DAMS Lucas Oil’s first Formula 3 lineup looking to start fast in 2025

22 January 2025

DAMS Lucas Oil are the new kids on the Formula 3 block and the French team’s preparations for their first season in the third tier are well underway ahead of the 2025 campaign.

Their first job for the year was to sort out their driver lineup and they bring to the grid a mix experience and raw potential with Matías Zagazeta joined by Nicola Lacorte and Christian Ho.

Zagazeta is the most experienced of the trio and will be key to DAMS’ evolution in the series and also in their development of the new Formula 3 car.

The Peruvian driver showed plenty of promise in 2024 racing for Jenzer Motorsport, finishing 25th in the Drivers’ Standings with eight points.

But it would be accurate to say that this did not represent his true potential, and he showed what he was capable of at the Silverstone Sprint Race, finishing third and achieving his and Peru’s first F3 podium.

The 21-year-old struggled in Qualifying, which put him on the back foot for the weekends, as his P10 result at Silverstone the only time he qualified in the top 12 last year.

Zagazeta became the first Peruvian driver to achieve a podium finish in Formula 3

If he can replicate his performance on British soil more often in 2025, he will get more chances to score points, and his race pace shows that he can more than hold his own with the frontrunners.

At Monza, after lining up at the back of the grid for both races, he fought through the field to finish 14th in the Sprint, before collision damage ended his Feature Race.

He spoke after the post-season tests about how productive the four days of running with DAMS had been and Zagazeta is already building momentum by taking part in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship where he has already taken a win.

Additionally, while there will be new faces in the garage with him this year, Zagazeta will be working with his engineer from his days in Formula Regional and that familiarity should help him make strides up the Championship Standings.

Nicola Lacorte is the first of two rookies in DAMS’ lineup and the Alpine Academy junior will be keen to hit the ground running in his new surroundings.

The Italian driver has shown plenty of form in single seater racing, achieving two podiums including one victory at the 2024 Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

Lacorte had his first taste of Formula 3 machinery at the post-season tests in Jerez and Barcelona

Prior to that, he finished 10th in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship, securing another two podiums which again included one win as well as a Pole Position.

Lacorte also took part in both post-season tests with his new team in Jerez and Barcelona and would have learned plenty from the four days of running.

Like Zagazeta, his preparations for the campaign have started and he will hope his participation in the 24 Hours of Daytona will give him a good platform to build from ahead of Melbourne.

Ahead of that though, he will have another three days of running in Barcelona in pre-season as he continues his adaptation to Formula 3.

The last of DAMS’ 2025 lineup is Christan Ho, who makes the step up to Formula 3 after a strong 2024 campaign in the Eurocup-3 Championship, during which he achieved five wins, six Pole Positions and nine podiums in total.

Ho has achieved plenty of success in his single seater career so far

Ho will become the first Singaporean driver to race in F3 and he comes in following a trophy-laden karting career and having made a fine start to life in single-seater racing.

In 2023, he finished second in the Spanish F4 Championship with 13 podiums in total which included five victories.

He therefore graduates up to F3 with the confidence of knowing he has won races previously, and even though they were in previous categories his performance as a rookie in Eurocup-3 shows that he can adapt to new machinery.

The 18-year-old will be confident of doing so again this year, but his first task will be to help the team hit the ground running in the new Formula 3 car.

If Ho, his teammates and DAMS can do so, all three have shown that they have plenty of promise behind the steering wheel and each party will be hopeful of realising their potential in 2025.