Maximilian "Max" Popov (; born 21 August 2008) is a Russian and Grenadian racing driver who currently competes in Eurocup-3 with Griffin Core.
He previously competed under the Italian flag in the Formula Regional European Championship for Trident. Popov raced 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. For the rest of the year, Popov stayed with the team to compete in both the Italian F4 and Euro 4 Championships. 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. With the Italian team, Popov took his only win of the season from pole in race three at Spa and five other points finishes to end the year 11th overall.
Karting record Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2017 WSK Super Master Series – 60 Mini Babyrace Driver Academy 95th Trofeo Delle Industrie – 60 Mini 28th ROK Cup International Final – Mini Rok 16th WSK Final Cup – 60 Mini 46th2018 WSK Champions Cup – 60 Mini Parolin Motorsport 16th South Garda Winter Cup – Mini Rok 12th WSK Final Cup – 60 Mini 17th WSK Super Master Series – 60 Mini Parolin MotorsportPraga Junior Team 33rd2019 WSK Champions Cup – 60 Mini Baby Race Driver Academy 17th WSK Super Master Series – 60 Mini 4th South Garda Winter Cup – Mini Rok 5th WSK Euro Series – 60 Mini 20th ROK Cup International Final – Mini Rok 17th WSK Open Cup – 60 Mini 29th WSK Final Cup – 60 Mini3rd2020 WSK Champions Cup – OK-J Ward Racing 10th WSK Super Master Series – OK-J 46th2021 WSK Champions Cup – OK-J Ward Racing 4th WSK Super Master Series – OK-J 8th Champions of the Future – OK-J3rd Karting European Championship – OK-J 20th WSK Euro Series – OK-J 25th Karting World Championship – OK-J 7th South Garda Winter Cup – OK-J 5th WSK Final Cup – OK-J 4th2022 WSK Champions Cup – OK Ward Racing2nd WSK Super Master Series – OK 15th Champions of the Future Euro Series – OK 54th Karting European Championship – OK Ward RacingKoski Motorsport 37th WSK Euro Series – OK Koski Motorsport 25th Karting World Championship – OK 29th WSK Open Cup – OK 21st WSK Final Cup – OK 16th2023 South Garda Winter Cup – OK Koski Motorsport 7th WSK Champions Cup – OK 6th WSK Super Master Series – OK Koski MotorsportKR Motorsport 27th Karting European Championship – OK Koski MotorsportKR Motorsport 27th Karting World Championship – OK Kart Republic Motorsport NCSources:
Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position2024 Formula 4 UAE Championship PHM AIX Racing 15 0 0 0 0 0 27th Italian F4 Championship 21 0 0 0 0 9 21st Formula 4 CEZ Championship 3 1 0 0 1 46 11th Euro 4 Championship 9 0 0 0 0 4 21st2025 Formula Winter Series Van Amersfoort Racing 12 0 0 0 2 88 6th Italian F4 Championship 20 0 0 1 5 143 6thE4 Championship 9 0 0 0 1 45 8th Eurocup-3 GRS Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy Trident 11 0 0 1 2 70 7th Formula Regional European Championship 19 1 1 0 1 60 11thEurocup-3Griffin Core 0 0 0 0 0 0* TBD*Sources: 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 2024 PHM AIX RacingYMC11YMC12YMC13YMC21YMC22YMC23DUB11DUB12DUB13YMC31YMC32YMC33DUB21DUB22DUB23 27th 0
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 23 24 25 DC Points 2024 PHM AIX RacingMIS1 MIS2MIS3IMO1 IMO2IMO3VLL1VLL2VLL3MUG1MUG2MUG3LEC1 LEC2LEC3CAT1CAT2CAT3MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3 21st 9 2025 Van Amersfoort Racing MIS11 MIS12MIS13MIS14VLL1VLL2VLL3VLL4MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3MUG1MUG2MUG3IMO1IMO2IMO3CAT1CAT2CAT3MIS21 MIS22MIS23MIS24MIS25 6th 143
Complete Formula 4 CEZ 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 DC Points2024 PHM AIX RacingBAL1BAL2BAL3RBR1RBR2RBR3SVK1SVK2SVK3MOS1MOS2MOS3BRN1BRN2BRN3SAL1SAL2SAL3 11th 46
Complete Euro 4/E4 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 2024 PHM AIX Racing MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 21st 4 2025 Van Amersfoort RacingLEC1LEC2LEC3MUG1MUG2MUG3MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3 8th 45
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 9 10 11 12 DC Points2025Van Amersfoort RacingPOR1POR2POR3CRT1CRT2CRT3ARA1ARA2ARA3CAT1CAT2CAT3 6th 88
Complete Eurocup-3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeam 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 DC Points 2025 GRS TeamRBR1RBR2POR1PORSRPOR2LEC1LECSRLEC2MNZ1MNZ2ASS1ASS2SPA1SPA2JER1JER2CAT1CAT2 NC† 0 2026 LEC1LECSRLEC2POR1POR2IMO1IMOSRIMO2MNZ1MNZ2SIL1SIL2JER1JERSPRJER2HUN1HUN2CAT1CAT2 * * † As Popov was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. Season still in progress.
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 11th 60
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