Photo: ACI Sport
When he’s been given the chance, Gabriel Gomez has usually shown he can perform on track. But a lack of budget has left him scrabbling for drives at the last minute.
Now, with Lando Norris and Rene Rosin backing him for his step up to FIA Formula 3, and enough time to test ahead of the season, can he deliver on a bigger stage?
On the face of it, 14th in the Formula Regional European Championship does not appear to be a strong foundation for progression to FIA Formula 3 but the points table does not paint an accurate picture, as Gomez explained to Formula Scout.
“It was not the season that we were expecting, but on the other hand, in January I wasn’t even expecting to race at all this year, so I’m happy to be here,” he says.
Having topped the times in the post-season FREC test at Monza for ART Grand Prix in October 2025, he might have expected the offers to flood in. Alas, as is so often the case, a lack of budget meant he looked likely to end up on the sidelines until Rodin Motorsport signed him up for their debut season in the championship.
The deal was announced in March, and Gomez was immediately on the pace, topping the times in the pre-season test at Paul Ricard. The team was right at the front when racing got underway at the Red Bull Ring, as his team-mates, Alex Ninovic and Reza Seewooruthun challenged for podiums, with Gomez taking rookie honours.
It was a false dawn, and the team struggled to maintain that early season momentum.
“We started the season with not so many tests, so had to go straight into the pre-season test. It was a bit late, but anyway, the results were not what we wanted,” says Gomez.
“It’s a new team in the championship, so, of course, it’s a bit difficult. They had really good UAE, the Middle East Championship although I was not there [with Maxim Rehm joining the two season regulars before Gomez joined the team]. Red Bull Ring was quite strong. It was a decent result for me for my first race weekend of the year but since then we were struggling a bit here and there.”
“We had some good rounds where we showed some strong pace, but then at other times, and we still cannot understand why, we were struggling a lot more.
“That we couldn’t understand why we were missing this, was itself a little bit the problem. At Monza I was fighting for the win; at Paul Ricard I was fighting for the podium, so I think we showed we had good potential but struggling to put it out on track every time was the biggest challenge of the year.”
Despite the challenges, he is grateful to the team for rescuing his career, and, as it turns out giving him the springboard to stay in view and to impress the right people.
“Honestly, it’s been a great opportunity to continue racing. Last year was a really good season in F4, so of course you want to keep the momentum, to stay on the top.”
In fact, Gomez’s 2025 season in Formula 4 had finally underlined the potential of a driver who had twice finished runner-up in the FIA European Championship on OK karts. A first step into Spanish F4 netted only 18th place driving for the inexperienced TC Racing team, a decision again driven by budgetary limitations.
Photo: ACI Sport
But the move to US Racing squad in Italy immediately gave him the equipment to demonstrate his potential, dominating the Formula Winter Series before leading Gerhard Ungar’s team’s challenge to Prema in Italy and the related E4 series. Six wins across the two championships gave him second in both, with double the points in Italy of his nearest team-mate, 2026 champion Luka Sammalisto.
The potential was clear. Formula Scout put him 24th in its annual Top 50 ranking of junior single-seater drivers worldwide, four places higher than his 2026 team-mate at Rodin, Ninovic.
He admits that it was frustrating to go from challenging for the title to fighting for minor points places, but he has kept plugging away, trying to improve.
“It was a bit disappointing to be fighting always for the wins last year and then this year to not even be in the top three, so it’s a bit hard but you need to accept where you’re fighting and just keep trying to go better and never accept to lose it. Every time you need to keep fighting to try to make it better.
“Every time I go for a new race week, I’m sure in my head I can be at the front because it’s the mindset you need to have. If not, you’re coming to the track having already lost,” he says.
“So, we arrive at the track fighting for the win but then you accept what you have and you work from there to keep building better during the weekend but yes, of course, it’s a bit difficult.
“It’s tough for everyone every time but you don’t expect that, after you do a really good season – P2 in Italian F4, P2 in Euro Formula 4 [E4] – with really good results, we were expecting it to be a little bit easier to find funding but the F1 academy teams are now really strict on that age thing which is good for some drivers and bad for someone like me who started really late into formula cars, so for me it is really difficult.”
Gomez is far from an old man, he turned 20 in September, but clearly feels that compared to some of his younger rivals, he was considered too old for F1 junior academy backing. Added to that, the Brazilian economy and the strength, or rather lack of it, of the Brazilian real didn’t help his cause.
“Every academy was the same problem about the age, so this was a bit tough, and then to get sponsored in Brazil is not easy especially because in our money we are really bad. To come here [to Europe] every it’s six times more expensive for us, so everything gets really expensive if you want to come from Brazil to race.”
One of three 4th place finishes came at Monza
“I’m happy with all the opportunity, with all the sponsors and the team helping to put me on track this year.
“I’m not happy with the results but I’m happy with how I developed during the season. What I’ve been trying and changing has been useful, I think. Maybe there is something that I still need to do but I’m happy with all the work during the year. The difficult weekends taught me a lot about myself, the car and the level of this championship.”
Having been thrown a lifeline by Rodin, he knows he has work to do to justify the faith of LN4 Fusion and the belief of his Brazilian fans. The budget is in place and he finds himself in the rare position of having secured a seat for the next season well before the end of the previous year. Now he needs to regain his F4 pace and confidence and prove himself in F3.