Maksimilian Popov

Maximilian "Max" Popov (; born 21 August 2008) is a Russian and Grenadian racing driver who currently competes under the Italian flag in the Formula Regional European Championship for Trident.

Popov previously competed in Italian F4 in 2025, finishing sixth.

Career Karting (2013–2023) Popov began karting at the age of five, competing until 2023. In his karting career, he most notably finished runner-up in the 2022 WSK Champions Cup in the OK class with Ward Racing. With the same team, Popov also was third in the 2019 WSK Final Cup and 2021 Champions of the Future in the 60 Mini and OK-J classes, respectively.

Formula 4 (2024–2025) 2024

Stepping up to single-seaters for 2024, Popov joined PHM AIX Racing to compete in the Formula 4 UAE Championship. In the five-round winter series, Popov scored a best result of 11th in the second race of the second Yas Marina round and ended the season 27th in points. In the former, Popov scored a best result of eighth in race one at Barcelona, and ended the year 21st in the standings after taking three more points finishes. In Euro 4, he scored two ninth-place finishes at Mugello and Red Bull Ring to end the season 21st in points. During 2024, Popov also raced with the same team in the Red Bull Ring round of the Formula 4 CEZ Championship, in which he won race two.

2025

In 2025, Popov switched to Van Amersfoort Racing for his sophomore season in Formula 4 competition. Starting off the year in Formula Winter Series, Popov finished third in the second race in the season-opening round at Algarve, before repeating the same feat at round later in race three at Valencia. In the following two rounds, Popov finished no higher than fourth as he ended the season sixth in points. In the Italian series, Popov started off the season with two second-place finishes at Misano and a third-place finish at Vallelunga, before not scoring points at Monza and only scoring a best result of fifth at Mugello to enter the second half of the season seventh in points. In the final three rounds, Popov finished third in race two at Barcelona and repeated the same feat in race one at Misano to end the year sixth in points. Popov also raced in the three-round E4 Championship for the same team, scoring a lone podium at Mugello en route to an eighth-place points finish.

Formula Regional (2026) 2025 At the end of 2025, Popov joined the Eurocup-3 grid to race in Barcelona with GRS Team. On his series debut, Popov finished tenth in race one, but wasn't eligible to score points as he was a guest driver.

2026 At the start of 2026, Popov joined Trident to compete in the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy. In the four-round season, Popov scored a pair of third-place finishes in the first two Yas Marina rounds to take seventh in the overall standings. Popov remained with Trident for the rest of the year to race in the Formula Regional European Championship.

Karting record Karting career summary

Racing record Racing career summary Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Italian F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula 4 CEZ Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Euro 4/E4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Winter Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup-3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † As Popov was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Trophy results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2026 Trident YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 DUB1 DUB2 DUB3 LUS1 LUS2 LUS3 7th 70

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2026 Trident RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 HOC1 HOC2 12th* 41* Season still in progress.