Noel León’s 2024 was a very positive F3 debut season. The Mexican driver ended the year in the top 10 of the drivers’ standings and proved worthy of a move to the prestigious Prema Racing team for the upcoming 2025 season
A great talent
León won many championships while climbing up the feeder series’ ladder, including the Euroformula Open Championship in 2023. Though he did not take the 2024 championship title, his debut F3 season was also successful with four podium finishes being among the highlights.
Three of these were achieved during sprint races. León’s first podium came in Imola when he finished second in the sprint race. However, though time penalties kept him within range of the win, the VAR driver eventually found himself on the receiving end of one. This, however, did not take away from the very positive driving performance displayed in the Italian round.
Of course, penalties can be both give and take. In the Hungary feature race, his P3 finish was improved to a P2 after the disqualification of Laurens van Hoepen for being under the minimum weight.
Two podiums after starting on pole
Two of the Mexican talent’s podiums also came after he started from pole. The first was in Silverstone as he lost the lead to Lindblad following a three-way battle for the lead. The second was during the 2024 F3 Belgian round, when León completed a last-lap move on Tramnitz down the Kemmel Straight.
Of course, being a rookie is not easy. The VAR driver did not reach the points until Imola, even retiring in Melbourne. However, the second part of his 2024 showed continuous signs of improvement as well as strong consistency in scoring. In the second half of the season, he ended a race outside the top 10 on only three occasions.
León to race with Prema in 2025
In November 2024, Prema Racing announced that León would be joining them for the 2025 season. While speaking about this announcement, León expressed his intent to fight for the championship.
“For me, the second half of the campaign was really strong. We were fighting for podiums, pole positions, everything. The goal now is to fight for the Championship.”
2025 will be a challenging new situation for Noel León, who will need to make another step forward to become the title contender he would like to be.
