Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
After two tough seasons, where early season promise has proved deceptive, Alex Powell reminded everyone of his talent with an unexpected return to Prema for the final two FIA Formula 3 rounds at Monza and Madrid.
When Louis Sharp withdrew to focus on 2027, the American-Jamaican driver jumped at the chance to get into the F3 cockpit. After a “baptism of fire” at Monza, his performances in qualifying and the races at the Madring were a timely reminder of his underlying speed.
“We had no intention of being here. It was out of nowhere. I hadn’t really done any testing in the F3 car, so it was a very last-minute decision,” he explained to Formula Scout in the Monza paddock.
“We were looking more towards next year but then we got a phone call saying the seat had opened up. We immediately said, ‘Yes’. It’s a great opportunity to learn and, obviously, it keeps my name in the FIA paddock.”
Coming back to the Prema family was a homecoming of sorts after two years away, even though many of the Prema personnel have since moved on, as the Italian squad has gone through its own distractions.
“Yes, it has changed a lot, but at the same time it hasn’t, and it does very much feel like being back to the beginning. I remember being here at Monza in 2024 watching the F3 guys and wishing that one day I would be there. So, to be here a couple of years later is super cool.”
And driving the F3 car itself has been an amazing experience for the driver who turned 19 in the week after Madrid.
“Wow, it’s super cool,” he bubbles excitedly. “For me, it’s one of my favourite cars that I’ve driven. The thing that stood out to me immediately was the power to weight ratio. Just the feel straight away. My first time operating DRS as well. So that’s something to learn. But for me, the car itself, particularly in race trim, is super nice.”
Despite his lack of preparation time ahead of the Monza event, Powell felt he “gelled with the car pretty quickly. Free practice was a good baseline. It was the first time I’d ever driven on soft tyres and ended up in the middle of the pack, so, in all honesty, I expected a pretty good step forward in qualifying.”
However, that early promise failed to materialize in the lottery of F3 qualifying at Monza, with the 30 cars divided into two groups, each allocated just 15 minutes to set a time.
“It fell apart for sure,” he admitted. “It’s just one lap. I’d never experienced something like that before and I made a mistake, put myself in a bad position and was fighting for the first two sectors of the laps.
“It wasn’t that the tyres weren’t ready or I didn’t drive well. I just didn’t even get a lap; it was just a mess. This one stings quite a lot because all of a sudden the weekend becomes a lot more difficult, and it changes the dynamic of how people perceive the weekend. But from the inside, I think there was a lot to be happy about.”
Starting 24th for both races, making progress in a congested midfield was not easy. “The sprint race was my first time doing a proper race distance as well with these tyres, which were experiencing some sort of degradation. So that was a first too.
“Though we made a good step forward in the Feature Race, it’s been a bit of a tricky weekend, but there’s a lot of positives behind the scenes that are good. Obviously, it’s very difficult to make a comparison with other teams but within myself I feel like I’m doing a really good job.”
Photo: Prema
The lessons were quickly learned and, with the Madring presenting a new challenge for all, allowed him to fight at the front. Powell qualified 10th and 12th in the double session, the fastest Prema pilot, before taking advantage of the reverse grid format of the sprint race to earn a maiden podium.
“It is super cool to be on the podium. It was unexpected. Today it was just about staying out of trouble and learning about tyre management, which is quite new for me as well. Then it was about staying clean and making it to the end of the race,” he said after the sprint race.
Though the feature races again featured “limited overtaking opportunities”, he kept out of the walls to score more points with seventh in the first race, having the edge over his more experienced team-mates in both races.
His F3 cameo gave Powell to remind onlookers, and particularly the F3 teams, of what he can do, as his career momentum has stalled in the last two years.
After pipping Prema team-mate Kean Nakamura-Berta to the 2024 rookie title in Italian Formula 4, he moved across to R-ace GP for his sophomore season. Although he finished runner-up to team-mate Emanuele Olivieri, recently crowned Formula Regional European champion, in the UAE championship, both drivers struggled to be competitive back in Europe.
Two wins, both coming in one weekend at Mugello, were a poor return. At the end of the season, he parted ways with the Mercedes-AMG F1 junior programme, his backers since 2019 in karting, and clearly needed a complete reset.
Despite success at the start of this season with Formula Regional in the Middle East, and discussions with FR European teams, he plumped for Eurocup-3 with Campos Racing.
With a best result of second at Imola, it has been “a rocky season thus far, let’s say. It hasn’t been easy. Me, my engineer and of course my teammates have all been pushing really quite hard, but I feel like we’re getting better every weekend.”
“We’re always there or thereabouts, which is the most important thing. We’re always competitive, always qualifying in the top five, being in the fight. We’re pretty close, but it’s true that we’re missing that little bit, but I’m sure that’s coming. We’re really working in a good way, and I have full trust in the whole Campos team.
We’re getting a lot of support from the F2 and the F3 engineers. Campos is obviously doing an excellent job at the minute in F2 and F3. The hope is always that they can carry that on in all categories. But at the end of the day, I think that’s what makes the team so strong.
“Because it doesn’t really matter how they start. One way or another, they’ll find their way to the top of of any series that they’re racing in. And in this case, I have no doubt that at some point, one way or another, they will find their way back to the top in Eurocup.”
Photo: Eurocup-3
Asked which weekend has given him the most pleasure, he picks a round of the Eurocup Winter Series at Jarama. “That weekend we were struggling to find the right direction, and I was very happy that I brought some stability to the team that weekend. I ended up winning the race, the last race on Sunday, which was very satisfying,” he says, although he subsequently lost his win after a post-race penalty.
“That was the first time in a long time that I really felt that I actually maximized the full race weekend. Maybe I had it once or twice in F4 where I felt I maximized it, like Mugello last year or one of the UAE races.”
Looking back on the year, he is comfortable with his career move. “I really have zero regrets in going to Eurocup-3.”
It may be a lower profile series than FREC, particularly now the latter has full FIA support, but Powell feels that the Dallara 326 is closer to the demands of a current FIA F3 car.
“The jump coming from Eurocup to F3 wasn’t that big at all. Obviously, there are small things to get used to, especially the tyres. But lap time wise, there’s not a massive difference, which is good from the driver’s perspective.
“But mostly, I’m happy where I’m at in Europe because of the super strong engineering department I’ve been working with. I’ve learned and developed so much as a driver this season. That has been invaluable and I’m sure that if I had gone anywhere else, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I have done this year.”
Fortunately for Powell, his Campos team did not stand in his way when the opportunity with a rival came up, he says, although “it wasn’t the easiest conversation to have! Of course, they understand the size of the opportunity and how important it is to be here learning and ideally doing a good job. I’m sure they’re keeping an eye on one of their drivers, and that they see the positives that we also see.”
After an impressive showing with Andretti Global at the IndyNxt rookie tests on the Indianapolis road course, Powell is keeping his options open for 2027 and beyond, although a full-time move to FIA F3 remains “the goal”, he says.
“Of course, we have to see how the cards play out and kind of pick and choose what’s best for me, not just for next year but also looking long-term.
“These events were important for me to get a feel of how it is to be on every race weekend because you can prepare as much as you want but experience is so valuable.
“But the goal is to be here next year, but even if I’m not, I wouldn’t count myself out for the year after.”