AIX Racing ended the 2025 F3 season on a positive note. A team that only entered the championship in 2024, they faced a steep learning curve in their debut year. With a new car introduced for 2025, the team had a fresh opportunity to reset and establish themselves in the midfield. The results showed clear progress, with two Pole Positions in the final three rounds, a Sprint Race podium in Sakhir, and several moments of strong competitiveness.
Reflecting on the journey, Team Manager Kenny Kirwan admitted that 2024 had left them with lessons to learn ahead of 2025, particularly in the driver market and in preparation.
“I think from where we were in 2024, we did not set ourselves up very well for 2025 in terms of drivers,” he explained. “In the driver market, we were at the back a lot, we were new into the thing, but with an old car that everybody knew, and it took a reset with the new car to level the playing field a little bit.”
That levelling of the field was helped by stability within the organisation. Unlike 2024, when ownership changed mid-season, 2025 represented the first year that AIX Investment Group oversaw the team from start to finish.
“This has been the first year that AIX Investment Group have actually owned it from the beginning whereas last year we had a mid-year exchange, so it took a little bit of time.”
Signing and developing Benavides
One of the main challenges for AIX was unlocking the potential of Brad Benavides. The Spanish-American returned to F3 after rebuilding a strong reputation, having been crowned Euroformula Champion, but translating that form into prowess in the 2025 F3 Championship took time.
“Brad came to us as a Champion of the Euroformula Champion. But he wasn’t fully ready,” said Kirwan. “He is a particular kind of guy and he needs to have the environment around him for everything to work and that took probably four or five events to create that.”
Kirwan was candid in admitting that he initially felt personal responsibility for Benavides’ inconsistent results.
“I was very mindful, but a bit frustrated because anybody who is a Champion has to deliver week in, week out and with Brad it was very erratic. I took it as a personal failure, just trying to figure out how I can create an environment for him.”
Preparation key to Benavides’ success
The solution came through closer collaboration. Kirwan began spending more time with his drivers in the UK simulator and attending every session at the track. This not only improved his own perspective as Team Manager but also deepened his understanding of his drivers’ needs.
“Eventually, spending time together, we do a lot of preparation work in the UK on the simulator and I started to attend all the sessions. I think spending the time with the drivers massively helped because it put me in the right frame of mind, and better prepared as a TM, but also you are spending time with drivers, you are seeing the weaknesses and the issues.”
This closer approach identified key areas for improvement, particularly in Benavides’ racecraft during the opening laps.
“That was an engineering topic for us to look at but also at Brad, because I believed he was maybe quite aggressive in the opening laps, and it also didn’t help the situation.”
By the end of the season, the hard work paid off. Benavides took two Pole Positions in the final three rounds, proving that AIX could match the frontrunners in single-lap pace.
Ending the season on a high in Monza
The closing round at Monza brought further encouragement. Although the race ended with a missed podium opportunity, the team showed they could go wheel-to-wheel with established rivals such as Campos Racing.
“Monza is not very high deg and there were a lot of Safety Cars, so it’s still something I am quite cautious about, we are going to use post-season testing to work on race pace and tyre management, because that has been our Achillies heel,” Kirwan said.
He admitted that the chance to finish on the podium would have been a fitting reward, but he also recognised that the competitive fight made for exciting viewing.
“Monza was nice, was really looking forward to a podium, but it made for great TV. It also highlights the level of the competition and the drivers. We worked with Tas [Tasanapol Intraphuvasak] last year, and he is a great guy, he did a super job, and the racing was clean. But it’s nice to know we can run with Campos. Brad drove a good race, he made one small error, dropped his wheels into the gravel and then he just went for a move, a do-or-die move.”
The finale also offered a glimpse of the future. The team drafted in Fernando Barrichello for one round, giving him valuable experience ahead of a full 2026 campaign. However, while AIX welcomes new talent, the team says goodbye to another.
“We also had the opportunity to bring in Fernando ‘Fefo’ Barrichello to get one round in at the end, and we made the decision to go down that road to prepare him. Nicola Marinangeli is also an absolute gentleman, a really nice driver to work with. It’s sad to see him go, but I hope to see him around again.”
Positive morale heading into winter
AIX now look to build on their momentum with a refreshed driver line-up. Kirwan explained that their approach to recruitment focused not only on speed but also on ensuring the drivers wanted to be part of the project.
“The criteria for the drivers was, ‘Do these drivers want to drive for us?’, which is already a win psychologically and Yevan David should be very quick.”
In forming their 2026 squad, the team also took inspiration from Benavides’ background and driving style, which shaped how they assessed candidates.
“There were a couple of things, we were talking to eight or nine drivers, and the one thing we realised spending time with Brad was the team he came from in Euroformula, they teach their drivers to drive a certain way, and the sort of feeling then was that if we had that sort of approach we could be aligned on our approach to how the drivers should drive. I looked at that team and the drivers in that pool and we came up with Yevan [David] and Fefo. They all raced together and it’s really friendly. We have a WhatsApp group already for 2026, it’s really nice.”
Looking ahead, Kirwan stressed that post-season testing would be vital for addressing weaknesses in race pace and tyre management.
“I am really looking forward continuing this as a team, on the performance side, it also helps because it has become clear what our objectives are for post-season testing. We don’t need to be going for lap time, we know the areas we feel we need to improve on, and that will be key.”
Final thoughts on the season
Summing up, Kirwan believes that AIX are still under-rated in the paddock but are steadily carving out a reputation as a competitive and well-run outfit.
“We are a bit underrated as a team, which is to be expected, but 2025 was our first proper year with it and I like to think we can continue to make strides and establish ourselves as one of the leading teams in FIA Formula 3 for sure.”
“There has been a lot of hard work from everyone. AVL our engineering partner, and AIX, just in terms of their understanding, patience, and support, invested a lot over the winter. They didn’t throw money at it but spending it in the areas where we looked at, and it has helped.”
The team also completed a significant move to a modern facility in Frankfurt, which Kirwan believes will help raise standards further.
“We did a factory move in December, so we moved to a more modern facility in Frankfurt. They are very active in the business. I think it has been a good year. I think our position in the Teams’ Championship does not reflect where we are, I think we could be a couple of places higher than that, my expectation for next year is to be targeting further up the order. It would be nice not to be 26th, 27th, 28th.”
