Matteo De Palo (born 8 November 2007) is an Italian racing driver who last competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for Trident as part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
De Palo was the runner-up in the 2025 Formula Regional European Championship for Trident. He previously competed in the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship with Campos Racing, finishing fifth overall, and the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship with Saintéloc Racing.
Career Formula Winter Series De Palo made his car racing debut at the second round in Circuit Ricardo Tormo during the 2023 Formula Winter Series. He won the first race on debut, while taking both poles for the round.
In July 2022, De Palo took part in a scouting camp conducted by the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Formula 4 Spanish F4
De Palo joined Campos Racing for the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship. He took his only Spanish F4 win of the year during the first round in Spa-Francorchamps, after original winner Valerio Rinicella received a penalty for track limits. A further podium came the next round in Aragón where he finished third from pole. He would next stand on the podium during the penultimate round at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, scoring a double podium. Despite only four podiums, his consistent points scoring saw him fifth in the standings, with 171 points.
Italian F4 De Palo took part in the opening round of the 2023 Italian F4 Championship with R-ace GP at Imola. With ten points, he was ranked 20th in the standings.
British F4 De Palo made a cameo appearance in two rounds during the 2023 F4 British Championship, where he drove for Phinsys by Argenti.
Formula Regional 2024
For 2024, De Palo was promoted to the Formula Regional European Championship with Saintéloc Racing. In the pre-season, he partook in the first two rounds of the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with the team. He scored two points finishes with the highest being a seventh, putting him 18th in the standings. In his main campaign, De Palo scored his first points with fifth in the second round in Spa-Francorchamps. He improved his personal best to fourth during the second race at the Red Bull Ring. With six points finishes, De Palo finished 17th in the drivers' standings with 29 points.
De Palo also took part in the Macau Grand Prix with PHM Racing. In an incident-packed race, De Palo managed to find his way to finish in fifth place, but was disqualified due to a car infringement.
2025 For the final two rounds of the Formula Regional Middle East campaign, De Palo joined the grid with Evans GP. He score points on one occasion, with ninth place during the final round in Qatar, placing 19th in the standings.
De Palo remained in Formula Regional Europe for 2025, switching over to Trident for his sophomore campaign. He won the first race of the season at the Misano World Circuit, a maiden win in the series for both him and Trident. He followed this result with a podium in race two, putting him second in the overall standings behind Evan Giltaire. He seized the championship lead next time out in Spa-Francorchamps with a second place. However, he only managed a double sixth place finish in Zandvoort that saw him concede the lead to Freddie Slater. Despite this, he took his first pole at the Hungaroring, and followed it up with a second win of the campaign to take back the points lead. Despite a second place in Paul Ricard, a double victory from Slater swung favours back to the Briton. After being off the rostrum in Imola, De Palo won during the first race in Austria and regained the championship lead, but this was immediately lost with a retirement in race two. He secured his fourth and final victory of the year in Barcelona, and a double rostrum in Hockenheim to sit four points behind Slater into the title decider. However, his title chances derailed during the first Monza race, as an on-track incident necessitated a pit stop, and he finished outside the points. Despite this, he rounded the season with a second place the next day, finishing runner-up in the standings with four wins, two poles and eleven podiums.
Later in the year, De Palo raced in the Macau Grand Prix with R-ace GP.
FIA Formula 3 De Palo made the promotion to Formula 3 for 2026, continuing with Trident alongside his FRECA rival Freddie Slater.
Formula One In November 2025, De Palo became a part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Karting record Karting career summary Season Series Team Position 2016WSK Champions Cup — 60 Mini NC 2017WSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini 32nd46° Trofeo Delle Industrie — 60 MiniEnergy Corse 10thWSK Champions Cup — 60 Mini 8thWSK Final Cup — 60 Mini 12thROK Cup International Final — Mini ROKASD Giugliano Kart 25th 2018Andrea Margutti Trophy — 60 Mini NCItalian Championship — 60 Mini 14thROK Cup International Final — Mini ROK 26th 201924° South Garda Winter Cup — Mini ROKAV Racing 4thWSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini 28thWSK Champions Cup — 60 Mini NCWSK Euro Series — 60 Mini NCROK Cup Superfinal — Junior ROKKGT Motorsport 4th48° Trofeo delle Industrie — OKJ 16thWSK Open Cup — OKJ 53rdWSK Final Cup — OKJ 33rd 2020WSK Champions Cup — OKJKGT Motorsport 15thWSK Super Master Series — OKJ NC25° South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ 10thCIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy 5thWSK Euro Series — OKJWard Racing 51stAndrea Margutti Trophy — X30 JuniorMixauto Motorsport 8th 2021WSK Champions Cup — OKJKR Motorsport 24thWSK Super Master Series — OKJ 14thWSK Open Cup — OK 31stChampions of the Future — OKJ 31stFIA Karting European Championship — Junior 30th 2022Champions of the Future Winter Series — OKKart Republic Motorsport 15thFIA Karting European Championship — OK 42ndSource:
Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2023 Formula Winter Series Campos Racing 2 1 2 0 2 37 6th F4 Spanish Championship 21 1 1 1 4 171 5th Italian F4 Championship R-ace GP 3 0 0 0 0 10 20th F4 British Championship Phinsys by Argenti 5 0 0 0 0 0 25th 2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship Saintéloc Racing 6 0 0 0 0 8 18th Formula Regional European Championship 20 0 0 0 0 29 17th Macau Grand Prix PHM Racing 1 0 0 0 0 DSQ 2025 Formula Regional Middle East Championship Evans GP 6 0 0 0 0 4 19th Formula Regional European Championship Trident 20 4 3 3 11 277 2ndMacau Grand PrixR-ace GP 1 0 0 0 0 8th 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship Trident 19 0 0 1 0 7 24th * Season still in progress.
Complete Formula Winter Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2023 Campos Racing JER1 JER2 CRT1 CRT2 NAV1 NAV2 CAT2 CAT2 6th 37
Complete F4 Spanish 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 DC Points 2023 Campos RacingSPA1SPA2SPA3ARA1ARA2ARA3NAV1NAV2NAV3JER1JER2JER3EST1EST2EST3CRT1CRT2CRT3CAT1CAT2CAT3 5th 171
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 R-ace GPIMO1IMO2 IMO3 IMO4 MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 SPA1SPA2SPA3MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 20th 10
Complete F4 British 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 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 DC Points 2023 Phinsys by Argenti DON1 DON2 DON3 BHI1 BHI2 BHI3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DPGP1 DPGP2 DPGP3 DPGP4 BHGP1 BHGP2 BHGP3 25th 0
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 Saintéloc Racing YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 YMC31 YMC32 YMC33 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 18th 8 2025 Evans GP YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 DUB1 DUB2 DUB3 YMC31 YMC32 YMC33 LUS1 LUS2 LUS3 19th 4
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 Saintéloc Racing HOC1 HOC2 SPA1 SPA2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HUN1 HUN2 MUG1 MUG2 LEC1 LEC2 IMO1 IMO2 RBR1 RBR2 CAT1 CAT2 MNZ1 MNZ2 17th 29 2025 Trident MIS1 MIS2 SPA1 SPA2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 IMO1 IMO2 RBR1 RBR2 CAT1 CAT2 HOC1 HOC2 MNZ1 MNZ2 2nd 277
Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main Race 2024 PHM Racing Tatuus F3 T-318 10th 6th DSQ 2025 R-ace GP Tatuus F3 T-318 9th 11th 8th
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 DC Points 2026 Trident MELSPR MELFEA MONSPR MONFEA CATSPR CATFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA SILSPR SILFEA SPASPR SPAFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA MADSPR MADFEA1 MADFEA2 24th 7
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