Off the back of an impressive Macau Grand Prix win, Ugo Ugochukwu is preparing for his F3 debut season with PREMA Racing. This marks a new challenge for the American driver who boasts a history of success in single-seater racing.
In 2022, Ugochukwu moved into single-seaters, competing in British F4. The American then moved to Italian F4, where he finished second. He continued his success, taking the Euro 4 title and finishing third in the UAE F4 championship.
He struggled slightly more throughout 2024, with a highest finishing position of 7th across three different series. However, he ended the year with his impressive Macau Grand Prix win, becoming just the second American to ever win the Grand Prix.
Ugochukwu “confident” that PREMA will have a good 2025 F3 season
Heading into his first F3 season, Ugo Ugochukwu is eager to learn as much as possible.
On the F3 media day attended by Pit Debrief and other media, he said, “It’s my first year in F3 so a couple things to learn on my side, obviously a couple new tracks as well to get on top of. But yeah I’m pretty confident I can adapt and learn everything as quickly as possible.”
Despite being a rookie, Ugochukwu maintains that he is confident for the season ahead. He admitted, “I’m pretty confident we’ll have a good year.”
Ugochukwu trying to learn as much as possible from McLaren
As a McLaren junior driver, Ugo Ugochukwu joins an elite group of drivers with a huge amount of support for their progression through the feeder series ranks. Ugochukwu talked about what it means to be part of such a historic team.
He said, “It’s great to be part of McLaren. You know, they have a really big history in the sport. You know, one of the really big teams and yeah, of course, it’s great to see them get back to the top in F1 now as well.”
“Yeah, to be honest, I just try to take as much as I can, you know, learn as much as I can from the factory when I’m there and just take everything on board to help me progress.”
“More experience is always good”—Ugochukwu on 2025 Formula Regional Middle East campaign
Ugochukwu has not limited his preparation for the 2025 F3 season to the simulator or F3 testing. Instead, over the winter break, he sought out other racing opportunities. This took him to the Middle East where he, for the second year in a row, competed in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship. The American driver enjoyed a successful season with R-ace GP, finishing third in the championship, ahead of new PREMA teammate Brando Badoer.
While Ugochukwu does not think that he can take much from his experience in the Middle East due to the significant differences between that car and what is used in F3, he believes that the experience was, nevertheless, beneficial as it allowed him to stay sharp during the lengthy off-season.
“It’s always good to get some more racing in. I think it’s quite a good championship in the off-season, just to make sure you’re sharp.”
“So ending that weekend, full focus will be on F3. Obviously, the car is quite a big difference, so can’t really take much of that on board. But yeah, more racing, more experience is always good.”
When asked if his familiarity with teammate Badoer would change his approach to racing him, Ugochukwu dismissed the idea, agreeing with his teammate who stated that the rivalry would remain the same despite the familiarity with each other and the good relationship between them.
“I mean, as Brando said, we’ve been racing for many years now together. At the end of the day, on track, it’s just a normal rivalry like anyone else. So overall, I think, as Brando said, we’re working well together as a team and then on track, everyone for themselves.”
Ugochukwu and PREMA aiming to “push as much as [they] can in Melbourne
The 2025 F3 season is no doubt going to continue from the 2024 F3 season, being incredibly competitive throughout the grid. With this competitiveness, Ugo Ugochukwu will be looking to put in a strong performance, proving his worth as a driver. He will, of course, be reliant on his team to help him settle into the series.
Having developed a good relationship with PREMA after several seasons of partnership, and after three productive days of pre-season testing, Ugochukwu believes that he is in a good position going into the season. He stated that he and PREMA would take all that they had learnt from their preparation and push towards a successful performance when the 2025 F3 season opens in Melbourne.
“Obviously, I’ve been with Prema for a couple of seasons now, so I have a pretty good relationship with everyone in the team. So I’m working well with everyone.”
“We had three days of preseason where we learned a lot. And yeah, we’re going to take everything on board and push as much as we can in Melbourne.”
Ugochukwu planning to “just focus on the F3 season” in 2025
The American driver will also have years of success and experience behind him as he takes on this new challenge with PREMA.
“Yeah, it’s been a really good journey, of course, from karting. I think everyone has the same goal, you know, to reach the top. Obviously, you have to go through all the steps first, all the different categories. Yeah, it passed a lot quicker than I would have expected. Yeah, it’s been a good journey, as I said.”
Though he understands that F3, like the series before them, is only a step towards his ultimate goal of reaching F1, he plans to focus on his current championship rather than seek opportunities to rush through the ranks.
“Obviously, I’m going to try to take it year by year, just focus on the F3 season this year.”
