Kaylen Frederick (born 4 June 2002) is an Americans auto racing of German descent
Early racing career
Karting career
Frederick began his racing career in karting at the age of seven, where he remained active until 2015.
Lower formulae
2016
In 2016, Frederick switched to formula racing at the age of fourteen, where he competed in the F1600 Championship Series with
Team Pelfrey.
Due to his age he had to miss the first six races, but was nevertheless successful by taking his first single-seater win at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex and three second-place finishes.
With 474 points, he finished seventh in the championship.
Later in the year, he made his U.S. F2000 debut for Pelfrey on the final race weekend at Laguna Seca, becoming the youngest driver to race in the series where he finished thirteenth in both races and ended 24th in the standings.
He also drove for Pelfrey in the season finale of the F2000 Championship at Virginia International Raceway. He immediately took pole position, but finished seventh in the first race, while failing to finish the second race.
2017
The following year Frederick competed full-time in U.S. F2000 with
Team Pelfrey. He took his first podiums at Barber Motorsports Park, scoring a pair of second places, after being bested by
Oliver Askew.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway was positive with a third-place finish in the second race, although he would have achieved more without a disqualification from second place in the first race.
He scored only two more third places that season at the Toronto Street Circuit and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
With 240 points, he finished fourth in the standings behind
Oliver Askew,
Rinus VeeKay and
Parker Thompson, the highest driver not to win a race.
He also drove an F2000 Championship Series weekend at Mid-Ohio, where he earned pole position and a podium finish.
2018
In 2018, Frederick took another shot at U.S. F2000 with Pabst Racing Services.
He achieved all his four podium finishes consecutively, at Lucas Oil Raceway,
Road America and Toronto, taking three second places and one third place.
However, his season was much more inconsistent compared to the previous year, and he finished sixth in the final standings with 173 points.
Frederick also drove in the first race weekend of the Formula 4 United States Championship in Virginia with the K-Hill Motorsports team, but managed only a retirement, 23rd and 12th in the races. At the end of the season, Frederick drove for the first time in Europe for two Euroformula Open race weekends with
RP Motorsport.
He achieved two top ten finishes in four races, with a fifth place at the
Monza Circuit as his best result.
With 21 points, Frederick finished fourteenth in the final standings.
BRDC British Formula 3 Championship
2019
In 2019, Frederick switched full-time to racing in Europe and was expected to race in the Euroformula Open, but instead competed in British Formula 3 with Carlin.
He achieved his first win on his first weekend at
Oulton Park during the second race.
Two more third places at Snetterton and Silverstone followed, before he added a second victory at Spa-Francorchamps.
He failed to make the podium for the last three rounds and ended ninth in the standings.
2020
Frederick remained with Carlin in BRDC F3 for 2020, partnering Guilherme Peixoto and
Nazim Azman.
He started his season in
Oulton Park with two wins.
At the first
Donington Park round, Frederick once again won and also secured a second place.
A blip of form followed in
Brands Hatch, but the second Donington round saw the American victorious, which also applied to the next round in Snetterton Circuit.
Having been nine points behind championship rival
Kush Maini, Frederick's pace skyrocketed for the final two rounds, taking four victories, two each in Donington and Silverstone which allowed him to surpass Maini's points tally.
Frederick secured the title during the final race, beating Maini by 51 points.
Throughout the season, Frederick achieved nine wins and three more podiums.
FIA Formula 3 Championship
2021
In 2021, Frederick progressed to the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
Remaining with Carlin, he was partnered by
Ido Cohen and Red Bull Junior
Jonny Edgar.
Frederick had a solid debut in the championship, achieving a best finish of 17th twice during the first two rounds.
During the Austrian round, Frederick claimed his first F3 points after multiple penalties promoted him to ninth place in race 1.
Starting fourth for race 2, Frederick impressively maintained his position in the top 5. On lap 11, he made a late dive on Juan Manuel Correa which spun both around, and Frederick retired on the spot.
It was later discovered that Frederick suffered a fracture dislocation in his left thumb, causing him to miss race 3.
He also missed the Budapest round due to the injury and was substituted by
Jake Hughes.
In addition, he did not compete in Spa-Francorchamps after testing positive for COVID-19.
He returned in Zandvoort, and achieved 11th place in just his second race on his return.
Frederick scored two points, besting out Cohen, who scored 0 points, but got outlasted by Edgar, who scored 23 points.
He then tested for Hitech Grand Prix during the post-season test.
2022
Frederick switched to Hitech Grand Prix for 2022, partnering
Isack Hadjar and former BRDC F3 teammate
Nazim Azman.
The American stated that he was "‘more prepared’ for F3 after his toughest year in racing".
Frederick qualified in 19th during the opening Bahrain round, and during the first race, charged forward to eighth place, a performance he hailed as "really positive".
In the feature race, Frederick span on the opening lap which dropped him to the back, but despite the setback, he managed to climb back into the points in tenth place.
Frederick improved his best F3 finish in Imola, ending in seventh place during the feature race.
In Barcelona, Frederick qualified in eighth, his best qualifying in F3 yet.
He scored good points in the races, finishing seventh and ninth after battling tyre degradation.
Having improved his qualifying-best position to seventh, he also improved his highest finish to fifth in the Silverstone sprint race.
The feature race was less satisfying; he went over the kerbs which damaged his diffuser, and struggled on his way to finish out of the points.
In Austria, Frederick improved his qualifying position for a third straight time, securing fifth. Frederick ended in seventh position in the sprint race, which improved to sixth after Oliver Bearman was penalised ahead of him.
2023
Frederick moved to ART Grand Prix for his third Formula 3 season in 2023, partnering single-seater champions Grégoire Saucy and
Nikola Tsolov.
Frederick started his season in Bahrain with sixth in qualifying, but was set back by contact in which he sustained a puncture during the sprint race. In the feature race, he battled tyre degradation but was able to take his first points of the year with seventh.
Frederick again scored a point in the Melbourne sprint race, after all three
MP Motorsport cars were disqualified.
The feature race was not so fortunate for him, as he crashed into teammate Tsolov under the safety car; Frederick received a ten-place grid penalty for the following race.
He returned to the points for the last time at the Red Bull Ring where he finished seventh in the sprint race, but his feature race was halted due to a broken front wing sustained after fighting
Mari Boya.
Overall, his season was filled with lost opportunities, with incidents limiting his progress such as in Silverstone and Hungary.
Frederick ended the season in a disappointing 21st place overall with 11 points, with ART Grand Prix having a tough season as well.
Indy NXT
In October 2023, Frederick tested an
Indy NXT car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with
HMD Motorsports.
Super Formula Lights
In November 2023, Frederick partook in the Super Formula Lights post-season test with
B-Max Racing at Okayama International Circuit.
2024
Frederick would sign a deal to compete in the 2024 Super Formula Lights with
B-Max Racing.
The first round in
Autopolis yielded a second-placed podium during the third race.
He earned his first pole for the second race in
Sportsland Sugo but struggled for pace and eventually finished fifth.
After a scoreless weekend at
Fuji Speedway,
Frederick drove to his first win in Okayama during the second race, whilst finishing runner-up for the other two races.
After a double points finish during the last round in Motegi, Frederick placed fifth in the standings with 46 points, earning one win and four podiums.
2025
Frederick stayed with B-Max for 2025 season.
He took his first win of the season during the second race at
Autopolis, having started from pole, although he did not receive pole position points as qualifying was cancelled due to dense fog.
Sportscar racing career
2026
Frederick will make his
sportscar racing debut during the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for JDC–Miller MotorSports in the GTP category.
Personal life
Frederick originates from Potomac in
Maryland, and his hero is four-time Formula One World champion
Sebastian Vettel.
Karting record
Karting career summary
|
|
| Florida Winter Tour — Cadet | 41st |
|
| Florida Winter Tour — Rotax Micro Max | 17th |
| Florida Winter Tour — Cadet | 5th |
Racing record
Racing career summary
|
|
| U.S. F2000 National Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 24th |
| F2000 Championship Series | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 30th |
|
| F2000 Championship Series | N/A | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 59 | 23rd |
| SCCA Majors Championship Nationwide - Formula Atlantic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 33rd |
|
| Formula 4 United States Championship | K-Hill Motorsports | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34th |
| Euroformula Open Championship | RP Motorsport | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 14th |
| F2000 Championship Series | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| SCCA Majors Championship Nationwide - Formula Atlantic | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 18th |
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* Season still in progress.
American open-wheel racing results
U.S. F2000 Championship
Complete Formula 4 United States Championship results
(
key) (Races in
bold indicate pole position) (Races in
italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Euroformula Open Championship results
() (Races in
bold indicate pole position; races in
italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results
(
key) (Races in
bold indicate pole position) (Races in
italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results
() (Races in
bold indicate pole position; races in
italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Complete Super Formula Lights results
() (Races in
bold indicate pole position) (Races in
italics indicate fastest lap)
* Season still in progress.
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
() (Races in
bold indicate pole position; races in
italics indicate fastest lap)
|
| 2026
! JDC–Miller MotorSports
! GTP
! Porsche 963
! Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8 | DAY
| SEB
| LBH
| LGA
| DET
| WGL
| ELK
| IMS
| PET
! 7th*
! 264* |
External links
