With a recent past as a driver, Keith Donegan is the youngest team principal in the paddock. The Irishman leads RPM, which is based in Italy, and this year is competing in the FIA Formula Regional European Championship with Brazil’s Miguel Costa, Italy’s Giovanni Mascio and Poland’s Jan Przyrowski.
It’s great to have you back in this new era of Formula Regional. First of all, how does it feel to be back on the grid as a team?
Yeah, it’s great to be back. It’s been quite a long break, with a lot of preparation over the winter, especially getting to grips with the new car and trying to understand everything. We’ve done a lot of simulation work, so there’s been a big build-up to the first round. Overall, we’re really happy to be back racing, fighting and competing again.
Two new full-time drivers alongside Giovanni [Maschio] as well. Can you tell us a bit about how they’re settling in?
Well, we know Giovanni from the last two years. So obviously it's a new challenge for him again with this car. He's adapting quite well and he's improved a lot, you know, from where he started with us and every time he's getting in the car.
We’ll go through them one by one. With two new full-time drivers alongside Giovanni in this new era, how are all three drivers settling in?
To be honest, we started working with them towards the end of last year and we’re quite happy with their progress so far. Obviously, Miguel [Costa] and Jan [Przyrowski] are both rookies, while Giovanni is someone we already know from the past couple of seasons. With Giovanni, it’s mainly about learning the new car, but we already understand the systems he prefers and how he works, so we know how to help him perform. With the other two, it’s more of a fresh start, as we’re still learning how they operate and how we can work together effectively. At the same time, we’re developing the car, so it’s really about finding the right balance between driver development and car development this year.
What is the mindset with which you are approaching this new challenge?
Whereas in the past, with the previous car, we had a clearer idea of where we stood and had more reference points. Now, we’re essentially building those references from scratch. That said, they’re great guys to work with - we get on really well. There’s a good balance of professionalism, work ethic and also a bit of fun, which is important. At the end of the day, they’re still very young. Sometimes we forget that these guys are driving at over 250 km/h and, in some cases, have only had their road licence for a couple of years. So it’s important to keep things light when needed, but also be serious when the situation requires it.
What can fans expect from this new car for the 2026 season?
The Race Mode system seems to be working really well, as does the deployment. It gives a bit more room for creativity compared to the previous version of the car. The design is also more in line with Formula 1, with lower-profile tyres, and the aero package appears to work well, especially in slipstream conditions. Overall, it’s a completely new development for everyone - a new challenge for the drivers and for the teams. At this stage, everyone is just trying to find a small advantage with the new car, so I think the competitive order we see in the first two or three rounds could be quite different from what we see towards the end of the season.
Can you explain how the new Race Mode system works this season compared to last year?
So basically, it gives drivers an extra 25 horsepower when they press the button, with a total of 100 seconds available per race. It’s up to them how they choose to use it. Last year, they had five push-to-pass activations, with a 60-second interval between each use, meaning that if you used it on one straight, you couldn’t use it again immediately after. Now, it’s based on total deployment time. You can use it for three seconds here, three seconds there, which leaves much more room for creativity. There’s also a management aspect to it, so it’s really beneficial for driver development as they progress in their careers, because they have more variables to handle. It adds another strategic element during the race, rather than just focusing on tyre degradation. The effectiveness also changes from track to track - depending on where the deployment works best and at what speed. So it’s another kind of curveball, but overall it’s a positive addition.
