After all the announcements we F3 fans have seen, Prema is one of the first few teams to complete their Formula 3 2025 season lineup with Ugo Ugochukwu, Brando Badoer and Noel Leon. Here’s a little bit about them!
Ugo Ugochukwu
Born in the glamorous New York City, and starting his karting career at the ripe age of 7, Ugochukwu was a consistent karting driver who occasionally won or placed in the top 3 of a championship.
He took part in the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship OK-Junior Class and placed first overall.
After this win he signed a contract with McLaren Driver Development Program just before he began his professional racing career in 2022.
He started off in the British F4 Championship with Carlin Racing and came 3rd in the series championship. He then joined Prema Racing for the ADAC Formula 4 championship and the Italian F4 championship, driving for a few races as their rookie driver in 2022.
It was not until the Formula 4 UAE championship where Ugochukwu officially joined Prema Racing as their driver for the championship and placed 3rd in the championship.
This helped extend the partnership for both the Italian F4 championship 2023 and the Euro 4 Championship 2023, where he placed 2nd and 1st respectively.
In 2024, Ugochukwu raced with different teams finding his footing until he finally signed his contract with the legendary Prema Team for the upcoming FIA F3 championship.
Brando Badoer
The Italian driver was born in the small town of Montebelluna; to veteran former F1 driver and F3000 champion, Luca Badoer.
Badger began his professional racing career in the 2022 Formula 4 UAE championship with AKM Motorsports. He then raced in the Italian F4 championship and the ADAC F4 championship with Van Amersfoort Racing.
He then entered the 2023 F4 UAE championship with Pinnacle VAR, Italian F4 championship and Euro 4 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing; placing a consistent 6th in all three championships showing a rise in his career trajectory.
The Italian also signed a contract with the Mclaren’s Driver Development Programme in 2023 for a year and was extended in 2024.
In 2024 he took place in the Formula Region Middle Eastern and European with PHM AIX Racing and Van Amersfoort Racing respectively.
Badoer signed a contract with Prema Racing, after his consistent racing over the past years, for the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship and is the second Mclaren Junior Driver of the team alongside his American teammate.
Noel León
Noel Jesús León Vàsquez, the mexican driver was born in Monterrey, Mexico and began his karting career at the ripe age of 5 years old.
The 19-year-old was consistent throughout his karting career and even placed 3rd in the Rotax Max Challenge Mexico, Noreste – Juniors. It wasn’t until two years into his racing career, where he placed 1st in the NACAM Formula 4 championship.
He also placed first in the 2021 Formula 4 UAE Championship, 2021 NASCAR Challenge Series – Mexico and the 2023 Euroformula Open Championship with various teams.
León was a part of the Red Bull Junior Programme for about a year in 2022 and was dropped in 2023.
As of now he is not a part of any Junior Programme. He took part in the 2024 FIA Formula 4 Championship in Van Amersfoort Racing and after consistent efforts he placed 10th in the championship.
He signed a contract with Prema Racing for the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship and is set to drive alongside the Mclaren Junior Drivers.
The line-up for Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship has usually had drivers from the Ferrari Driver Academy and fans have usually related the two teams, so to see McLaren Junior Drivers dominate the team did shock people at first.
However, it is with no doubt that the fans of Prema Racing expect nothing but excellent results from both the drivers and the team in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship.
