‘I can fight for the title’ – Taponen says he and MP Motorsport aiming for the top in 2026

14 November 2025

Tuukka Taponen believes he and his new team MP Motorsport have what it takes to fight for the Formula 3 title in 2026, as he revealed why he is entering the busiest winter of his career.

The 19-year-old had plenty of strong moments in his rookie campaign, achieving three podiums across the year, and finishing ninth in the Drivers' Standings.

Taponen is now returning for a second season in the Championship, and he explained why he chose to do so, and also why he felt the need to make the move to MP.

PREMA Racing season review: A year of lessons

“It's nice to be back on the grid for sure, with a different team obviously,” he said Taponen. “It's good to do a second year of F3.

“I'm not in a rush to go forward because the whole the goal has been to go slowly, step-by-step and to make sure we always make the right decisions, and get the right results before we move forward.

“I felt like MP had done quite a good job with the new car, taking a huge step from last year to this year, and I felt like I needed something new for my second season.

Taponen will be racing for MP Motorsport in his second season in F3 next year

“We looked at all the other teams and how they had performed before, and there were a couple of teams ahead of MP in the Teams' Championship, like TRIDENT and Campos. But we chose to go with MP and I think it's very good that I am here.”

The Finn had his first six days of running with MP at the post-season tests in Jerez, Barcelona and Imola, and he revealed just how things had been going.

“90% is different compared to what I had this year,” said Taponen on how different things are at MP. “There are some things that are very good, but there are also some things that I can bring from the past that we can improve as a team.

“I can bring my knowledge from the previous years, and previous teams and we can get even better. We have been testing a lot of things, so sometimes you see me being good, sometimes very bad, but it's just because we are testing many things to get better.

“That's why it's the post-season test. It's not that we always need to be P1, P1, P1, otherwise we don't learn anything, we are just there all the time. I feel like we have done quite a good program.”

Taponen now heads into a winter program that is slightly different to his off seasons of the past, and he explained in Imola why that is, and how it links to him shaving his head.

Taponen will be racing alongside Giusti and Colnaghi for MP in 2026

“Honestly I will be doing a lot of physical training,” continued Taponen. “One thing I have started this week is the military training with the army, it's why I have cut my hair as well.

“I need to be there until March, but it's a military for athletes, so I have a bit more freedom to go for the simulator preparation and the pre-season test.

“It will be quite a busy winter for me, one of the busiest in my life, with the military as well as the preparation for the season, so there won't be too much free time.”

Taponen will be doing all this and making sure he is ready to get going in 2026, with the aim of fighting for the title firmly at the top of the agenda.

“This season in my opinion wasn't so good,” added Taponen. “We were just not able to be where we wanted, and it's obviously a bit sad, because I felt like I was doing quite a good job and then there were few mistakes as well as some other issues.

“But I feel like with my experience, next year I can fight for the title. MP has been improving quite a lot, they did their best result this year in the Drivers' Championship, finishing P4, so obviously we try to improve and fight for the title, that's the target.”