Wheldon aiming to ‘fight for the championship’ in debut F3 season

Sebastian Wheldon is targeting a shot at the title in 2027 as he previewed his debut Formula 3 season with TRIDENT.

The American driver got down to work at the post-season tests in Jerez and Barcelona, and he recently shared his thoughts on his new team and car.

“I’m feeling really excited,” said Wheldon. “It’s a big step from FREC last year, so it will definitely be a new challenge and I'm really looking forward to it.

“It should be a good challenge and I'm really happy to be here with TRIDENT for this season, I’m looking forward to it.

“Already I feel right at home. Everyone is really friendly and we've been working really hard these past couple weeks to get ready for the season and as I said, I'm really looking forward to it.”

Wheldon steps up to F3 after a strong year in FREC where he finished second in the Drivers’ Championship with four victories and eight podiums in total.

The 17-year-old spent the four days learning the car he will be driving alongside fellow TRIDENT rookie Kean Nakamura-Berta – who he fought against for the title this year.

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Wheldon shared his thoughts on the Formula 3 car and also what it will be like racing alongside his new teammate.

“The car is a really big step compared to FREC,” he said. “You have the downforce and just more power from the engine. But that’s the biggest thing you feel is just probably more downforce and just less laps to do the lap time.

“Kean is quite a good driver and good to work with him, we've always respected each other. I respected him ever since I first started racing in Europe and he's a good friend of mine as well.”

Looking ahead to next year, Wheldon spoke of his excitement at getting to race around Monaco for Round 5.

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The American driver also gave his thoughts on what a successful season would look like for him.

“I just want to fight for the championship,” he said. “That’s really everyone's goal and it should be everyone's goal. But to just fight for the championship and be consistent as possible.”