‘It’s mind blowing’: 15-year-old Montrealer racing in Formula 4
Posted March 21, 2025 12:02 pm.
Last Updated March 21, 2025 4:54 pm.
The twists, the turns, the speed.
Montrealer Luca Day was just eight years old when he was karting and discovered his passion for racing.
Speed up to today, the 15-year-old clenched a seat in the Formula 4.
“I was very very surprised,” Luca told CityNews. “I was super happy.”
“It’s just another feeling when you’re in a race car,” said Luca. “When I pass 200 kilometers an hour, everything around me just slows down.”
But he isn’t slowing down – after testing various tracks in 2024, he got recognized — now signed as one of two Canadians at LC Racing Academy based in South Florida.
“You got Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula 1,” explained Leonardo Coleman, team owner of the LC Racing Academy. “This series you race with different cars but at the same concept.”
“You race in Europe and almost every country has a Formula 4,” he added.
Living in Quebec — where winter comes around quickly — Luca practices his driving at home, using a simulator that replicates the tracks he will face.
The teen said that he is dedicated to his craft — training on that simulator for about four hours every day.
“The main goal is not to get a good lap,” he explained. “But to get consistency and here I’ve been really consistent with my times which is what you need.”
“They’re really not video games,” said Nicolas Day, Luca’s father. “[The simulator is] there so that he can learn the layout of a track because most of the tracks he hits, it’s going to be his first time ever on that track.”
“You need to be able to hit the ground running,” he added. “And get amazing times quickly because you don’t have the luxury, especially in Quebec, to be able to be in a car every day on track.”
Six races are set for Luca’s first F4 season.
And with his discipline and training, Luca has his sights set on one day getting a seat in Formula 1.
“So happy to have Luca on the team,” said Coleman. “They are, this is a family sport, It’s not just the driver.”
“The commitment is for everybody.”
“As an F1 fan, you watch the car zip by,” explained Luca’s father. “But then when you realize it’s actually your little boy in the car, it’s mind blowing.”
“I love racing because of the speed,” added Luca. “It’s just amazing.”
“My dream is to be an F1 car.”
