THREE DRIVERS WHO COULD BE PROMOTED TO FORMULA 3 IN 2027
With the 2026 season now entering its final stages, the battle for the Formula 3 grid in 2027 is already beginning to take shape. Several young drivers have impressed across Formula Regional and EuroFormula Open this year, putting themselves in contention for the next step up the single-seater ladder.
Among the names that stand out are three drivers who have shown strong form this season: Salim Hanna, Kean Nakamura-Berta and Enzo Yeh. While their situations and levels of experience are different, all three could have a chance of making the jump to Formula 3 next season.
Salim Hanna (FREC P9* / FRMEC P10)
The Colombian driver, who is managed by former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya, made his racing debut at the end of the 2024 season for Prema alumni Mumbai Falcons in the Formula Trophy UAE and secured 7th overall.
For his first full season of F4, Hanna joined Prema Racing in the Italian F4 and Euro 4 Championship, where he secured 5 podiums and finished P4 and P7 in each championship respectively. The main success of Hanna’s 2025 season was when he switched to Virtuosi Racing for a part season of British F4 and secured 3 wins, including at the event supporting the British Grand Prix.
For 2026, the Colombian driver moved up to Formula Regional machinery, sticking with Prema for the FRMEC championship, where he secured one win at Dubai Autodrome on his way to P10 in the overall standings. So far in the European season, he has secured two more podiums and is sat P9 in the championship.
It is understood that Salim Hanna may move up to Formula 3 in 2027 with Campos, leaving the Prema stable for the current F3 championship leaders. Hanna will be expected to perform straight away in Formula 3 if he is to race for the Spanish outfit.
Kean Nakamura-Berta (FREC P1* / FRMEC P1)
KNB’s first full season of Formula 4 was in 2024, where he completed the Italian F4 and Euro 4 championships with Prema Racing and the Formula 4 UAE series with Mumbai Falcons. Coming in with a lot of expectations was tough for the Japanese-British driver, who had a solid learning year, finishing P2 in the UAE series, P6 in Italian F4 and P3 in Euro 4, securing 4 wins across the three series.
2025 was much better for Kean, where he managed to dominate both the Italian F4 and Euro 4 series in his sophomore year.
For 2026, Nakamura moved up to Formula Regional, sticking with the Prema team. In the FRMEC series, KNB took 2 wins on his way to the title, making him the overarching favourite for the European series. So far, he has taken 3 wins in FREC and leads the standings with 2 rounds to go.
It is expected that KNB will move up to Formula 3 with Trident next season, taking the number 5 car over from Freddie Slater. This would make Nakamura-Berta one of the prime contenders in the 2027 season.
Enzo Yeh (EuroFormula Open P1*)
After making sporadic appearances in the F4 SEA series, the Taiwanese driver switched to Europe for his first full season of F4 in 2024. Competing for R-ace GP across three different series, F4 UAE, Italian F4 and Euro 4, Yeh managed one podium across the three series, in round 4 of the UAE series at Yas Marina.
For 2025, he stepped up to Formula Regional, first competing in the FR Oceania series for M2 Competition, where he regularly scored points across the season and came P11 overall. For the main series, he joined Irish squad RPM in FREC. However, after a rough first half of the season in which 0 points were scored, Yeh left the team. He joined Italian squad BVM Racing for the final 2 rounds of EuroFormula Open and secured 20 points.
For 2026, Yeh remained in EuroFormula Open, but switched from BVM Racing to front runners Motopark. The Taiwanese driver has dominated the season so far and has taken 6 wins and a further 5 podiums from 15 races so far, leaving him 60 points ahead of nearest challenger and teammate Everett Stack.
With this form and Yeh being in a series where he has been able to show off his talent, we believe he may follow the footsteps of other EuroFormula Open champions, such as Oliver Goethe and Noel Leon, and join the F3 grid for 2027.
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