Photo: Dutch Photo Agency
Sebastian Wheldon has switched teams from Prema to MP Motorsport for his debut Formula Regional European Championship campaign.
The American-English driver drove for Prema during his maiden European racing campaign in 2025, finishing third in Italian Formula 4, and competed for the affiliated Mumbai Falcons squad when he stepped up to FRegional for the Middle East Trophy at the start of this year, placing fifth in the points. He was announced by Prema for its European championship effort just five weeks ago, but has since driven with MP in official pre-season testing.
Wheldon said MP’s “pace was impressive when I raced them in the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy, so it feels good to be on their side now!” and added: “I’m happy with our progress during our first tests together at Hockenheim and Paul Ricard, and we will work hard to arrive fully prepared to fight for the top spots in the first round at the Red Bull Ring later this month.”
His move mirrors that of Enzo Deligny, who switched from Prema to Van Amersfoort Racing on the eve of the FIA Formula 3 season amidst a number of high-profile departures at the Italian outfit over the winter.
Prema has named Tomass Stolcermanis as a replacement for Wheldon. The Latvian raced for Prema in Italian F4 in 2024 and for the first two rounds of 2025, and made his FREC debut with Race Performance Motorsport in the last round of the year. He joins Salim Hanna in the line-up while FRME champion Kean Nakamura-Berta continues to test with the team, even though it has yet to confirm him for the season.
Alongside Wheldon, MP has also signed Alexander Abkhazava, who came a surprise third in FRME, as well as Newman Chi, who appeared in two rounds last season and in FRME with his family’s CL Motorsport team. CL, which took MP’s place on the grid last year, still topped the opening pre-season test at Hockenheim last week with Reno Francot at the wheel, with Jules Roussel and Enea Frey testing alongside him.
The second test at Paul Ricard this week was topped by Gabriel Gomez after the Italian F4 runner-up secured a seat at category newcomer Rodin Motorsport alongside Alex Ninovic and Reza Seewooruthun.
Gomez was quickest on the first day of the test while day two was led by Emanuele Olivieri, who was recently confirmed by R-ace GP alongside Mercedes junior Rashid Al Dhaheri and Toyota protege Yuki Sano.
Another strong performer at the test, topping the opening session on day one, was French F4 champion Alexandre Munoz who has clinched a drive at ART Grand Prix.
G4 Racing has signed Marcus Saeter, 15th in Italian F4 last year, alongside the continuing Saqer Al Maosherji and Rahim Alibhai, who did two USF Juniors rounds last year and raced in this year’s Spanish F4 winter series.