Ugo Ugochukwu on a ‘challenging’ season, the McLaren spotlight and future title hopes

29 September 2025

Ugo Ugochukwu’s confidence after the 2025 season is only growing even after a challenging campaign where he finished 16th in the Drivers’ Championship, as he knows what he needs to do to win titles going forward.

Joining the Formula 3 grid this year, the 18-year-old continued with PREMA Racing for a third consecutive campaign, having raced for them every year since joining in 2022.

Ugochukwu’s step up also coincide with the introduction of a new car into the Championship. But the Italian team struggled to get to grips with it early on, as they scored just eight points through the first five rounds.

The American driver – who scored four of those points – did improve his results in the second half of the season, achieving two Sprint Race podiums in Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest.

It meant Ugochukwu ended up with 43 points, helping PREMA – who had won five of the previous six Teams’ titles – finish seventh on 92 points.

Speaking in the Monza paddock prior to the final round of the season getting underway, Ugochukwu gave his assessment of his and the team’s 2025 campaign.

Ugochukwu achieved two podiums in 2025 after a slow start to the season

“Challenging,” says Ugochukwu when asked about his season. “But I am pretty happy with the progression throughout the year, and the results have been getting better and better.

“I feel like also with myself, I have been performing better and better. I have been getting more on top of the F3 weekend layout, so happy with how I have progressed throughout the season.

“I also think the team has made a big step forward throughout the season. It was tricky at the beginning of the year, mainly in race pace, but ever since the Red Bull Ring, it has been a lot better, both quali and race pace.

“I'd say also myself I have been able to extract more from the races, especially in the last few rounds, and especially in quali when it really matters. Being inside the top 12 has been crucial, so it's just been getting better and better.”

BEING IN THE MCLAREN SPOTLIGHT

Ugochukwu has had plenty of attention on him since he was 13 years old and he signed to the McLaren young driver program, the same age in which Lewis Hamilton also joined the team.

This threw Ugochukwu into the spotlight quite early his career, and when asked about it, the American says the F1 team’s support meant he has never felt any pressure.

Ugochukwu has been supported by McLaren for the last five years

“I felt it was pretty easy,” says Ugochukwu when asked if how he dealt with the spotlight. “I didn't feel any added pressure when I got put into the spotlight signing with McLaren.

“Obviously every time I go to the track, I want to do the best job I can, even from karting, the pressure comes more from yourself wanting to do a good job.

“Being part of McLaren, from early on, just gave me a boost of confidence, it meant I was doing something right. I just try to learn what I can from them and keep doing what I can every time I am at the track.

“McLaren are quite involved. I think they just tried to guide me in the best way possible. They want to see improvement, same as myself as a driver, and obviously the results are important as well.

“I think these last few weekends showing what I can do has been really important. I think they see that as well, and obviously P16, it's not where I want to be in the Championship, but I think there has been many things to take into consideration and the potential was there to be much higher.”

NOT CAPITALISING ON THE FEATURE RACES

Part of Ugochukwu’s disappointment with his season was not being able to capitalise on his strong starting positions in the Feature Races.

The American was disappointed to miss out on better results in the Feature Races

After finishing fourth on Sunday in the Spielberg, a wrong call to start on slick tyres in wet conditions while going from second at Silverstone saw him finish in P21.

In Spa, Ugochukwu qualified sixth after showing strong pace in the Sprint, but he could not follow up his podium in the Feature, which was called off due to torrential rain.

At Round 9 in Budapest, Ugochukwu finished second in the Sprint once more, and going from seventh on the grid, he made his way up to fifth. But while battling for fourth, a collision with Gerrard Xie, for which the Hitech TGR driver was penalised, knocked him out of the race.

At the final round in Monza, he qualified on the front and while fighting for the win, he spun out into the gravel. Reflecting on it, Ugochukwu admits he is frustrated to have missed out on so many points.

“The last three or four Sprint Races have been good, but ultimately they are not the Feature Races, which is where you score more points,” acknowledges Ugochukwu.

“Even though I have felt there is a potential for a lot more, Silverstone, starting P2, made the wrong decision on tyres which cost us a lot of points, same for Spa, where I think our pace was really good, but there was no Feature Race.

Ugochukwu says his confidence is back after making a lot of progress through the season

“Budapest was quite frustrating because I was coming through the field and then I got taken out fighting for P4. It is what it is, we know what we could have done.

“It's been frustrating to miss out on those points, but it's really close in that area, the top eight to 16th, so every little point matters. It's a shame to throw it away like that.”

TAKING THE POSITIVES FROM IT ALL

Despite the Championship position, Ugochukwu says his confidence is now quite high, given how much he improved as the season went on. The 18-year-old is confident he can challenge for titles in the future, as he talked about the positives from his season.

“I mean there have been quite a few positives,” adds Ugochukwu. “Learning how the F3 car works in general, and tyre management has been positive the last few weekends.

“I have been able to come through well, especially in the Sprint Races. I really managed my tyres well, which has been a really big plus, so that's obviously going to be important for the next few years of my career.

“I think the step I would like to make is to get everything together, maximise everything, especially in quali, and to be fighting for pole more often. That's really the difference between being a top five driver and challenging for the Championship.”