Niccolo Maccagnani, who will join the Ferrari Driver Academy next year, is making his open-wheel racing debut this weekend.
The Italian, who turned 15 a week ago, has signed with Pinnacle Motorsport to contest round four of the Formula 4 South East Asia season at former Malaysian Grand Prix venue Sepang.
Maccagnani will be one of the best prepared young drivers to ever make their race debut in an entry-level category, since he has been testing single-seaters (and road cars) since 2022 when he was just 11 years old.
Having spent several weeks of each year driving in private sessions at tracks across Europe, which took priority over establishing himself in karting, after Maccagnani turned 14 a switch of strategy was made and through 2025 he has primarily driven in group F4 tests.
In those he has been his family-run car, a Tatuus T-421 of the specification used in F4 SEA and European championships, or driven for teams such as R-ace GP and Rodin Motorsport. His first appearance in an official group F4 test was in late 2023, and he has privately tested higher-level machinery since then including a Euroformula car.
Maccagnani was a finalist in the Italian motorsport federation’s annual Supercorso Federale award last year, and received recognition for his ability to adapt to the cars used by ACI for the award.
A month ago it was announced he would join the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2026, and ahead of that he is set to make further outings in F4 championships.
His team-mate at Sepang this weekend will be Kareen Kaur. The Singaporean, who is also 15, only began testing in single-seaters earlier this year but she already has race experience have contested the first three rounds of the Indian F4 season.
Her best result so far is a seventh place, while in senior karting she has been one of the top drivers in ROK Cup Asia and third in the equivalent Singaporean series. Last year she was in junior karting, coming fourth in ROK Cup Singapore and also racing OK-N Junior karts in the Champions of the Future Academy Program.
“We’re keen to work with two young talents this weekend,” said John O’Hara, Pinnacle’s team director.
“Both Niccolo and Kareen have proven themselves in their respective categories, and our focus is on supporting their development up the motorsport ladder. The current F4 SEA grid is competitive and we’re joining mid-season, but we’re confident we can deliver strong performances.”
F4 SEA’s average grid size this season has been less than 10 cars, and Pinnacle returns to the grid after missing the first three rounds. Last season (which was in 2023) it claimed one podium, and before that the Irish-Filipino team claimed multiple Formula Regional Asian Championship wins and podiums at Sepang.