
Photo: Roger Gascoigne
Tuukka Taponen will make his FIA Formula 3 Championship debut with ART Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend as a stand-in for the banned Nikola Tsolov.
Ferrari junior Taponen steps up to F3 from Formula Regional. The Finn won the category’s Middle East championship at the start of 2024, and is currently second in the European championship with four wins and three poles so far.
The 17-year-old spent 2021 to ’23 racing in Formula 4, winning races in Formula Academy Finland, Italian F4 and F4 United Arab Emirates.
He spoke exclusively to Formula Scout in the Spa-Francorchamps paddock about his F3 debut.
“I knew this a few weeks ago. Obviously as long as you haven’t signed yet, you are not sure. But yeah, first speculations were a few weeks ago,” he said of when he found out he would be getting the drive with ART GP.
“I did two days [testing an F3-level car] before, a few months ago. But first time with the with the F3 car is going to be now.
“It’s going to be for sure difficult with the weather conditions, because looks like tomorrow it is going to rain, and then the first race can be [not dry] so everything will be new. I will just do the best I can and see where where we end up.
“The DRS is going be new [to me], as many other things will be also. Start procedure with the clutch, which is behind the steering wheel, not anymore with the legs. So also that will be a difference, comparing to FREC.”
Taponen added he had “no expectations” for his first weekend in F3 other than “just learning and doing the best” he can.
Earlier this year, Alpine junior Tsolov fell foul of F3 regulations which restrict racing in other single-seater series unless “explicitly approved by the FIA and [championship] promoter in writing” as he competed in Eurocup-3’s Spa round.
That led to him being banned from this weekend’s F3 round there, and instead the Fernando Alonso protege will be making another outing in the FRegional-based Eurocup-3 series at Motorland Aragon.
Tsolov is currently eighth in the F3 standings, despite having won two sprint races this year and last weekend’s feature race at the Hungaroring.