Tuukka Taponen

Tuukka Matti Samuli Taponen (; born 26 October 2006) is a Finnish racing driver who currently competes in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for MP Motorsport as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, having previously driven for ART Grand Prix in .

Taponen won the senior Karting World Championship in 2021, and has since won the 2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship and finished runner-up in the 2023 F4 UAE Championship. Taponen previously competed in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship with R-ace GP, finishing third overall. He is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

In 2017, Taponen made his competitive karting debut in the native Finland, in the Finnish Junior Championship, in the Raket Class, which he won. He came third in the Finnish Championship OK Junior class the following year, and won the championship in 2019. Taponen also won again the 2020 edition and once more in 2021, in the OK category.

Taponen made his CIK debut in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and came thirteenth in his class. He also joined Kohtala Sports for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the Junior class, and came seventeenth.

Taponen joined Kohtala Sports for the 2019 CIK-FIA European Championship and the 2019 CIK-FIA World Championship in the OKJ classes, and finished fourth and thirty-third in them.

In 2020, Taponen joined the Tony Kart team in the OK Junior category, and finished third in the CIK-FIA European Championship and runner-up in the CIK-FIA World Championship. He made his OK debut in 2021, and in his first weekend in the class, he won the 2021 CIK-FIA World Championship at Campillos.

Taponen had a second appearance in the FDA Scouting World Finals in 2022, which secured his place at the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Formula 4

Formula Academy Finland Taponen made his single-seater debut in the 2021 Formula Academy Finland for Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, in a part time campaign, he took a double win at the debut in the Kymi Ring, and in 2022, he did another part time campaign and came sixth in the championship, remaining unbeaten in all the races he competed in.

Formula 4 UAE Championship Taponen made his first full time single-seater debut in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship for Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited. At his first race weekend in the Dubai Autodrome, Taponen got his first podium in the series in his second race, he also achieved another podium in the following race.

The second round in the Kuwait Motor Town only resulted in one third place which came in the second race, as he retired from the third race, but the next round in Kuwait Motor Town, was where he get his first win of the season in the second race. Taponen collected his two maiden poles in the fourth round in Dubai Autodrome, and also got a clean sweep of wins in all three races.

In the final round of the championship in the Yas Marina Circuit, Taponen collected two final second-place finishes, but retired from the final race, as he finished second in the championship with 212 points, four wins and two pole positions. Although he didn't win the championship title, he won the rookie title instead.

Italian F4 Championship

For his full time Formula 4 campaign, Taponen competed in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing.

Taponen's debut round in the Italian F4 Championship proved to be underwhelming compared to his peers, he struggled to find his footing and ended the first round at Imola with only four points, two ninth-place finishes in the first two races, at the last race he was running in twelfth, but was hit behind the safety car and retired from the damage.

Misano was a much better improvement for Taponen, as he took his maiden pole position and was untouchable in the first race as he took his maiden win, and took a fourth and fifth-place finish in the next two races, bagging 47 points and propelling him to fifth place in the drivers' standings. The third race is Spa-Francorchamps was a decrease in form, as Taponen only managed two seventh-place finishes in the first and third race. Monza was highlighted by a lone podium in the first race, as he retired from the second race after a tangle with Alfio Spina.

At Paul Ricard, Taponen finished fifth in the first race, and climbed his way up to second place in the next race, he rounded off the final race with a third place.

At Mugello, Taponen and fellow Prema Racing drivers struggled with pace, as in the first race, Taponen was thought to have jumped the start, but had actually stalled on the grid and dropped to thirteenth. He recovered to ninth but after receiving a ten-second penalty, he dropped out of the points and into fifteenth place. In the next two races, he scored consistent top-five finishes, but didn't finish on the podium. The final round at Vallelunga was highlighted by a string of podiums, as he finished the season in fifth position with 196 points.

Taponen also contested the inaugural season of the Euro 4 Championship for Prema Racing. He was consistent with points, and got his maiden podiums at the final round in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, he finished the championship in fifth with 102 points.

Formula Regional

Formula Regional Middle East Championship

Taponen would make his racing debut in Formula Regional machinery in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship for R-ace GP, partnering Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. and Zachary David. During the season, Taponen would earn 255 points and five wins in a title battle with Formula 2 driver Taylor Barnard, and fellow Ferrari Driver Academy junior and FRECA driver Rafael Câmara. He would claim the championship in race 1 of the fifth and final round.

After winning the title, Taponen's teammates Carrasquedo and David would earn zero and 112 points respectively, finishing 24th and fourth, with the latter being 143 points behind Taponen. He would win the rookie cup earning 315 points, 137 more than FRECA driver Ugo Ugochukwu and 143 more than FRECA driver James Wharton. He would also help his team R-ace GP to the team's championship trophy, the team collecting 312 points with the help of his teammates.

Formula Regional European Championship

Alongside his 2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship campaign, Taponen tackled the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship for his full-time campaign, driving for R-ace GP alongside Enzo Deligny and FRMEC teammate Zachary David. However, the second qualifying session was dry, so times were much faster. He crashed during the session, and only qualified in 20th overall. On the opening lap of the qualifying race, he once again crashed, but was able to avoid incidents to finish twelfth in the final race, and was promoted to tenth after two drivers ahead were disqualified.

FIA Formula 3 Championship 2024 Taponen made his FIA Formula 3 debut with ART Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. He came 14th in the sprint race but retired in the feature.

Taponen finished the season 31st in the drivers standings, ranking as the highest part time driver in the championship.

2025

In October 2024, Taponen was again recruited by ART Grand Prix, this time to contest the full 2025 FIA Formula 3 season with the French outfit. He was joined at the team by FRECA rival James Wharton and returning driver Laurens van Hoepen. Taponen achieved his first Formula 3 podium in the sprint race at Sakhir, finishing third.

2026 In 2026, Taponen switched to MP Motorsport for his second season of Formula 3, alongside Formula 4 champions Alessandro Giusti and Mattia Colnaghi.

Formula One In 2023, Taponen joined the Ferrari Driver Academy after winning the FDA World Scouting Final.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2021 Formula Academy Finland Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport 2 2 ? ? ? ? ? 2022 Formula Academy Finland Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport 5 5 2 4 5 125 6th 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited 15 4 2 2 10 212 2nd Italian F4 Championship Prema Racing 21 1 1 0 7 196 5th Euro 4 Championship 9 0 0 0 2 102 5th 2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship R-ace GP 15 5 5 7 9 255 1st Formula Regional European Championship 20 4 3 2 7 198 3rd Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 10th FIA Formula 3 Championship ART Grand Prix 2 0 0 0 0 0 31st 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship ART Grand Prix 19 0 0 0 3 67 9th 2026FIA Formula 3 ChampionshipMP Motorsport 12 0 0 0 0 0 14th* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 4 UAE 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 Pos Points 2023 Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 KMT11 KMT12 KMT13 KMT21 KMT22 KMT23 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 YMC1 YMC2 YMC3 2nd 212

Complete Italian F4 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 21 22 DC Points 2023 Prema Racing IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 IMO4 MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 5th 196

Complete Euro 4 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 DC Points 2023 Prema Racing MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 5th 102

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship 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 13 14 15 DC Points 2024 R-ace GP YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 YMC31 YMC32 YMC33 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 1st 255

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 2024 R-ace GP HOC1 HOC2 SPA1 SPA2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HUN1 HUN2 MUG1 MUG2 LEC1 LEC2 IMO1 IMO2 RBR1 RBR2 CAT1 CAT2 MNZ1 MNZ2 3rd 198

Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main race 2024 R-ace GP Tatuus F3 T318 20th DNF 10th

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship 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 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2024 ART Grand Prix BHRSPR BHRFEA MELSPR MELFEA IMOSPR IMOFEA MONSPR MONFEA CATSPR CATFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA SILSPR SILFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA SPASPR SPAFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA 31st 0 2025 ART Grand Prix MELSPR MELFEA BHRSPR BHRFEA IMOSPR IMOFEA MONSPR MONFEA CATSPR CATFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA SILSPR SILFEA SPASPR SPAFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA 9th 67 2026 MP Motorsport MELSPR MELFEA MONSPR MONFEA CATSPR CATFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA SILSPR SILFEA SPASPR SPAFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA MADSPR MADFEA1 MADFEA2 11th* 46* Season still in progress.