Photo: MP Motorsport
MP Motorsport has signed Newman Chi, Matteo De Palo and Maciej Gladysz as its drivers for the 2027 FIA Formula 3 season.
Chi, who hails from China and became an Aston Martin Formula 1 junior six months ago, has just over two years of single-seater experience under his belt.
He competed in the Formula Regional European Championship with MP this year, coming eighth in the standings with three fourth place finishes as the highlights.
Preceding that the 17-year-old raced for CL Motorsport for two FREC rounds in 2025 and in this year’s FRegional Middle East season in which he was 16th in the points table.
That form showed improvement from Formula 4, in which he won one race and five other podiums across 44 races last year. He was fifth in Italian F4, ninth in UAE4 and 12th in E4 with top team Prema.
“We have gelled really well in the FREC this season, so my confidence is high for a repeat [in F3],” said Chi.
“The team have done really well in F3 this year, certainly towards the end of the season, so it’s my goal to contribute to the team’s ultimate pace and have their outstanding form last well into next season.”
De Palo has spent almost a year as a Mclaren junior driver, and he joins MP in F3 after coming 24th with Trident this season. At his previous team he had been 2025 FREC runner-up, and in 2024 he was 17th in FREC and 18th in FRME for Sainteloc Racing.
“I’m really excited to join MP for my second year in FIA F3”, said the 18-year-old Italian. “Especially in the second half of this season, they were among the teams to beat, finishing the year on a high with victory, so I aim to do my part in maintaining that kind of form into 2027.
“It’s a Dutch team, but with an Italian flavour on the engineering side – I like that! The team is renowned for their welcoming atmosphere, so I’m sure I will feel right at home from the start.”
Polish racer Gladysz is without F1 patronage, although did drive for Sauber’s karting offshoot on mini karts back in 2021, and the 18-year-old has already proven himself in F3 and with MP.
He joined the team in 2024 to make his single-seater debut, resulting in third place in Formula Winter Series and Spanish F4. In the latter he claimed three victories and five other podiums.
Gladysz stepped up to Eurocup-3 (which ran with FRegional cars) in 2025 with MP and continued to taste success. He took the winter series title with two wins and three other podiums, and in the main championship won the second race of the season but did not see the podium thereon and came 10th in the standings.
This year he graduated to F3 as part of ART Grand Prix’s line-up, and victory in the Silverstone feature race helped earn him 12th in the points table.