Photo: ACI Sport
Prema will run Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Alex Powell in the Euro 4 and Italian Formula 4 championships next year.
The 16-year-old Jamaican has 2023 racing for Prema not only in F4 but also in its new karting team.
In junior karting he was the Trofeo Andrea Margutti winner, WSK Euro Series runner-up, third in the WSK Super Master Series and fourth in the CIK-FIA European championship, and entered this year having already achieved a lot on OK karts as a factory Kart Republic driver.
He had been European championship runner-up, third in WSK’s Final Cup, fourth in its Open Cup and seventh in its Euro Series. Teaming up with Prema resulted in the Champions of the Future title, third place in this year’s European championship and ninth in the Euro Series. Powell was also runner-up in the FIA World Cup for KZ2 shifter karts.
After plenty of testing his single-seater debut came in the penultimate Italian F4 round, and scoring one point from his six races in the series put him 24th in the standings. He then did the F4 United Arab Emirates Trophy, finishing seventh and sixth in its two races. Alongside two full-time campaigns next year he is set to make appearances in other F4 series too.
“I’m happy to continue my journey with Prema, since I started with them earlier this year in karting. We finished off a great karting career and I look forward to continuing developing as a single-seater driver with this incredible team,” said Powell.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity and I will continue to do my best with the amazing support of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team junior programme.”
Prema’s team principal Angelo Rosin added: “Alex is a really promising driver. We followed him during his early years, and we were delighted to welcome him to our new karting team for 2023. When he made the step up to cars, he was impressive despite the steep learning curve and made solid improvements every time he went on track.”