Photo: Prema
Niccolo Maccagnani will race for Prema next year in Italian Formula 4 and the sister E4 championship.
The 15-year-old was signed by Scuderia Ferrari this August, while in the middle of an intense private testing programme in single-seaters (which began in 2022), to become a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy for 2026.
In September he turned testing into racing, joining the F4 South East Asia grid for the last two rounds at Sepang and making the podium in all six of his races. He won three times, had three poles and came fourth in the standings.
Next up was his Italian F4 debut, which came in the season finale, and he had a best finish of 15th. Over the last month he has raced in the United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy, where two podiums was enough to make him series runner-up.
“I’m very happy to join a winning team for a season that will be very important for me,” the Italian said of joining Prema.
“Being part of the Ferrari Driver Academy gives me great confidence and motivation, and together we will try to do the best we can, and we’ll see where that will lead.”
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.
Next year he will race in at least three championships, with his programme away from Italy to be announced at a later date.
Prema founder Angelo Rosin commented: “Niccolo has been extremely impressive in his first few races despite being very young and a rookie in F4, so we are proud to have him with us, and we look forward to helping his talent develop. Italian F4 and E4 are challenging championships; we’re confident he will be battling at the front.”