34 replies to this topic

[Frood]

 
(As I've been meaning to do for a while, I've finally gotten around to starting an F4 thread prior to the majority of the 2024 season - will post links to races, news, etc. here!)
 
The lowest step on the FIA ladder, Formula 4 has been growing considerably since the FIA introduced the category in 2014, and now reaches its 10-year anniversary. All the series feature slicks and wings, and engine power is around about the 160 hp mark. As a result, it has become the first step for drivers straight out of karting. Generally the racing is frenetic and exciting - though that’s to be expected of grids consisting of mainly fearless teenagers…
 
The current FIA-sanctioned series are as follows:
 
F1 Academy (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube
F1 Academy has its own dedicated thread here.
 

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Italian F4 & Euro 4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube
The Italian series is seen by most as the “headline” F4 series at present. It’s the longest-running of all the FIA F4 series, having been introduced in 2014. Four drivers from Italian F4 have made their way to F1 (though one has since flunked out) - inaugural champion Lance Stroll (with Prema), 2015 runner-up Zhou Guanyu (also with Prema), 2016 runner-up Mick Schumacher (also also with Prema), and 2021 champion and recent F1 débutant Ollie Bearman (with Pre… I mean, Van Amersfoort). Having a Prema car will likely get you some of the way there, though last year the champion came from outside of the usually-dominant Italian outfit. Prema looked to be well on their way to winning the title with Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad, the Briton having a comfortable championship lead mid-year. That was until Kacper Sztuka and his US Racing team suddenly hit their stride, with the young Pole sweeping all but one of the last nine races to take the Championship and a berth alongside Lindblad in the Red Bull Junior Team.
 
The two men to keep an eye on this year are likely teamed up at Prema, in the form of Mercedes junior Alex Powell, from Jamaica, and the prodigiously talented Freddie Slater. US Racing will look to keep the drivers title as well, and their most likely title challengers will come in the form of Akshay Bohra, Jack Beeton, and Alpine junior Matheus Ferreira.
 
Euro 4 was set up in 2023 as a “European” F4 series, but essentially boiled down to extra rounds for the Italian series entrants. Kacper Sztuka elected to sit out the last round at Catalunya, with Prema team-mates James Wharton and Ugo Ugochukwu going for the title. It was Ugochukwu who prevailed and took home the first Euro 4 championship trophy.
 

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British F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube
It’s hard to gauge what the second-most prestigious F4 series is currently, but it’s likely either the British or the Spanish series. The British series uses the same chassis, engine, and tyres as the Italian series so is likely the closest allegory. The series takes place mainly on the same national tracks as the likes of the BTCC due to being on the same TOCA package, though does have an overseas round at Zandvoort. Again, three names have come through the series to take their places in F1. The first British F4 champion was Lando Norris (for Carlin) in 2015; and 2017’s runner-up and third-placed spots went to Oscar Piastri (Arden) and Logan Sargeant (Carlin) respectively. Spare a thought for the man who beat the pair of them, Jamie Caroline!
 
In 2023, it was a two-way fight until the end of the year, with Carlin’s Louis Sharp eventually getting the better of Hitech’s Will Macintyre by 13 points. Other recent winners were GB3 driver Matthew Rees in 2021, and the talented Irishman Alex Dunne dominated in 2022. British F4 differs slightly from Italian F4 in that Race 2 of each weekend is a Top-10 reversed grid race. Of the drivers confirmed so far this year, keep an eye on Hitech’s Mika Abrahams (who looked fast in a part-campaign last year) and Deagan Fairclough (3rd in 2023), as well as Rodin’s Alex Ninovic. British F4 will also be notable this year for having a strong female contingent, with current F1 Academy racer and Alpine junior Abbi Pulling, former F1 Academy racer Chloe Chong, and open-wheel newcomers Nina Gademan and Ella Lloyd.
 

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Spanish F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Hankook tyres) | Website | YouTube
Spanish F4 again uses the same Tatuus chassis and Autotecnica-built Abarth engine as the Italian and British series, though uses Hankook tyres in place of Pirelli. The series has very much been a two-team affair in recent years, with Campos and MP Motorsport entering up to six cars each. Indeed, the two teams pretty much locked out the top 10 in the standings last year, with Campos and MP cars finishing in 2nd down to 9th in the final table. It was somewhat surprising, then, that a team in only their second full year of open-wheel competition came through to take the driver’s title in the shape of Saintéloc Racing’s Théophile Naël. Other recent champions were F3 driver Nikola Tsolov in 2022, and the sadly late Dilano van ‘t Hoff in 2021. No Spanish F4 drivers have yet made it to F1, though 2017 champion Christian Lundgaard is now an IndyCar race-winner. Mind you, the 2018 champion is failing his way up the ladder…
 
2024 will likely be once again a battle between Campos and MP Motorsport. Campos will be fielding two Red Bull juniors in James Egozi and Enzo Tarnvanichkul, as well as Peruvian talent Ándres Cárdenas, who is already a race-winner in the series. MP’s charge will likely be headed by second-year driver Keanu Al Azhari; the team has already won this year’s Formula Winter Series with Griffin Peebles, so look for the young Aussie to be strong too. They’ll also run a couple of promising rookies in René Lammers and Maciej Gładysz.
 

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French F4 (Mygale–Alpine M21, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube
French F4 is a little different to the other series so far mentioned, in that all of the Mygale-built cars are run centrally by the French motorsport federation (the FFSA), and drivers swap between cars over the course of the season to nullify any small differences there may be. This results in some close racing over the course of the year, and a championship that usually goes down to the wire. This was the case in 2023, when Evan Giltaire and Enzo Peugeot fought until the final race at Paul Ricard, with the former winning out. Both have now progressed into FRECA with backing from the FFSA, so the winner stands to gain a good stepping stone into higher formulae.
 
The main contenders this year will likely both be rookies - Jules Caranta has already shown good speed and overtaking prowess in F4 UAE this year, and Augustin Bernier is a very highly-rated karter who has chosen to make his first steps into cars in the French championship. Drivers returning for a second season include Yani Stevenheydens, who finished 7th in his rookie year, and will be looking to build on a good first year. Those familiar with sportscars will also see a couple of familiar names, with Sacha Maassen’s son Montego and Kévin Estre’s brother Dylan making their open-wheel débuts.
 

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UAE F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Hankook tyres) | Website | YouTube
The main off-season F4 championship has already concluded for 2024, with the very promising Freddie Slater taking home his first championship win ahead of team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta. A few other names also took starring roles during the season, with Keanu Al Azhari, Rashid Al Dhaheri, Alex Powell, Gabriel Stilp, and Doriane Pin all picking up their first wins at F4 level.
 

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There are a few more FIA (and FIA-affiliated series) throughout the world:

• CEZ F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube — F4 CEZ came into being in 2023, focusing on Central and Eastern Europe. This year will take the series to Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Czechia over the course of 6 weekends. The grids will still likely be small as the series finds its feet. Jenzer Motorsport dominated last season, and will likely look to do the same again this year.
• US F4 (Ligier JS F422, Hankook tyres) | Website | YouTube — The premiere F4 series in North America, F4 USA often attracts a bumper grid of up to 30 cars, and is a jumping-off point for drivers looking to both the US and European ladders; previous winners include IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood, and FIA F3 driver Noel León. Onroak have introduced a brand-new Ligier car for this year, featuring an in-house built V4 engine. Issues with the new car have delayed the start of the season, and only three drivers have signed up so far. Hopefully everything will be resolved soon, as it would be a shame to see the series reduced to basically nothing.
• NACAM F4 (Tatuus-Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Website (en español) | YouTube — The North and Central American series, centered on Mexico. This year the championship swapped their old Mygale chassis and Ford engines for the current Tatuus/Abarth chassis/engine combination regularly seen in Europe. Competition has been sparse for the last few years, however.
• Brazilian F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Hankook tyres) | Website (em português) | YouTube — Now entering its third season, Brazilian F4 has assumed the mantle of the leading national open-wheel series. One of the rounds will feature on the Brazilian Grand Prix package, so provides an opportunity for the drivers to impress infront of a large crowd and the F1 paddock.
• Japanese F4 (Toray–Toyota MCS4-24, Dunlop tyres) | Website (日本語で) | YouTube — Another series introducing a new second-generation car this year; Dome have been bought out by Toray Carbon Magic, who’ve produced the new Toyota-powered car, with an engine upgrade that will likely make the Japanese F4 cars the most powerful (and likely fastest) of any series around the world. The championship battle usually comes down to, like many Japanese domestic series, drivers backed by either Honda or Toyota. Japanese F4 also has a separate class for gentleman drivers, such as the legend himself “Dragon” - this contributes to busy grids that, at times, run well over 40 cars!
• Chinese F4 (Tatuus–Geely T421, Kumho tyres) | YouTube — The little-publicised Chinese championship is actually one of the longest-running, having been established in 2015. The two most recent champions, Gerrard Xie and Tiago Rodrigues, are both starting to forge a career in Europe.
• Indian F4 (Mygale–Alpine M21, MRF tyres) | YouTube — And in contrast to the Chinese championship, the Indian series is one of the newest. The cars are all run by MP Motorsport; like French F4, it uses a Mygale chassis. Australia’s Cooper Webster was crowned the inaugural champion in December; the series also featured the first Vietnamese race-winner as far as I can tell in any FIA open-wheel series, in the form of Alex Sawer Hoàng Đạt.
• South East Asian F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Giti tyres) | Website | YouTube — F4 SEA was revived in 2023 after 3 seasons on the sidelines. Jack Beeton took the championship win, but a few notable names used the series as their first open-wheel championship, including Kean Nakamura Berta and Doriane Pin. The SEA championship also features the Macau Grand Prix as a non-championship race, won last year by Arvid Lindblad.
• Australian F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Giti tyres) – The Australian championship is also being resurrected this year after 4 years out, using the same Tatuus/Abarth/Giti package as the reconstituted South East Asian series. There is little information yet, apart from a calendar, so there will likely be more to come before the start of the season.
• Saudi Arabian F4 (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Races streamed on Meritus GP's Facebook — Finally, the FIA’s newest F4 series is the Saudi series, being run in the off-season, though this seems to clash somewhat with the UAE series. All cars are centrally-run by Meritus GP. The season has one round to go, with Serbian open-wheel rookie Andrej Petrović currently leading ahead of the more experienced Federico Rifai; three cars are also driven by the Al Qubaisi siblings (F1 Academy drivers Hamda and Amna, along with their brother Abdullah).

Additionally, there are a number of F4 level series run outside of the FIA system:

• Formula Winter Series (Tatuus–Abarth T421, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube — Essentially an off-season offshoot of Spanish F4, but with a few extra teams from the Italian series. The 2024 Winter Series season saw a lot of drivers making their first foray into open-wheel racing, but the championship was dominated by two second-year drivers in MP Motorsport’s Griffin Peebles, and Campos’ Ándres Cárdenas.
• GB4 (Tatuus–Abarth T014, Pirelli tyres) | Website | YouTube — MSV in the UK has positioned GB4 as a lower-cost alternative to British F4, using the first generation Tatuus chassis instead of the second-generation one used in the FIA series. As a result, GB4 isn’t eligible for superlicence points, but many of the drivers choose to move over to British F4 or up to MSV’s own GB3 series, which now does provide superlicence points and is a cost-effective alternative to Formula Regional. GB4 is also notable for a strong female presence on the grid; this year the championship has announced a cash prize to help the top woman on the grid into an F1 Academy seat. Expect the GB4 front-runners to include the returning Harry Burgoyne; Alisha Palmowski has also been very fast in pre-season testing.
• Nordic 4 (Mygale–Renault M14, Pirelli tyres) | Website (på dansk) — Previously known as Danish F4, the series now takes on the moniker of Nordic 4, due to increasing numbers of F5 and Formula Nordic cars on the grid, as well as an increasing number of rounds in Sweden. Often a jumping off point for many youngsters starting their open-wheel journey, as the series allows 14-year-olds, unlike the FIA championships, which require a driver to be 15.
• USF Juniors (Tatuus–Mazda JR-23, Continental tyres) | Website | YouTube — The USAC-sanctioned F4-level series in the US firmly positions itself as the bottom rung of the Road to Indy ladder. The drivers here generally don’t have their sights set on racing in Europe, though at least one alumnus in Nikita Johnson is now looking to racing in the UK instead of in the US. The Tatuus chassis is a modified version of that used in other F4 series, and can also be modified further in order to upgrade it into the USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 cars, which are the next two steps on the Road to Indy ladder below Indy NXT. Some drivers to keep an eye on here are the International Motorsports duo of Augie Soto-Schirripa (who finished 3rd running only a partial season of US F4 last year) and Ariel Elkin, who moves across from Italian F4. Last year’s Brazilian F4 champion Vinícius Tessaro also moves to USF Juniors; there are further IndyCar-related interests with Dan Wheldon’s son Sebastian and IndyCar team boss Ricardo Juncos’ son Leandro also present.

[Frood]

Both French F4 and GB4 have their first events this weekend.

 

GB4 is at Oulton Park, and has already had one race, which you can watch here. Races 2 and 3 (the latter being the reverse grid race) are at 11:35 and 16:30 local (GMT+1) on Monday, and will also be streamed on YouTube: Race 2 | Race 3.

 

Spoiler

Race 1 was uneventful, with Alisha Palmowski taking the lead from the slow-starting Brendan McCaughan straight away, and never looking back. Palmowski controlled the race perfectly, and took a win on her open-wheel début. Second-year driver Harry Burgoyne beat team-mate McCaughan to second place.

 

French F4 is at Nogaro this weekend. Race 1 was not streamed, and pole-sitter Yani Stevenheydens, starting his second season in the championship, took victory ahead of Japanese rookie and Honda junior Taitō Katō. Another rookie, Jules Caranta, took third place.

 

Race 2, at a very soggy Nogaro, is live as of this message! Race 3 will take place at 09:45 GMT+1 tomorrow, and can be seen here.

[Muppetmad]

The reverse-grid race in GB4 descended into farce, with Palmowski an innocent victim.

[Frood]

Yes, it did, sadly.

 

A summary of the remaining races, behind spoilers:

 

GB4 Race 2

Spoiler

A very wet race! Palmowski stalled from second on the grid, which left the KMR duo of McCaughan and Burgoyne fighting out front with Palmowski's Elite team-mate, Finn Harrison. McCaughan made the most of having no spray and started to pull away from Burgoyne. Harrison eventually worked his way past Burgoyne and almost immediately started setting best sectors in order to catch McCaughan in the lead. In doing so, however, he pushed beyond the limit and buried the car into the tyre barriers. At the same time, Mayer Deonarine and Dan Hickey had a coming together fighting over 7th, with Deonarine ending up spinning and stalling perpendicular to the track. This brought the race to a premature end, with McCaughan winning ahead of Burgoyne and Branden Templeton. Erstwhile championship leader Alisha Palmowski recovered to 6th place.

 

GB4 Race 3

Spoiler

The reverse grid race three was dry. Front-row starter Marcus Luzio had a slow getaway, with Callum Baxter further back stalling. Poleman Dan Hickey immediately had pressure from Mayer Deonarine. The first lap was very scruffy, with Race 2 winner McCaughan spinning off into the muddy grass and getting beached; almost simultaneously, Linus Granfors spun whilst trying to go around the outside of Megan Bruce through the hairpin. Burgoyne and Palmowski made quick progress through the field from the back before the safety car was called for McCaughan's stranded car. After the restart, Deonarine was straight onto Hickey's case again, as the two pulled a gap on third-placed Chloe Grant. Hickey then made a mistake at the second chicane, slowing both himself and Deonarine, which allowed Grant through into second through Druids; Hickey then made another mistake, allowing Grant through into the lead. At this point, Burgoyne was squabbling over 6th with the two Elite cars, until Harrison crashed whilst attempting an overtake on Palmowski, marking his third crash in as many races. Later in the lap, Deonarine lost half of his front wing against the back of Hickey's car. Hickey made yet another mistake to fall to the back, whilst the ailing Deonarine lost second to Burgoyne who made up a number of positions in the melee. With 6 minutes to go, Grant had a 3 second lead over her team-mate, as Deonarine left no room for the overtaking Palmowski and eliminated them both from the race. This left Linus Granfors in 3rd, whom only 5 minutes prior had been in last place! The Swede pulled off a great dummy on Burgoyne into Turn 1 the following lap, and closed the gap to Grant very quickly, overtaking her with two laps to go. Burgoyne would not find a way past Grant by the end of the race, with the two Scots finishing 2nd and 3rd behind Granfors. Baxter recovered from his stall to finish 4th. As a result, Burgoyne leads the championship following Round 1.

 

French F4 Race 2 was cancelled due to inclement weather.

 

French F4 Race 3

Spoiler

The weekend's dominant driver Yani Stevenheydens made a very quick start from pole, immediately pulling a good gap to Jules Caranta and Montego Maassen. The safety car was called early on, after Paul Roques crashed into the tyre barrier in the last sector. As the race restarted, it transpired Stevenheydens' start was too quick, and he was issued with a 5-second penalty for jumping the start. There was a good battle between Caranta, Maassen, Rayan Caretti, Taitō Katō, and Leo Megna over the podium positions, with Maassen gradually falling back from third as the race progressed. Stevenheydens was doing a good job of negating his penalty out front, until Jules Roussel and Pacôme Weisenburger collided whilst fighting over 9th place, leaving the latter in the gravel. Almost immediately following that incident, Karel Schulz spun off and also found himself beached, leading to a safety car, which negated Stevenheydens' lead. The safety car came in with a lap to go, and Stevenheydens pulled away once more, but would drop to 7th after being first across the line. Caranta therefore inherited the win ahead of Caretti and Katō, the pair still fighting all the way to the flag.

 

Despite being far and away the quickest driver across the weekend, Stevenheydens comes away 5 points behind Caranta after Round 1. 

Edited by Frood, 01 April 2024 - 17:35.

[McPedro]

I watched the GB4 Race 3 and was surprised at how quickly Granfors caught Grant when there must have been double yellows (due to the two cars off the track). It was nearly 2s in that lap alone. 

I am still pretty new to the lower levels of spec racing. Is there "fast" spec cars and "slow" spec cars as well as driver skill, as it seemed as though some cars are driving in a different formula at times?

The 3rd race was more what I expected at this level to be honest, lots of mistakes on a drying track.

 

I will watch the rest of the season for sure now. 

[Sterzo]

I am still pretty new to the lower levels of spec racing. Is there "fast" spec cars and "slow" spec cars as well as driver skill, as it seemed as though some cars are driving in a different formula at times?

A fascinating question. The team does make a big difference, and I for one would like to understand better than I do exactly how that happens. The factors I can think of are:

• Standard of preparation, influenced by the number and quality of engineers and mechanics.
• Set up data from previous years, with a good understanding of each circuit.
• Funds to replace parts regularly rather than wait until they deteriorate.
• Driver coaching (I think this is huge at that level).
• Motivational skills of the team boss.

How much each one plays a part, and what other elements I've missed, would be good to know.

[Frood]

Winding the clock back earlier in the season, here's a quick look at how the drivers fared in general speed terms in F4 UAE and Formula Winter Series. This should give a fair gauge on who is likely to be fast in some of the European series this year.

 

A little bit of background on how I put these together – the data is taken from a driver's qualifying / fastest race lap, and compared against the fastest lap in each session, where 100% is pole position / fastest lap. I don't rank drivers who complete less than 50% of the season. Drivers who complete 50-75% of the season have one dropped score, and > 75% have two dropped scores, to account for any car issues that may affect the data. Fastest laps are less of a gauge, so I usually disregard a time if the drivers complete less than 50% of the laps in a race.

 

I don't profess this to be a holy grail of comparing drivers, nor do I claim it to be mathematically sound, so take it with a pinch of salt!

 

F4 UAE Qualifying Pace

 

Spoiler

 

Interesting one this. Nakamura Berta and Pin are the least experienced drivers in the Top 10. The fact that Nakamura Berta was actually faster on average than the eventual champion Slater was a surprise to me, and Nakamura Berta outqualified his very highly regarded team-mate 7–3 across the season. Al Azhari was impressively fast, especially taking into account his car was in all but name an Xcel car, but does also have a slight experience edge on most of the Top 10 bar Bedrin.

 

F4 UAE Fastest Lap Pace

 

Spoiler

 

Al Azhari and Slater had a fair advantage here. Nakamura Berta, having less experience than the pair, didn't quite show the same race pace, which eventually bore itself out in the final result.

 

Another driver to watch here is Jules Caranta, who finished 15th in the standings, but was on the fringes of the Top 10 in both metrics – this was his first car racing season of any kind, and his speed was impressive for his lack of experience.

 

Formula Winter Series Qualifying Pace

 

Spoiler

 

FWS' shorter season means a driver partaking in only two rounds still completed 50% of the championship, hence Tye's result is counted; he's helped by a dominant pole position for the last race of the season (over 6 tenths of a second!). FWS is a bit more interesting as there were a lot of drivers making their single-seater débuts, so seeing drivers like Tye and Gładysz means we might have a good bunch of rookies coming through. Disappointments for me were Bohra, who didn't really leverage his decent experience level, and the highly-rated Lammers, who was behind all of his team-mates bar Bouzinelos (and even then, it was 5-4 in Qualifying).

 

FWS Fastest Lap Pace

 

Spoiler

 

Griffin Peebles took the title comfortably in the end, and this is borne out here by just how relentlessly consistent his speed was. I have to admit that he was a pleasant surprise, seeing as he was a lower midfield driver at best in Spanish F4 last year, though he was saddled with uncompetitive machinery at Tecnicar/FdC. Still, he was a long way off of team-mate Yamakoshi last year, so it's impressive how well he's turned it around after a move to MP Motorsport. Colnaghi and Gładysz were probably the best looking rookies in terms of race pace.

[Frood]

This weekend will see the start of one F4-level championship, and the conclusion of another.

 

USF Juniors will be at NOLA for their first round of the year. The championship is now in its third season, and gaining a lot of traction as a great starting point for youngsters wishing to follow the open-wheel pathway in the Americas. Whilst the inaugural season in 2022 attracted 17 cars for its season opener, dropping to 13 for 2023, this year there will be a healthier 26 cars for the season's first round. As touched upon in my opening post, some of this is down to the issues that US F4 has been having with its new chassis, but the Road to Indy pathway is also proving better value for money for both drivers and teams. The fact that the Tatuus chassis can be upgraded from USF Juniors spec, to USF2000 spec, to USF Pro 2000 spec, is going down well with the teams. Arguably the biggest change on the grid is Jay Howard switching his focus from US F4 to USF Juniors, as he brings a whopping seven car team over from F4.

 

Second-season drivers to look out for are Exclusive Autosport's Jack Jeffers (3rd in 2023) and VRD Racing's Max Taylor (6th in 2023). Other drivers who had a good 2023 were Vinícius Tessaro (DEForce Racing, 2023 Brazilian F4 champion) and Sebastian Wheldon (VRD Racing, 2023 Skip Barber champion). The latter has been the man to beat in the practice sessions this weekend, topping the second and third test sessions and the practice session; Wheldon has been looking especially fast as two of those three sessions he topped by over 6 tenths of a second. Other drivers up the sharp end all weekend so far have been Tessaro and his team-mate Leandro Juncos, son of Ricardo, as well as Inter MS driver Augie Soto-Schirripa, who despite only competing in 4 of the 6 rounds in US F4 last year, finished 3rd in the championship, and likely could have challenged Patrick Woods-Toth for the title had he driven the full season.

 

Meanwhile, over in Jeddah, it'll be the final three races for the first ever F4 Saudi Arabian Championship, and three drivers go into the round with a mathematical chance of the title. The least likely of these to take the championship is third-placed Kirill Kutskov, the 2023 FIA Karting World Champion in the OK class. He's 60 points off the lead, with 62.5 points on offer, so it'll take a miracle for the "Kyrgyz" driver to triumph. Whilst he's been consistent, he's never shown the outright pace of the top two in the season, taking one win and 4 further podiums so far. 2nd place, 26 points behind the leader, is the season's surprise driver, Andrej Petrović. The Serbian has had a fairly decent karting career, though not outstanding, so it has been a surprise to see him take so quickly to the F4 cars; he'll still need a good weekend to take the title. The championship favourite, therefore, is points leader Federico Rifai. The Dubai-based driver showed good speed in UAE F4 in 2023, but had a difficult season in Spanish F4, scoring points only twice and finishing 22nd in the standings. Still, he's leveraged his experience well against more more green opponents, and should be able to take the trophy home with a safe and steady weekend.

[Frood]

Will post an update on last weekend's action later today, but in far more important F4 news:

SATOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!1111one

(For those who'd rather not visit Twittxr, Takuma Sato's son Rintaro will be in Japanese F4 this year)

[FLB]

[HistoryFan]

Will post an update on last weekend's action later today, but in far more important F4 news:

SATOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!1111one

(For those who'd rather not visit Twittxr, Takuma Sato's son Rintaro will be in Japanese F4 this year)

 

would like to see him and Takuma compete against each other at the Indy 500

 

The same with both Montoyas...

[Frood]

It's a busy F4 weekend:

 

• Round 2 for GB4 at Silverstone

• Round 2 for USF Juniors at Barber Motorsports Park

• Round 1 for British F4 at Donington Park 

• Round 1 for CEZ F4 at Balaton Park

 

USF Juniors is already in the books:

 

 

 

Spoiler

It was an almost perfect weekend for InterMS' Ariel Elkin, who is possibly the most promising racing driver Israel has produced (unless Robert Shwartzman counts). The form drivers from NOLA, Sebastian Wheldon and Liam McNeilly, didn't quite have the pace they showed in Round 1, which left the door open for a few other drivers to show some speed. Elkin took pole for Race 1, with Bruno Ribeiro joining him on the front row, ahead of second-year driver Jack Jeffers and Elkin's InterMS team-mate Augie Soto-Schirripa. Jeffers immediately jumped ahead of Ribeiro at the start, and set about chasing Elkin. There was an early caution period to clear Timmy Carel's front wing from the track; Elkin managed the restart perfectly and pulled clear, eventually pulling Jeffers and Ribeiro along with him. At half distance the caution was out again, due to series débutant Jeshua Alianell crashing at Turn 1. Elkin managed the restart well again, taking Jeffers with him, with Ribeiro and Soto-Schirripa squabbling over 3rd. However, the yellow flag was out again as soon as it was withdrawn, as further back in the pack, a concertina effect on the restart caused an accident between Michael Suco, Patricio González, and Christian Cameron (cousin of sportscar driver Dane). At the restart, Jeffers was more on the ball, but Elkin just held him off through the first few corners. Soto-Schirripa passed Ribeiro into Turn 1, but ran wide; the two ran side-by-side through Turns 2, 3, and 4, but Ribeiro ran into the dirt off-line through Turn 4 and spun in front of the pack. He clipped Leonardo Escorpioni's car as he rolled across the track; Aidan Potter just missed Ribeiro's car as the rest of the field crested the hill, but his JHDD team-mate Ava Dobson was not so lucky, crashing heavily into the side of Ribeiro's stopped car. This ended the race; luckily, both Ribeiro and Dobson walked away from their badly-damaged cars. Elkin took the win from Jeffers and Soto-Schirripa; McNeilly recovered to 4th from 7th on the grid, whilst championship leader Wheldon lost a position over the course of the race to finish 6th.

 

Dobson and Ribeiro, unsurprisingly, didn't make the start of Race 2. Elkin and Jeffers were on the front row again, ahead of the championship 1-2 Wheldon and McNeilly on Row 2. Elkin again took the initiative into Turn 1, with the three cars behind battling down into the Turn 5 hairpin. Unfortunately what happened at Turn 5 wasn't clear, but only Wheldon made it out of the corner unscathed; McNeilly was left beached on the inside curb, whilst Jeffers ended up in the pits with damage. After the yellow flag period, Elkin led from Wheldon and Soto-Schirripa, though the yellows were back out again 3 laps later, after Leonardo Escorpioni ended up in the gravel at Turn 5. Yet again, Elkin handled the restart well, with the Top 6 or 7 cars following line astern. Brady Golan went onto the grass at Turn 5, but continued, saving the field from yet another restart. Soto-Schirripa's podium position was soon under attack from Leandro Juncos, who made a move stick; behind them, the battle for 5th was intense, with 6 or 7 cars fighting over the lower Top 10 positions. In the resulting fight, Evan Cooley ran into the back of Max Taylor and went off, but managed to keep his car out of the wall. Elkin and Wheldon began to pull away from Juncos and Soto-Schirripa, with the latter finding a way back into 3rd after a mistake from Juncos. The race went green until the end, with Wheldon staying within half a second of Elkin, but never looking like he quite had the pace to make a move. Elkin therefore swept the weekend, with Wheldon's 2nd place finish ensuring he keeps the championship lead ahead of Elkin. McNeilly's relatively poor weekend sees him drop back behind Elkin in the standings, ahead of Taylor and Soto-Schirripa.

 

GB4 will be live at 16:30 UK time (GMT+1). Race 1 sees Finn Harrison bouncing back from a miserable triple retirement at Oulton Park to take pole, ahead of Linus Granfors, Leon Wilson, and Alisha Palmowski. The KMR cars struggled in Qualifying, with McCaughan, championship leader Burgoyne, and Grant all being well over 1.5 seconds off the pace.

 

 

British F4's first race has already concluded (without being televised). Rodin's Alex Ninovic topped Qualifying, ahead of team-mate James Higgins, and the surprise package in Fortec's Kai Daryanani, who spent most of 2023 as a backmarker. Race 1 takes its grid from the second-best times, putting Higgins on pole ahead of Ninovic, ahead of the Hitech pair of championship favourite Deagan Fairclough and Reza Seewooruthun, with the other two Rodins of Abbi Pulling and Jack Sherwood on row 3. 

 

Fairclough made an excellent start and immediately took the lead – a lead which he wouldn't relinquish. Higgins was not able to challenge Fairclough and settled into second, whilst Ninovic dropped behind Seewooruthun into 4th. Later in the race, Ninovic passed Seewooruthun and set about trying to pass Higgins, but wouldn't find a way past and settled for third. Mercedes junior drive Cui Yuanpu went from 9th to 4th during the race, ahead of Seewooruthun and Sherwood. Abbi Pulling spent most of the race battling with Ella Lloyd, who was very impressive, considering how much less experience she has than Pulling, with the pair ending up 7th and 8th. Lloyd's team-mate, ex-F1 Academy driver Chloe Chong, had a miserable race, ending up 21st.

[Muppetmad]

Spoiler

The only thing really holding back Palmowski in GB4 are her starts. She dropped right to the back after stalling on the start, but worked her back to 4th. Only Granfors looked faster than her (albeit he was considerably faster than everyone else).

Edited by Muppetmad, 28 April 2024 - 16:56.

[Frood]

First round for Italian F4 is this weekend at Misano, and will be the series most people have their eye on.

Race 1 is approximately 25 minutes from now, and can be seen on YouTube here: https://www.youtube....ive/ydvkUDyrD4o

Freddie Slater is on pole for all three races, and Prema team-mate Alex Powell will join him on the front row for all three races as well. Their closest challengers across the weekend so far have been US Racing duo Akshay Bohra and Gianmarco Pradel; a third Prema in the form of Kean Nakamura-Berta, and VAR's Hiyū Yamakoshi.

[Muppetmad]

Spoiler

A comfortable win for Slater, who is surely the best bet to win the title this year.

[FLB]

 

[Frood]

I think the new car launch has been a bit embarrassing for Japanese F4 - 10 cars couldn't start race 2 due to engine issues. Ten!

[FLB]

[Muppetmad]

Spoiler

A perfect start to the season for Slater. He's going to be tough to beat if he stays in this form.

[Frood]

I know Australian F4 has only just been re-launched, but I hope it can start attracting some more competition. Jimmy Pisczyk was already fairly competitive in British F4 last year, and running rings around this field is going to do nothing for his career (I assume he ran out of funding for his European career?). Half the grid is older than me, and I'm over twice the minimum age to race in F4...

[Frood]

A more detailed round-up of Italian F4:

 

Race 1

 

 

Spoiler

Slater and Powell were very even away from the start, with the two US Racing cars of Bohra and Pradel falling into line behind them. The opening laps at the very front were fairly tame, with much of the action coming at the lower reaches of the Top 10 - with Enzo Yeh and Davide Larini having a battle, and another between Slater and Powell's Prema stablemates Kean Nakamura-Berta, Tomass Štolcermanis, Rashid Al Dhaheri and Dion Gowda; the stewards would issue Al Dhaheri a warning for his aggressive defending. The first safety car of the year was called after issues towards the back of the grid, the first being a collision between the pretty hopeless Everett Stack and Nathanël Berreby, with Luca Viișoreanu, Oleksandr Savinkov, Kai Daryanani, Max Popov and Andrija Kostić also running into issues. Once Daryanani's car was cleared from the track, Slater made a good restart; further back, Štolcermanis made a great pass on Larini, with Nakamura-Berta following him through. Jack Beeton made a nice move on Hiyū Yamakoshi for 5th, and set about chasing his two team-mates ahead. Slater started putting in a string of fastest laps to stretch his lead ahead of Powell, with the Top 5 breaking away from Yamakoshi in 6th. The race settled down after this point, with Slater leading home Powell, and Gianmarco Pradel completing the podium for US Racing. His team-mates Bohra and Beeton finished 4th and 5th ahead of Yamakoshi in 6th; Enzo Yeh held off the fighting Premas for 7th. Nakamura-Berta, Štolcermanis, Al Dhaheri and Gowda all crossed the line nose-to-tail, with Gowda missing out on a point by less than half a second.

 

Race 2

 

Spoiler

 

Slater made away quickly again; Powell was challenged by Akshay Bohra into Turn 1 but fended him off well. The gaggle behind were fighting fiercely again, but at the start of the second lap Larini and Nakamura-Berta collided, with Larini ending up perched on top of Nakamura-Berta's right-rear wheel. This collision also eliminated Jack Beeton from contention as the Australian took to the gravel in avoidance. Slater made the best of the restart to quickly pull a decent gap on Powell; soon after the restart, Reno Francot made a pass on Yamakoshi for 5th place. The race was soon neutralised again though, after Alvise Rodella and new Alpine junior Kabir Anurag came to blows, leaving Rodella stranded on the track and Anurag without a front wing. Slater wasn't fazed by the subsequent restart and immediately set about restoring his comfortable lead to Powell. Bohra soon fell back from the leading pair and into the clutches of Francot, with the Dutchman looking to score Jenzer's best result in the series for a good couple of years. Behind them, Al Dhaheri was also beginning to put pressure on Yamakoshi; meanwhile, Slater set about pumping in a string of fastest laps to cement his advantage. 

 

Once again, though, this was thwarted by the reappearance of the safety car, triggered by a mechanical failure on Gustav Jönsson's car, and damage to his VAR team-mate Kostić's car. When the race resumed, Slater, true to form, gave Powell no chance to capitalise. Further back, a good battle was brewing between Al Dhaheri, Ethan Ischer, Dion Gowda, and Luka Sammalisto over 6th place. A collision near the back between Kamal Mrad and Enea Frey threatened to stop the race again, but the incident was cleared under waved yellows. Slater therefore duly took his second win ahead of Powell, with Bohra fending off Francot's attention on the last lap to clinch 3rd. Francot's joy was short-lived as he was demoted to 9th for leaving the track and gaining an advantage; this promoted Yamakoshi, Al Dhaheri, Gowda and Štolcermanis up a place each, with Andrej Petrović scoring his first point in the series by passing Sammalisto two corners from the flag.

 

 

Race 3

 

 

Spoiler

In this episode of the "Freddie Slater doesn't put a foot wrong" show, Slater once again showed no signs of relinquishing his lead off the start, and Powell was resigned to watching his team-mate slowly pull away. Meanwhile, Beeton embarked on his second sojourn through the gravel of the weekend, narrowly avoiding crashing into Rashid Al Dhaheri in the process. The series' safety car driver wasn't allowed any respite either, being scrambled early on following a contretemps between Kamal Mrad and Kai Daryanani, now both having their second accident of the event. Slater once again left Powell for dust at the restart, with third-placed Yamakoshi coming under pressure from his compatriot Kean Nakamura-Berta. Down towards the tail end of the points, the two R-ace cars of Sammalisto and Yeh were fighting hard with Štolcermanis and Matheus Ferreira; Sammalisto subsequently receiving a sportsmanship flag after unceremoniously pushing Ferreira onto the grass. The top 6 cars started to gap the following pack, as Slater again set a string of fastest laps in the lead. There was some wheel-banging between Yamakoshi and Nakamura-Berta, but the two Japanese drivers came away unscathed.

 

This was all too much for Kabir Anurag and Andrija Kostić, who decided they enjoyed crashing to each other so much that they did it twice in quick succession; with Enea Frey also stopping on track, the safety car was called again. Having now performed six safety car restarts, Slater was becoming a professional; though Powell was as close as he'd ever been, Slater easily rebuffed him as Powell's attention quickly turned to defending from Yamakoshi. Not long after the restart, Kabir Anurag crashed yet again. Hopefully the money he brings to the Alpine Academy is worth it... This was covered under waved yellows, much to Nakamura-Berta's delight, as he finally fought his way past Yamakoshi into third place. Gianmarco Pradel then also made an attempt to pass Yamakoshi, but was rebuffed and fell behind Al Dhaheri as a result. 

 

There was time for one final safety car as R-ace GP's race completely fell apart in the space of one lap, with Sammalisto finding the gravel and Yeh being wiped out by a wayward Emanuele Olivieri. The mess was compounded by backmarker Maffi Racing's Gabriel Holguin also finding himself visiting one of Misano's gravel traps. Slater made it through one last restart unchallenged, with Nakamura-Berta not quite making an impression on Powell. Thus it ended as a Prema 1-2-3, with Yamakoshi surviving in 4th place ahead of Al Dhaheri, Pradel, Štolcermanis, Francot, Larini and Dion Gowda grabbing the last point on the final lap. Štolcermanis would later be given a 5-second penalty, demoting him to 14th, handing Gustav Jönsson his first point.

 

Final thoughts

Spoiler

The first weekend has me thinking that the field quality doesn't quite match that of the last couple of years, but hopefully that will go away as we get further into the season. I was disappointed with Nakamura-Berta's showing considering he was close to Slater's pace in UAE F4, but there was a similar thing last year with Taponen showing very well in the off-season and then not really being on-song throughout the main part of the year. Yamakoshi was a pleasant surprise; he does have a couple of years of F4 experience already, though his part campaign in Spanish F4 last year was with Monlau Motorsport, who were fairly terrible. I'm not seeing anyone who can challenge Slater at this point, though.

[William Hunt]

F4 is not regional, it is at national level and allowed a maximum of 2 races outside the main country, an exception was granted to the CEZ F4 championship

[jonpollak]

Is this the FRECA thread and do we have a YouTube or similar for Hockenheim?

Thanks,
Jp

[midgrid]

FRECA is here: https://forums.autos...pionship-freca/.

[jonpollak]

Thanks midgrid
Jp

[sportyskells]

You missed the brands hatch round that just happened for British f4 

[Frood]

I'll try and put together an update for the last couple of weeks' worth of F4 tomorrow, but an... interesting one from British F4.

Apparently Bart Harrison has been disqualified and suspended for 2 weeks after physically assaulting another driver in the paddock. Never a good look, that one.

[sportyskells]

I think the British type weather in zandvoort has caused race 2 of today to be postponed in you are looking for it on YouTube f you want British f4 action race 1 had the green I going to correct myself here as maybe there was water in the works for the start lights as we had a lights out then lights on which confused a lot of drivers and caused a crash not weather related all drivers ok 

Edited by sportyskells, 13 July 2024 - 15:18.

[Muppetmad]

https://x.com/Vincen...129880739303695

 

Here's a video of that. The light sequence was the culprit.

[sportyskells]

There been another red flag in British f4 but this time it was maybe an unsafe rejoin that caused this one and as we know that is frown upon. Drivers ok again.

[billm99uk]

Good wins in GB3/GB4 for Nikita Johnson (his first, not sure about the mustache though!) and Alisha Palmovski (her second, first since the season opener) today.

Edited by billm99uk, 14 July 2024 - 21:04.

[Frood]

Lucas Blakeley and Alisha Palmowski went from the back row to first and second in the reverse grid GB4 race, also somewhat helped by the top 4 taking each other out on the last lap!

[Frood]

Palmowski inherited the GB4 Race 3 win following a jump start penalty for Blakeley, and pulls herself back into championship contention.

[billm99uk]

That last lap was wild!

[ANF]

Don't know if anybody else noticed this Italian F4 incident in Race 3 at Mugello the other day.

The two pictures below show Matheus Ferreira (1) stopping his car on the grass on the right-hand side between the two Arabbiata corners, and (2) ninety seconds later walking back on the wrong side of the barrier while some of the other 35 cars stream past...

...and at this point there was no safety car. And more importantly, as far as I can tell there were no yellow flags.

If you want to look for yellow flags, here's the video: https://www.youtube....bsYASN7k?t=1428