Who is Ugo Ugochukwu, McLaren's new protégé?

*Report published in issue 2291 of AUTOhebdo, available on our online store.

​Photographers present at international championships can attest to this: it is difficult to find images of Ugo Ugochukwu with a big smile on his face or joyfully celebrating a victory. With or without a mask! Satisfied with the work accomplished, the American already seems focused on the next race. The scenario is identical at a press conference with a young kart driver already very professional in front of the television camera, reciting in an almost too formatted manner his speech inspired by the insipid interviews of certain racing drivers. Formula 1.

Holder of American passports, Nigerian by his mother, Italian by his father – a former talented kart driver – Ugo has the distinction of wearing the colors of the Sauber Junior Team. “Through this partnership with this prestigious entity, we wanted to set up an ideal environment to allow young pilots to progress in their careers as quickly as possible, by instilling in them working methods similar to those they will find during their passage by car », specifies Dino Chiesa, team manager of KR Motorsport who participated in the emergence of the American driver.

A mind tempered in steel

Dino Chiesa is one of the most renowned technicians in the paddock. He grew up alongside Alessandro Zanardi and put Nico Rosberg into orbit as well as Lewis Hamilton. We asked the Italian if he found any similarities with the seven-time F1 world champion, besides his skin color. “Every driver is different, but the great champions manage to stand out through the way they get involved. They are focused on all the details, leaving nothing to chance. When they put on their helmets, they are warriors, they know what they want, remaining very lucid, especially in their ability to manage a race. Many pilots use the same equipment as Ugo and criticize me for favoring some by giving them more efficient engines or better treatment. It's wrong. Ugo is one of the drivers who are capable of making a difference thanks to their talent, but above all their mentality. He knows how to stay perfectly calm, which is very important to manage the stress of the race. »

Ugo Ugochukwu started on karting in the USA. At the beginning of 2014, at the age of 7, he already climbed the first step of the podium at the Pan-American championship and did it again a year later at the Florida championship. The following two years, he made notable appearances in Europe in Mini-Kart. He continued mainly in his country in 2018, before investing even more by joining the KR Motorsport team for its European Junior season. “I achieved my first podium at the European Junior Championship three months after celebrating my 12th birthday. It’s really in 2020 that I think I reached a milestone. I integrated perfectly into the team, I was very well surrounded. Every time I started a race, I was able to fight for the podium. The first round of the European Championship in Spain gave me confidence, because I managed to move up from 13th to 2nd place in the final, with the fastest lap in the race. I followed up with victory in Italy and secured the title in Germany with another podium. »

European Karting Champion just 20 years after Lewis Hamilton, Ugo Ugochukwu also experienced a lack of success a few weeks later in the world championship. In Portugal in both cases. A mechanical failure had stopped the Briton in his tracks. The American, for his part, took a dim view of the arrival of the rain. “The conduct of the qualifying heats placed me in an ideal situation for the final. Starting from the front row given my level of performance in the dry, I think I had a good chance of winning. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not good on Sunday and I was not the fastest in the rain. I couldn't do better than 8th”, very humbly regretted the young American, who is preparing to debut in OK in 2021, with the same colors of the Sauber Karting Team. “If he quickly confirms his potential in this category in which there are many experienced drivers, then we could think that Ugo has a good chance of succeeding in car », concluded Dino Chiesa. In any case, his driving skills and his “friendly” surname have already made him stand out in the paddocks. An appointment is made with the future.

Path

Born April 23, 2007. 13 years old

3 passports: American, Nigerian and Italian

2013 (Micro) – 1st race in Oakland (USA)

2014 (Micro) – Pan-American championship winner

2015 (Micro) – Winner Florida Winter Tour

2016 (Mini) – 2nd Rok Italy Final

2017 (Mini) – IAME Open International winner and Italian vice-champion

2018 (Rok Junior) – Challenge of the Americas winner, Italian vice-champion and 2nd Florida Winter Tour

2019 (Junior) – 8th in the European Championship, 3rd in the Coupe de France and 4th WSK Euro Series

2020 (Junior) – European Champion, 8th in the World Championship, 2nd Champions of the Future series and 1st WSK Champions Cup