Photo: Trident
Trident has announced Luka Sammalisto as the first of its three driver signings for the 2026 Formula Regional European Championship season.
The 17-year-old Finn will be stepping up to FRegional from Formula 4, which he has been racing in for the last two years.
“I’m super proud and excited to join Trident for the 2026 FREC. It’s an incredible opportunity for me to work with a team that has such a winning history and great passion,” said Sammalisto.
“I can’t wait to start working with everyone and give my best on and off the track. We want to make it a great season.”
He made his single-seater debut in F4 United Arab Emirates at the start of 2024 with R-ace GP, and earned his seat in the team’s line-up for that championship and Italian F4 via a shootout in which he went up against five other karters in simulator sessions and test days in F4 cars.
Sammalisto came 20th in the F4 UAE standings with a best finish of sixth, then did incomplete campaigns in Italian F4 and the sister E4 championship. He was 18th in the former and 20th in the latter, with a seventh place his best race result.
This year he switched teams to US Racing, first driving for them in a half-season in Formula Winter Series. He kicked off 2025 with two-top five finishes, and came 13th in the FWinter Series standings.
There were even stronger results in Italian F4, where Sammalisto was eighth in the points table and made the podium three times.