Carrasquedo on ‘dream’ F3 opportunity and joining Van Amersfoort Racing in 2026

Jesse Carrasquedo made two appearances last season, but he is gearing up for a full-time FIA Formula 3 season in 2026.

The Mexican driver will race with Van Amersfoort Racing this year, an opportunity he is very excited about having competed with the team earlier in his career.

“I'm very excited to be racing with Van Amersfoort Racing,” he said. “I was with them in 2022 and they were welcoming, and I really like the team, and especially for F3.

“I have worked most of my career towards this, and after two years in Eurocup, I think it was deserved, and I’m super excited to work and to do the best possible job with the team.”

Carrasquedo believes his F3 experiences in 2025 will count for a lot this year.

Understanding of the race weekends and the Pirelli tyres in particular are areas he feels more comfortable with heading into a full rookie season this time around.

He added he’s feeling positive based on his experiences last year, and was keen to put what he’s learned so far into practice.

“I think the Red Bull Ring weekend was very useful, especially with the tyres, that are very important and the key reason to go fast or slow.

“It's the tyres and how you warm them up. So, I think I learned quite a lot from those two rounds, and I learned how the championship works. To just get a little bit of feeling before you actually do the championship is always very good.”

After the season concluded, Carrasquedo and the rest of the grid got the chance to test across three post-season events.

The VAR driver said they had proven hugely important as he looked to gain more understanding and experience of the F3 car, and the Pirelli tyres in particular.

He says that was the primary focus for the Dutch team across all three events, along with his and his race engineer’s working relationship.

“We worked a lot with the team. I was with my engineer for next year.

“We literally just worked on tyres. We didn't focus on anything else. And those tests were, I think, really, really helpful to understand even more about the tyres and to get a good feeling in the car.

“I think how you get along with your engineer and the work ethic is quite important, especially because you're going to spend a whole year with them.

“Your performance is related to your engineer and how you work with them. It’s not just you in the car driving. It's also all of the team’s efforts. And I think just getting a good feeling with your engineers is very crucial to your season in general.”

Looking ahead to 2026, Carrasquedo is eager to get going, but his highlight is set to be the Monte Carlo round, a track he has dreamed of racing at.

“I think the one I'm most excited for is Monaco, because I've never been there. So I think Monaco is going to be the one I’m looking forward to the most, it has been my dream since I was a child.”