Dino Beganovic completed his sophomore season in Formula 3 with PREMA Racing in 2024.
The 20-year-old has been with the Italian team since he made his debut in single seaters in 2020, as he finished third in the Italian F4 Championship with one win and six podiums.
Beganovic moved to FRECA in 2021 and after a difficult first season with just one podium, he won the title in 2022 in convincing fashion, beating Gabriele Mini by 58 points with four wins and 12 podiums, finishing in the top two in the opening eight races.
After this success, the Swedish driver made the step up to Formula 3 along with Mini – who joined Hitech – in 2023 and he went on to grab four podiums and finished sixth in the standings with 96 points.
Dino Beganovic concedes 2024 Formula 3 campaign was ‘not what I wanted’
Beganovic’s 2024 campaign got off to a rocky start. After qualifying on pole in Bahrain, the Swedish driver fell down the order with an issue, but fought back well to finish 13th in the Feature Race.
In Melbourne, the 20-year-old secured his first F3 win in the Feature Race after failing to score a point in the Sprint Race the day before. Beganovic went on to register points in the next four rounds after his maiden victory.
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Beganovic went on to score three more podiums across the season, including his second win in the Sprint Race at Spa as he went on to finish sixth again in the standings with 109 points.
Despite improving his points tally and grabbing his first wins in the category, speaking with the F3 website, Beganovic conceded that 2024 was ‘not what he wanted’.
“We started the year in the best way possible in Bahrain,” he said. “My second season in Formula 3, that’s what you expect to target from the beginning of the year, and we executed it very well with pole position in Bahrain, which was huge for me and for the team.
“It didn’t go how we wanted in the race but that was out of our control with an issue at the start. Starting from pole it was very tough, but we showed great pace with the fastest lap and also recovering from last to 13th.
“We knew what we had to do when we came to Melbourne, and we took the win on Sunday which I would say was the highlight of the season. After what happened in Bahrain it was amazing to take the win there for me and the team – to get my first win in Formula 3 was very special.
“But summarising the season in general, it was not what I wanted, a lot of things haven’t gone our way after coming to Europe, a lot of difficulties with the car, not having that feeling that I had during the first two rounds and last year where we showed great pace in my rookie campaign.”
PREMA have confirmed Ugo Ugochukwu as their first Formula 3 driver for 2025
At the time of writing, the Swedish driver’s future has not been confirmed, with it not clear whether he will stay in F3 or move up to Formula 2.
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PREMA have both of their F2 seats currently vacant for 2025 as Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli will move up to F1 next season with Haas and Mercedes respectively. Beganovic will no doubt be considered as an option to make the step up to F2, but a third season in F3 will give him the opportunity to go better than this season.
PREMA have confirmed one of their three drivers in F3 for 2025 with the signing of 17-year-old Ugo Ugochukwu, who will make the step up from FRECA.
However, Ugochukwu’s arrival has been berated by fans on social media, as the American currently sits 14th in the drivers’ standings in FRECA, while his teammates Rafael Camara and James Wharton are first and second.