Photo: Williams F1 Team
After three years with Prema, Kean Nakamura-Berta will join Trident Motorsport for his step up to FIA Formula 3 for 2027, the first confirmed signing for next year’s championship.
Following an impressive karting career, which included both World and European titles, Nakamura-Berta spent two seasons with Prema in Italian Formula 4. The decision to return to the series paid off as he stormed to the title with nine wins and eight other podiums from 20 races. He also added the E4 crown, taking four wins and four other podiums from the nine races.
He was immediately successful on his move to Formula Regional, winning the Middle East Trophy at the start of the year with Prema’s partner team, Mumbai Falcons. Despite claiming three wins and five poles in the European series, he narrowly lost out on the title, after being pitched out of second place in the final race by a rival.
Nakamura-Berta expressed his pleasure at “stepping up to F3 with Trident Motorsport, while still having the ongoing support of the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy. Completing a strong season in FREC and having the opportunity to join such a competitive team in F3 gives me great confidence as I look ahead to my F3 debut next year. A big thank you to everyone involved who helped get me here.”
Trident has been the outstanding team in FIA F3 over recent seasons, taking a hat-trick of drivers’ titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025 with Gabriel Bortoleto, Leonardo Fornaroli and Rafael Camara, although it just missed out on the 2026 championship in the final round with Freddie Slater at the wheel.
For Giacomo Ricci, Trident’s Team Manager, “Kean is a driver we have known and followed for some time, and he has demonstrated he has all the qualities needed to take this important step. His journey, from karting to Formula Regional, has been marked by constant growth and impressive results.
“It will be a pleasure to begin this collaboration and work together to best prepare for such an important campaign. We are convinced that Trident represents the ideal environment to allow Kean to continue his growth and express his full potential in the FIA Formula 3 series.”
The Williams F1 Team Academy will continue to support Nakamura-Berta in 2027, with its Sporting Director, Sven Smeets, noting their driver’s “impressive progress since joining the Academy this year. This opportunity is a culmination of the hard work and dedication he’s shown across a long and hard-fought title campaign, backed by an already outstanding record. This is a great moment for the Driver Academy, and a fitting reflection of the opportunities it creates for the next generation of talented drivers.”