula E-bound Zane Maloney and an out-of-form Paul Aron ahead of the American in the standings.
FORMULA 3: Tuukka Taponen joins ART full-time for 2025
Ferrari junior Tuuka Taponen is all set to step up to a full-time Formula 3 seat with ART Grand Prix for 2025. The Finn made a one-off appearance for the team at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year, filling in for the banned Nikola Tsolov. He qualified an impressive 13th on debut for the team, and finished 14th in the sprint, before retiring from the feature race.
Taponen currently races for the R-Ace GP in FRECA, and sits third in the standings, having taken four victories and three further runner-up finishes in 2024. The Finn came into the FRECA season on the back of a win in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship for Prema Racing.
The 17-year-old, soon to be 18 at the end of October, was first scouted by the Scuderia during the finals of the SFDA Scouting World Finals, and his performance caught the eye of the those wearing red. He was then put under special observation by Ferrari, as he continued his karting journey.
Now an F3 driver, Taponen will be looking to emulate his fellow Ferrari juniors and continue his rise up the single-seater ladder.
“I am really excited about the F3 contract with the ART GP team for the 2025 season," the Finn was quoted saying. "They already showed interest in me in the summer, giving me the opportunity to participate in last season's FIA F3 Spa competition. The team immediately impressed me both on and off the track and it felt like coming home.
FORMULA 3: Laurens van Hoepen continues with ART for 2025
Taponen will be joined by a second-season veteran at ART Grand Prix, as Dutch racer Laurens van Hoepen stays on at the French outfit for 2025, marking his second successive season with the team.
van Hoepen's first Formula 3 season was solid, to say the very least. While he started the season with second in the Bahraini sprint, it kicked off a recurring pattern for the 19-year-old, who would score in all but one sprint weekend all year. He bagged a trio of podiums at sprint events in Bahrain, Albert Park, and Monaco.
Perhaps the lowest moment for the young Dutchman was a disqualification from second on the road at the Hungaroring. Having started the 23-lap feature race from pole, van Hoepen lost out to teammate Nikola Tsolov on the road, eventually unable to surpass his teammate for victory.
He was then disqualified from the final classification as his ART machine proved to be below the weight limit in a routine check by the stewards.
van Hoepen will be looking to score more frequently on the Sundays in 2025, utilising the experience gained from his rookie season with the team to good effect, and make himself a Formula 3 championship contender in 2025.
FORMULA 3: Martinius Stenshorne re-signs with Hitech PulseEight for 2025
Another driver staying on at the same team for 2025 is Hitech racer Martinius Stenshorne. The Norwegian was promoted to the team's Formula 3 operations on the back of a strong campaign in FRECA the year before, when he won the Rookie Championship. Stenshorne finished second in the standings, losing out on the title to now F1-bound Kimi Antonelli.
Stenshorne was one of ten drivers to take atleast a single victory in 2024, coming out on top after a battle with ART's van Hoepen all race long. Not too long after he first tasted success in the series, Stenshorne was inducted into the McLaren Driver Development Programme alongside fellow F3 junior Alex Dunne.
The Hitech racer would take yet another podium at the Red Bull Ring, before sitting out the following round at Silverstone as he was serving a ban for racing in the GB3 round at the circuit without prior approval from the officials.
Yet, the Norwegian was able to round out his debut season in the series with more points in the bag, finishing tenth in the Monza sprint on Saturday, before finishing fifth in the following day's feature race, bagging the bonus point for the fastest lap, to cap off a strong weekend.
With a season's knowledge of racing under his belt, Stenshorne will be striving to achieve greater consistency in his sophomore outing, as he will be eyeing a championship challenge come 2025.
FORMULA 3: Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak moves to Campos for 2025
Another driver eyeing a strong 2025 will be none other than Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. The young Thai driver will partner Mari Boya at Campos, in a beneficial move, considering the stronger Campos machinery at his disposal next year.
Inthraphuvasak was the first driver racing under the Thai flag to make it to the Road to Formula One since his compatriot Alex Albon, a driver he looked up to during his junior racing days.
Having commenced his debut Formula 3 season for AIX Racing, Inthraphuvasak sat down in 28th in the standings as the series approached the Hungaroring for round eight of the 2024 season. A strong qualifying for the AIX team saw the Thai racer start third for the feature race, behind teammate Nikita Bedrin and PREMA Racing's Dino Beganovic.
Inthraphuvasak initially held off the chasing Rodin Motorsport of Callum Voisin, before capitalising on a wide moment for the Swedish driver to snatch second on the road behind his teammate. The duo would finish the 18-lap sprint one-two, giving the man from Thailand his first podium and points in the series.
Armed with a stronger Campos outfit behind him, Inthraphuvasak will be aiming to go bigger in 2025, as he looks to put the experience gained in his debut season to the best possible use.
FORMULA 3: Brando Badoer joins Prema for 2025
In the midst of a consistent season in FRECA - wherein he has amassed seven podiums - Prema Racing announced that Brando Badoer would pilot their second entry. This announcement also coincided with the Italian gaining McLaren partnership. Brando is also the son of former Formula 1 driver and F3000 champion, Luca Badoer.
From 2022 to 2023, the 18-year-old raced in the UAE, ADAC, and Italian F4 championships alongside a Euro 4 campaign in 2023. His most successful year was 2023, when he took a combined nine podiums across three championships, finishing sixth overall in each one.
Badoer made the jump to Formula Regional machinery for 2024. In the winter, he partook in the Middle Eastern Championship, taking three podiums enroute to tenth in the standings. Since then, he's raced in FRECA, where he's remained winless but consistent results keep him in the conversation for top three in the standings.
FORMULA 3: Louis Sharp advances from GB3 with Rodin
After taking the GB3 title in his rookie season, Rodin Motorsport announced Louis Sharp as their first confirmed driver for 2025.
Sharp made his F4-level debut with Rodin in British F4 in 2022. Despite not being able to race the opening round due to not reaching the age minimum, he still tallied two victories enroute to fourth in the standings. He built on this result in 2023, taking the British F4 championship with six wins.
Subsequently, the Kiwi jumped to F3-level machinery in 2024 in the GB3 Championship - also with Rodin. Sharp impressed yet again by winning five races throughout the year and eventually taking the championship as a rookie.
FORMULA 3: FRECA champion Rafael Câmara joins Trident
Fresh off a FRECA title victory, Trident announced that Rafael Câmara would join the team for a rookie FIA F3 campaign.
Câmara started his single-seaters career in 2022 in Formula 4, racing against the likes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Charlie Wurz in Prema. He still had a successful time, taking nine wins across F4 UAE, ADAC F4, and Italian F4.
The Brazilian then jumped to FRECA and FRMEC. His campaigns were solid but not nearly as flashy as his F4 career. In the Middle Eastern championship, he finished third with no wins, and in Europe, he finished fifth with two wins.
The 19-year-old returned to each championship for 2024. He finished third again in the Middle East with two wins, behind Tuukka Taponen and Taylor Barnard. But, FRECA has been a stellar campaign, having clinched the title one round early with six victories.
FORMULA 3: Noah Strømsted embarks on full campaign with Trident
After finishing his first year in Formula Regional machinery, Noah Strømsted announced that he would also join Trident in 2025 - completing the trio.
Strømsted started off hot in his native country's F4 championship in 2021 by winning nine races and finishing second in the championship despite missing half of the season. He then ventured to Spanish F4 and F4 UAE in 2022 and 2023, but this period only saw him take four podiums with a best standings finish of seventh.
The 17-year-old then made the move to FRECA for 2024 and has seen more success, having taken four podiums with one round yet to go. He also got a taste of FIA Formula 3, replacing Oliver Goethe in the Monza finale after his call-up to F2. He had a best finish of 17th in the sprint.
FORMULA 3: Gerrard Xie continues with Hitech into F3
To conclude the FIA F3 announcement, Hitech confirmed their second driver in Gerrard Xie.
Xie began his F4 career hot - much like Strømsted - in his native China, winning 13 races enroute to a dominant title.
The 18-year-old then moved to Great Britain in the GB3 Championship with Hillspeed in 2022. Although he managed a victory in the reverse-grid Donington race, he finished the year 20th in the standings.
This year, Xie has partaken in three championships. He began in the winter in Formula Regional Oceania, wherein he finished seventh in the standings with a win. In GB3, he continued with Hitech and improved on the previous season, finishing the season with the same stats as FROC. He also raced a round of Euroformula Open, where he took a victory.
F1 ACADEMY: Ella Lloyd partners with McLaren for her debut season
Elsewhere on the feeder series ladder, 19-year-old Ella Lloyd has signed with McLaren — joining the papaya team as a development driver, the Welshwoman will line up on next year's F1 Academy grid and will don the iconic orange livery.
Of course, Lloyd is no stranger to the series — having taken a break from her British F4 duties to participate in the Singapore round, her two point-scoring finishes were more than impressive. With just two years of racing under her belt, it’s clear Lloyd is a fast learner with every chance of fighting at the front.
Her newfound role is already coming with responsibility though, with a recent announcement stating she’ll be representing McLaren in the upcoming all-female Formula E test.
In reaction to the news, she said: “I’m really excited to be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme as the team’s F1 ACADEMY driver in 2025. It’s an honour to drive for a team that has such a great racing history, and also a long track record for developing talent.”
“With McLaren, I now have everything I need to keep developing and pushing the boundaries as a female in motorsport. Thank you to Zak Brown, Stephanie Carlin and the entire McLaren team for their faith in me. I can’t wait to get racing in papaya.”
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