Photo: Top Speed

The 2026 calendars for international Formula 4 championships F1 Academy, F4 South East Asia, French F4 and Nordic 4 have been revealed.

The all-female F1 Academy will continue to run exclusively on Formula 1’s support bill, with seven rounds in six countries. More can be read about next season’s schedule here.

F4 SEA’s calendar has been distributed by Evans GP, one of the championship’s teams. From its inaugural season in 2016 through to 2019, F4 SEA’s grid was centrally run by Meritus GP.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to no racing until 2023, when the grid featured multiple teams for the first time. There was no 2024 season, then this year’s calendar was almost identical to what is planned for 2026.

Sepang will host round one (April 24-26) next year, then the field heads to Thailand to race at Buriram (May 23/24) and the Bangsaen street circuit (July 3-5). Bangsaen was first visted this year, with F4 SEA supporting its grand prix. The final two rounds of 2026 are at Sepang on August 21-23 and September 18-20.

French F4 is still centrally run, and reduces from six rounds to five next year but retains its event abroad.

The first four rounds, at Nogaro (April 4-6), Dijon (May 15-17), Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium (June 19-21) and Magny-Cours (July 31-August 2), are in the same order as and in very similar dates to in 2025. Long-time venues Ledenon and Le Mans are dropped, and Paul Ricard returns on October 9-11 as the finale after a year off the calendar.

The Denmark-based Nordic 4 has historically been open to F4 and Formula 5 cars, and is now part of Nordic Championship Formula (NCF) which combines its grids with Formula Renault 1.6 cars from Sweden’s Formula Nordic championship.

In 2026, the paddock’s first-generation F4 cars will be retired and Danish manufacturer Aquila has developed a faster, halo-shod car taking technical inspiration from Formula 1000 to replace it.

There will be nine NCF rounds next year, with four making up the Danish championships. The season starts with trips to Padborg Park and Jyllandsringen, mainstays since Danish F4’s inaugural season in 2017, then Karlskoga features for a fourth successive year as the starting point of a three-round Swedish leg.

Sturup Raceway returns, having hosted Danish F4 in 2022, then the paddock goes to Kinnekulle for the first time since 2019.

Norway’s Hermann Tilke-designed Rudskogen track was raced on by Danish F4 in 2018, and it will host NCF next August. The championship is then part of the Danish Grand Prix at Jyllandsringen and Padborg Park’s Night Race event.

Ring Djursland drops off the schedule after nine seasons, but in October there will be exhibition races at Dutch Grand Prix venue Zandvoort.

2026 Nordic 4 calendar

The post International F4 championships reveal their 2026 calendars appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Top Speed

Niccolo Maccagnani dominated Formula 4 South East Asia’s finale at Sepang on September 20/21, as Alex Sawer was crowned.

Future Ferrari junior Maccagnani began his second weekend in car racing by dominating qualifying.

In Q1 he took race one pole by 0.348 seconds over Sawer, with Seth Gilmore 0.736s behind in third. The next three drivers were within 1.3s-1.6s of Maccagnani’s pace, and Thomas Lee in last was 5.069s off.

Maccagnani improved to 2m08.848s in Q2, claiming race three pole by 0.702s. Sawer beat Inigo Anton to second by 0.09s, and Gilmore trailed by 1.153s in fourth. Lee was further off the pace, rounding out the 10-car field with a best laptime 6.358s slower than Maccagnani’s. Since Gilmore missed out on the pole points, Sawer wrapped up the title.

Maccagnani made a great start to race one, while Sawer was slow but took a wide line into turn one to keep second. It took two laps for Maccagnani to build a one-second gap, and six more to break two seconds. In the remaining five laps the Pinnacle Motorsport driver pulled 5.508s clear for his first single-seater victory and to end Evans GP’s unbeaten 2025.

Gilmore was a lonely and distant third, and Anton and Ayrton Asdathorn fought over fourth on lap two. Anton then established himself ahead until the race’s final corner where he went very slow and was overtaken.

Debutant Rafael Vaessen tried going around Putera Hani Imran’s outside at turn one for sixth place on lap six, and they ran side-by-side through to turn four. Vaessen overtook on the inside there a lap later but was only ahead for one corner, and tried turn one again on lap 11 but Imran went deep to keep sixth.

Ben Nguyen attacked Joshua Berry for eighth on lap nine. He got ahead on the inside of turn one, Berry was back past through turn two, and Nguyen tried again at turn four. They clashed through turn five and Nguyen went off, but he ended the lap ahead as Berry spun at the final corner.

Anton had reversed-grid pole for race two. Maccagnani started fifth, and Imran stalled on the formation lap so was wheeled off.

Asdathorn got away slowly but held second until the rise to turn four where Gilmore got ahead. Maccagnani then dived down his inside at turn nine, which allowed Sawer to get past at turn 10 too.

On lap five, Maccagnani dived down Gilmore’s inside at the final corner but could not get ahead, nor at turn one. He took second before turn four, then had 1.58s to make up on Anton. The gap disappeared as Lee spun at turn 10 and the safety car was summoned on lap eight.

Maccagnani made another final corner dive on the restart lap and Anton ran way off at the exit, dropping to fourth and leaving Maccagnani to lead the last two laps.

Anton turned out to be severely unwell, so missed the 13-lap race three which Maccagnani won by a massive 19.645s. Sawer, with a 10s penalty, finished second.

Nguyen and Lee stalled, then the next moment of drama was on lap eight as Vaessen went into Asdathorn’s rear at turn one when trying to take fourth from him.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Niccolo Maccagnani Pinnacle Motorsport 28m12.016s
2 Alex Sawer Evans GP +5.508s
3 Seth Gilmore Evans GP +15.748s
4 Ayrton Asdathorn Star Performance +26.315s
5 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +26.715s
6 Putera Hani Imran BlackArts Racing +31.862s
7 Rafael Vaessen Evans GP +32.227s
8 Ben Nguyen BlackArts Racing +48.595s
9 Thomas Lee Evans GP +53.240s
10 Joshua Berry BlackArts Racing +1m12.063s
Pole: Maccagnani, 2m09.027s
Fastest lap: Maccagnani, 2m09.322s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Maccagnani 28m02.482s
2 Gilmore +2.246s
3 Sawer +2.906s
4 Anton +4.271s
5 Asdathorn +4.695s
6 Vaessen +6.373s
7 Imran +8.754s
8 Berry +9.548s
9 Nguyen +17.117s
Ret Lee
FL: Maccagnani, 2m09.456s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Maccagnani 28m15.800s
2 Sawer +19.645s
3 Gilmore +20.819s
4 Asdathorn +22.104s
5 Vaessen +22.869s
6 Berry +29.523s
7 Nguyen +29.788s
8 Imran +1m05.796s
9 Lee +1m05.953s
P: Maccagnani, 2m08.848s
FL: Maccagnani, 2m09.470s

Championship standings
1 Sawer 359   2 Gilmore 261   3 Anton 182   4 Maccagnani 158   5 Rishon Rajeev 156   6 Asdathorn 136   7 Nguyen 93   8 Zhongwei Wang 93   9 T Lee 93   10 Kyuho Lee 58

The post Maccagnani dominates at Sepang as Sawer crowned F4 SEA champion appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 SEA

Alex Sawer is on the brink of becoming Formula 4 South East Asia champion after winning twice in the penultimate round at Sepang.

In qualifying the first representative laptimes of Q1 appeared with four-and-a-half minutes left of the 15-minute session, with debutant Kareen Kaur leading the way until then.

Inigo Anton posted a 2m10.332s to lead Rishon Rajeev by 0.616 seconds, and Sawer got within 0.011s of him a minute later.

Niccolo Maccagnaini, another debutant, went fastest by 0.102s with two-and-a-half minutes to go and it earned him race one pole. Seth Gilmore later went third fastest as Sawer was demoted to fifth by having his fastest lap deleted, then Kyuho Lee took third at the end.

Joshua Berry was first to the top five minutes into Q2, and the next flying lap came with six minutes remaining as Sawer set a 2m09.08s. But it was deleted, meaning Gilmore then had provisional pole for race three with a 2m10.512s.

Maccagnani soon set a 2m09.749s, leading Anton, but Sawer responded with a 2m09.298s that stuck. Lee again got into third late on.

Berry started race one from the pits, and Maccagnani comfortably led the field into the opening corner. Sawer made one overtake on lap one, then made moves at turn one on laps four and five. He then had 2.07s to make up on Maccagnani, and got onto his tail on lap 11.

Maccagnani tried breaking the tow into turn one, where Sawer attempted a move the next lap. The leader weaved his way down every straight, but a lock-up into turn one on the final lap allowed Sawer through and once ahead he pulled away to win.

Lee took third from Anton into turn one on the last lap too, and Rajeev held off Thomas Lee for sixth and reversed-grid pole for race two. Zhongwei Wang finished ninth after a race-long defence against Ben Nguyen.

Gilmore took race two’s lead into the opening corner but Rajeev got back ahead at turn two, then Gilmore repeated his move on lap two and Kyuho Lee followed him through two corners later.

Sawer was next to demote Rajeev by forcing him off at turn four on lap three, but both fell behind Maccagnani and Anton and Sawer got a five-second penalty.

Fourth place was reclaimed by Sawer into turn one on lap four, and he and Maccagnani hunted down Lee. Sawer overtook Maccagnani around the outside of turn four on lap 11, then Lee at turn six a lap later, but his penalty returned him to fourth.

Rajeev reclaimed a spot on the penultimate lap, Nguyen was eighth despite being spun by Putera Hani Imran between turns seven and eighth late on, and Thomas Lee was disqualified after multiple rule violations.

Maccagnanu was late off the line on race three’s formation lap, but nailed the actual start to take the lead. He built a 1.7s gap, but Sawer closed back in. He was all over him into turn four on lap nine, and Maccagnani locked up into the final corner.

His subsequent weaving did not prevent Sawer from then going down his inside at turn one and pulling away for victory. The top nine finished in the order they started.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Alex Sawer Evans GP 28m45.917s
2 Niccolo Maccagnani Pinnacle Motorsport +0.820s
3 Kyuho Lee Evans GP +12.761s
4 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +14.256s
5 Seth Gilmore Evans GP +15.955s
6 Rishon Rajeev BlackArts Racing +35.916s
7 Thomas Lee Evans GP +36.616s
8 Putera Hani Imran BlackArts Racing +37.061s
9 Zhongwei Wang Origine Motorsport +38.021s
10 Ben Nguyen BlackArts Racing +38.123s
Pole: Maccagnani, 2m10.230s
Fastest lap: Sawer, 2m11.584s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Gilmore 28m31.253s
2 K Lee +8.937s
3 Maccagnani +9.767s
4 Sawer +11.901s
5 Rajeev +22.831s
6 Anton +26.412s
7 Wang +38.753s
8 Nguyen +47.846s
9 Imran +49.292s
10 Kareen Kaur Pinnacle Motorsport +52.601s
FL: Gilmore, 2m10.287s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Sawer 28m23.460s
2 Maccagnani +2.936s
3 K Lee +16.200s
4 Gilmore +17.953s
5 Anton +29.408s
6 Rajeev +32.241s
7 Nguyen +41.406s
8 Imran +42.290s
9 Wang +42.809s
10 T Lee +51.612s
P: Sawer, 2m09.298s
FL: Sawer, 2m10.024s

Championship standings
1 Sawer 295   2 Gilmore 203   3 Rajeev 156   4 Anton 155   5 Ayrton Asdathorn 94   6 Wang 93   7 T Lee 85   8 Nguyen 75   9 Maccagnani 64   10 K Lee 58

The post Sawer on brink of F4 SEA title after winning twice at Sepang appeared first on Formula Scout.

Niccolo Maccagnani, who will join the Ferrari Driver Academy next year, is making his open-wheel racing debut this weekend.

The Italian, who turned 15 a week ago, has signed with Pinnacle Motorsport to contest round four of the Formula 4 South East Asia season at former Malaysian Grand Prix venue Sepang.

Maccagnani will be one of the best prepared young drivers to ever make their race debut in an entry-level category, since he has been testing single-seaters (and road cars) since 2022 when he was just 11 years old.

Having spent several weeks of each year driving in private sessions at tracks across Europe, which took priority over establishing himself in karting, after Maccagnani turned 14 a switch of strategy was made and through 2025 he has primarily driven in group F4 tests.

In those he has been his family-run car, a Tatuus T-421 of the specification used in F4 SEA and European championships, or driven for teams such as R-ace GP and Rodin Motorsport. His first appearance in an official group F4 test was in late 2023, and he has privately tested higher-level machinery since then including a Euroformula car.

Maccagnani was a finalist in the Italian motorsport federation’s annual Supercorso Federale award last year, and received recognition for his ability to adapt to the cars used by ACI for the award.

A month ago it was announced he would join the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2026, and ahead of that he is set to make further outings in F4 championships.

His team-mate at Sepang this weekend will be Kareen Kaur. The Singaporean, who is also 15, only began testing in single-seaters earlier this year but she already has race experience have contested the first three rounds of the Indian F4 season.

Her best result so far is a seventh place, while in senior karting she has been one of the top drivers in ROK Cup Asia and third in the equivalent Singaporean series. Last year she was in junior karting, coming fourth in ROK Cup Singapore and also racing OK-N Junior karts in the Champions of the Future Academy Program.

“We’re keen to work with two young talents this weekend,” said John O’Hara, Pinnacle’s team director.

“Both Niccolo and Kareen have proven themselves in their respective categories, and our focus is on supporting their development up the motorsport ladder. The current F4 SEA grid is competitive and we’re joining mid-season, but we’re confident we can deliver strong performances.”

F4 SEA’s average grid size this season has been less than 10 cars, and Pinnacle returns to the grid after missing the first three rounds. Last season (which was in 2023) it claimed one podium, and before that the Irish-Filipino team claimed multiple Formula Regional Asian Championship wins and podiums at Sepang.

The post Ferrari-scouted Niccolo Maccagnani to make car racing debut in F4 SEA appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Top Speed

Thailand’s twisty and undulating Bangsaen street circuit hosted round three of the Formula 4 South East Asia season this weekend as a support to its grand prix.

The action began with free practice one on Thursday, and Evans GP’s Alex Sawer set a 1m42.059s to lead Star Performance’s Ayrton Asdathorn by 1.611 seconds. Nobody else lapped at representative pace.

FP2 followed on Friday, and Sawer improved to 1m38.607s to lead Asdathorn by 0.916s. Evans GP’s Seth Gilmore was 1.955s back in third. BlackArts Racing’s Joshua Berry hit the barriers exiting turn two and injured his wrist, so withdrew from the round.

The half-hour qualifying session took place in the afternoon, and there was early traffic problems despite plenty of room on track.

Sawer set a 1m38.884s eight minutes in, putting him 0.48s ahead of Asdathorn. His next effort was a 1m38.435s, which Asdathorn came 0.205s shy of.

BlackArts’ Rishon Rajeev set a 1m40.4931s in fourth, then improved to 1m40.469s and third place on his next lap but would go no faster.

He was demoted back to fourth 12-and-a-half minutes in, as Evans GP’s Seth Gilmore posted a 1m39.914s and found another 0.107s on his next lap.

Drivers then pitted, with Inigo Anton (BlackArts) and Zhongwei Wang (Origine Motorsport) improving to 1m41.274s and 1m41.477s respectively in fifth and sixth.

Wang brought out red flags on his next lap by sliding into the barriers. The clock did not stop, and under seven minutes remained when qualifying resumed.

Sawer encountered traffic and could not improve, while Asdathorn set a new personal best of 1m38.557s then with 80s to go snatched pole with a 1m38.178s. He had time for one more lap, but spun exiting turn 15.

His second-best lap earned him race two pole by just 0.005s over Sawer, with Gilmore a further 1.352s back.

Four drivers got race one grid penalties for violating red flag rules and Rajeev received another for impeding Sawer, who inherited pole. Anton started ahead of Rajeev.

The front row starters were slow off the line, and Gilmore squeezed between them for the lead. Asdathorn took second into turn one, and kept with Gilmore through lap one.

Sawer looked to Asdathorn’s inside on lap two at turns two, seven and then 18, where he got back past. He then pressured Gilmore through lap three, and as they exited the esses he had barriers to the right and Gilmore’s car underneath as he rode over the top of him and smashed into the turn 15 barriers at high speed.

The safety car came out, and on the restart Asdathorn was close through the twisty sections. Gilmore ran wide exiting turn 18 and Asdathorn went through, with Rajeev watching on from behind.

He was soon dropped, and Asdathorn built a 1.9s lead before team-mate Worapong Aiemwichan crashed at turn 15 on lap 12 and the safety car returned.

Racing resumed on the final lap, and Asdathorn crossed the line in first. Anton attempted to go around the outside of Rajeev at turn one and could not get through, but when the on-the-road winner got a five-second penalty for weaving after turn 17 during a safety car period it promoted Anton onto the podium and handed victory to Gilmore.

Gilmore got a penalty too, but it was a one-place drop on race two’s grid.

Sawer made another bad start in race two and Gilmore again sought a gap to move forward. But the spaces closed and it was Rajeev who got ahead of Sawer.

Lap two began with Sawer going around the outside of Rajeev at the high-speed turn one. By lap four he was attacking Asdathorn, and got very close in the esses. He was all over him on lap five too, and dived down the inside at turn 18 for the lead.

Sawer immediately pulled away, and was 8.75s up the road when the safety car appeared on the penultimate lap due to BlackArts’ Ben Nguyen crashing his damaged car at turn two.

Gilmore had pressured Rajeev from lap six to lap 15, when he spun at turn 12 and was almost hit as he got going again. But the damage from hitting the barriers then meant he stopped on the pit straight with a lap remaining.

Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Seth Gilmore Evans GP 29m18.948s
2 Rishon Rajeev BlackArts Racing +1.887s
3 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +2.335s
4 Ayrton Asdathorn Star Performance +4.351s
5 Ben Nguyen BlackArts Racing +5.511s
6 Thomas Lee Evans GP +7.479s
7 Zhongwei Wang Origine Motorsport +8.843s
8 Worapong Aiemwichan Star Performance +4 laps
Ret Alex Sawer Evans GP
Pole: Sawer, 1m38.435s
Fastest lap: Asdathorn, 1m39.442s

Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Sawer 30m18.973s
2 Asdathorn +0.950s
3 Rajeev +2.707s
4 Anton +3.805s
5 Wang +5.173s
6 Lee +8.029s
7 Gilmore +1 lap
8 Aiemwichan +1 lap
9 Nguyen +3 laps
P: Asdathorn, 1m38.557s
FL: Sawer, 1m37.688s

Championship standings
1 Sawer 218   2 Gilmore 146   3 Rajeev 124   4 Anton 118   5 Asdathorn 96   6 Wang 77   7 Lee 74   8 Nguyen 58   9 Meng Cheng 33   10 Joshua Berry 25

The post Sawer wins again as F4 South East Asia puts on a show at Bangsaen GP appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Top Speed

Alex Sawer won all three races in round two of Formula 4 South East Asia’s season at Buriram.

In pre-event testing on Thursday, a 1m39.342s put Sawer 0.149 seconds ahead of Star Performance’s Ayrton Asdathorn.

Friday began with practice, and Sawer improved to 1m38.88s to lead Seth Gilmore by 0.583s. Qualifying followed, and Sawer topped Q1 by 0.311 seconds. Asdathorn, debuting along with his Evans GP-supported team, was Sawer’s closest rival and there was a 0.786s gap to Seth Gilmore in third.

Inigo Anton and Zhongwei Wang were within 1.5s of Sawer, and Rishon Rajeev and Thomas Lee completed a top seven covered by two seconds.

Sawer improved slightly in Q2 to earn race three pole by 0.522s. The top five were the same, with Gilmore 0.832s off pole and Anton trailing by 1.213s. Just 0.086s split Wang, Lee and Rajeev.

Race one took place on Saturday morning, and Sawer dominated the 15-lap encounter. Several drivers started from the pits, and Gilmore overtook Asdathorn before the first corner for second. Although he then kept Gilmore in his sights, Asdathorn never challenged him.

Lee was initially fourth, and on lap three Anton passed him on the long straight before turn three. But later in the lap he ran wide and dropped to sixth. After a mid-race safety car period caused by Ben Nguyen crashing out, Anton pounced on Rajeev.

On lap eight, Rajeev got back past and they swapped places twice on lap nine. Anton made his move stick at turn five on lap 10, then hunted down Lee and passed him on the penultimate lap.

Rajeev was on reversed-grid pole for race two, which had pre-race drama as Worapong Aiemwichan got stuck on the grid and was wheeled away. A damp track meant the safety car led the field through lap one.

When green flags waved, Rajeev had a big gap. Anton passed Lee for second into turn one, but by the end of lap two they were third and sixth as Sawer climbed four spots to second and Gilmore overtook Asdathorn for fourth.

Sawer took the lead around the outside at turn four on lap three, and Gilmore spun on turn six’s kerbs when trying to pass Anton.

He gained back one spot on lap five, then went off at turn three on lap six when attempting to overtake Asdathorn.

A lap later Anton went around the outside of Rajeev at turn four, then Asdathorn and Gilmore followed him through at the final corner.

Asdathorn began lap nine by overtaking Anton. He reclaimed second at turn three, but into the last corner Asdathorn got back past. On lap 10, Asdathorn lost out to Anton and Gilmore at turn three. Their battles continued to the finish, with third place decided by 0.119s, as Sawer romped to a 10.6s victory.

Surface moisture meant the safety car led two laps of race three on Sunday, and Lee was penalised for his leap from sixth to third when green flags waved. Gilmore and Anton went back past him at turn three, and Wang soon did too.

Gilmore dominated, Asdathor kept Gilmore at bay for second, and Lee was ahead of Rajeev by 0.031s at the finish before his five-second penalty was applied.

The championship is currently clarifying which points system it is using this year, with no tables generated so far this season.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Alex Sawer Evans GP 27m52.152s
2 Seth Gilmore Evans GP +7.290s
3 Ayrton Asdathorn Star Performance +8.622s
4 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +16.687s
5 Thomas Lee Evans GP +18.217s
6 Rishon Rajeev BlackArts Racing +21.732s
7 Zhongwei Wang Origine Motorsport +21.999s
8 Joshua Berry BlackArts Racing +25.824s
9 Worapong Aiemwichan Star Performance +1 lap
Ret Ben Nguyen BlackArts Racing
Pole: Sawer, 1m38.871s
Fastest lap: Sawer, 1m39.245s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Sawer 27m32.368s
2 Anton +10.609s
3 Gilmore +10.917s
4 Asdathorn +11.036s
5 Rajeev +14.003s
6 Wang +17.086s
7 Lee +33.498s
8 Berry +39.821s
9 Nguyen +53.007s
10 Aiemwichan +1 lap
FL: Sawer, 1m47.601s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Sawer 26m41.788s
2 Asdathorn +12.777s
3 Gilmore +13.918s
4 Anton +18.212s
5 Wang +23.549s
6 Rajeev +34.016s
7 Lee +38.985s
8 Nguyen +47.496s
9 Aiemwichan +1m02.283s
10 Berry +1m09.639s
P: Sawer, 1m38.643s
FL: Sawer, 1m39.774s

The post Alex Sawer’s F4 SEA domination continues into round two in Thailand appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 SEA

Evans GP’s Alex Sawer crushed a depleted opposition in the Formula 4 South East Asia season opener at Sepang.

There were two pre-season test sessions on Thursday, and Formula Regional racer Sawer topped both by over a second.

Pre-event testing followed on Friday morning, and BlackArts Racing’s Inigo Anton led Evans GP’s Seth Gilmore by 0.818 seconds in session one. Gilmore pipped Anton by 0.078s in session two, with Sawer absent.

A single practice session took place next, and Gilmore was quickest by 1.285s over Origine Motorsport’s FRegional-experienced Zhongwei Wang.

Sawer returned for qualifying on Saturday morning. In Q1 he set a 2m08.857s to claim race one pole by 0.479s over Gilmore, with Anton 0.853s behind. The nine-car field was spread by 3.931s on single-lap pace.

The pace was lowered to 2m08.232s by Sawer in Q2, which earned him race three pole by 0.839s. Gilmore was second again, 0.264s ahead of Anton.

Race one began on a damp track behind the safety car, with most drivers choosing wet-weather tyres for the formation lap. BlackArts’ Joshua Berry went for slicks and spun, but that did not deter his rivals who switched to slicks once on the grid.

The field were released to race on lap three, and Gilmore went for the outside at turn one but could not get a pass done. Berry spun again at turn three, and this time could not restart so the safety car was called back out as Sawer began lap four.

Racing resumed on lap five, and Sawer ran away. On lap six, Rishon Rajeev dropped from fourth to last with a spin at turn three, with Wang inheriting fourth after passing Cheng Meng the previous lap.

Sawer won the 11-lap race by 5.897s, and after several laps of pressure Gilmore was able to pull away from Anton by over three seconds. Rajeev recovered one spot, and Wang’s fourth place put him on reversed-grid pole for race two on Sunday.

Anton got alonside Wang down the pit straight at the start, and Gilmore went to the inside but had to back out of a move at turn one that meant Sawer slipped past.

Wang then slowed dramatically and fell to the back, and Sawer was now pursuing Anton. He took the lead around the outside of turn one on lap two, defended a counter-attack at turn four but then Anton got alongside through turns six and seven.

The fight for victory ended there, and Sawer built a 18.8s lead over Anton in just 12 laps. Gilmore lost six seconds on lap five, and was passed by Berry – who had cleared Ngyuen at the final corner the previous lap – on lap six.

Front wing damage meant Gilmore soon pitted, but he finished sixth as Anton and Berry were disqualified and it put Rajeev and Ben Nguyen into second and third.

Gilmore had a three-place grid penalty for race three, easing Sawer’s route to another dominant win. Anton stalled on the formation lap and fell to the back, but reclaimed his grid position and ran third early on.

Gilmore collided with Rajeev as he passed him for second at the start of lap four, but remarkably both continued. Torrential rain hit on lap six, and the safety car was summoned. Drivers pitted for wet tyres on lap seven, but red flags waved when they headed back out for lap eight and the results were taken from the end of lap six.

Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Alex Sawer Evans GP 27m25.751s
2 Seth Gilmore Evans GP +5.897s
3 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +9.212s
4 Zhongwei Wang Origine Motorsport +18.600s
5 Cheng Meng Evans GP +19.200s
6 Ben Nguyen BlackArts Racing +27.211s
7 Rishon Rajeev BlackArts Racing +30.586s
8 Thomas Lee Evans GP +32.765s
Ret Joshua Berry BlackArts Racing
Pole: Sawer, 2m08.857s
Fastest lap: Sawer, 2m09.935s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Sawer 28m21.166s
2 Rajeev +36.487s
3 Nyugen Hoai +39.623s
4 Meng +40.533s
5 Lee +1m07.481s
6 Gilmore +1m11.705s
Ret Wang
DSQ Anton
DSQ Berry
FL: Sawer, 2m09.722s

Race 3 (6 laps)
1 Sawer 13m33.033s
2 Gilmore +10.125s
3 Rajeev +19.803s
4 Anton +22.047s
5 Wang +23.166s
6 Berry +27.744s
7 Lee +30.487s
8 Meng +43.197s
9 Nguyen +1m09.961s
P: Sawer, 2m08.232s
FL: Sawer, 2m09.849s

Championship standings
1 Sawer 94   2 Anton 55   3 Rajeev 48   4 Gilmore 46   5 Meng 30   6 Nguyen 29   7 Wang 27   8 Lee 22   9 Berry 20

The post Alex Sawer crushes opposition in F4 SEA round one at Sepang appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRME

PHM Racing has announced two drivers for the upcoming Formula Regional Middle East season, which will run to a different schedule than originally planned.

The first two rounds were due to take place on the final two weekends of January in Kuwait at the country’s Kuwait Motor Town circuit, but have been relocated to Yas Marina Circuit. It means the first four rounds all take place in the United Arab Emirates, since Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina had already been confirmed as hosts of the next two events.

Initially there was no venue designated for round five, but it was later decided that the Jeddah circuit raced on by Formula 1 would be used for the finale on February 25-27. The supporting Formula 4 Middle East championship has made the same revisions to its calendar, and F4 South East Asia – which shares the same promoter – has had its 2025 schedule updated.

Round two has moved from Sepang on June 6-8 to Buriram on May 23-25, round three has been confirmed as taking place on Thailand’s Bangsaen street circuit, round four switches from Buriram and mid-August to Sepang on the first weekend of September, and the finale at Sepang has been postponed by two weeks to September 19-21.

In FRME, PHM has signed Jaden Pariat and Everett Stack. Pariat steps up to FRegional after racing in F4 since 2022.

He debuted in British F4, contesting two rounds and scoring once. A Formula Winter Series cameo kicked off his 2023, then he did half of the British F4 season and after a maiden podium in round one only scored twice more and came 23rd in the standings. Last year he contested his home championship in Indian, but again did not see out a full campaign and was third in the points table with two wins and five other podiums after missing the final round.

Stack has plentiful experience in the entry-level category but has tasted FRegional machinery too. In 2023 he did four United States F4 rounds, then stepped up to FRegional Americas for the final two events which resulted in four seventh place finishes as his best results.

He left his home country at the start of 2024 to join PHM in a multi-series programme. It started off with F4 UAE, in which he came 34th in the standings, then in Italian F4 he came 27th after scoring a solitary point. The American was also 30th in E4 (nee Euro 4), made a F4 Central European Zone cameo and later joined Palou Motorsport for an outing in the FRegional-based Eurocup-3 series.

The post PHM Racing makes two FRME signings as calendar is revised appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Top Speed

Formula 4 South East Asia’s 2025 return has been confirmed with the publication of a five-round schedule.

First held over eight years ago, F4 SEA kicked off with a six-round 2016-17 campaign that featured races across four nations and had all cars centrally run by ex-GP2 team Meritus.

The 2017-18 season slimmed down to three countries, with most rounds held in Malaysia or Thailand. Those two territories will form the basis of F4 SEA’s comeback season too.

In the second half of 2018 there was another F4 SEA season, with races as far north as India, then in 2019 the championship boomed with a 40-race, 10-round schedule that took in three countries. But the COVID-19 pandemic killed that momentum, leading to the cancellation of the 2020 season, a replacement 2020-21 schedule and then the 2021 season too.

It was committed to returning to racing in early 2022, but instead did a test programme to see whether it should switch to a second-generation F4 car for last year. The switch did happen and racing returned, with 12 teams competing and races in China, Macau and Malaysia. F4 SEA’s Macau races were non-championship fixtures.

Once again momentum was lost as no 2024 season followed the thrilling bouts of 2023, but rumours again began to circulate in autumn of this year that another revival effort was underway.

This week that became reality, and like last year the championship will continue to use the Tatuus T-421 car when it returns.

Sepang will host the first two rounds of the 2025 season on May 2-4 and June 6-8, then round three will take place at a yet to be determined Thai track in July.

Buriram, the former Thai venue of F4 SEA races, will hold round four on August 9-11 and then the season will conclude at Sepang on September 5-7.

Evans GP has already announced it plans to run four full-time entries in the championship, and contested Australian F4’s round at Sepang this September.

Australian F4 has come back from a similarly prolonged absence to F4 SEA’s, as after seasons run annually from 2015 to ’19 the championship disappeared off the map until this year. Low grids was what killed it off the first time around, and it was run by Motorsport Australia.

Top Speed, the China-based company which also promotes F4 SEA, F4 Middle East and the sister Formula Trophy series, chose to revive it for 2024 with the Tatuus T-421 chassis and a five-round schedule. It has only run four so far due to the cancellation of July’s event at Queensland Raceway, but the prospect of a fifth round taking place remains.

AGI Sport’s James Piszcyk has already wrapped up the Australian F4 title after going unbeaten through the first three rounds.

Next year Australian F4 will reintroduce the first-generation Mygale chassis it and F4 SEA used until the end of 2019.

The post F4 South Easia to return in 2025 with five-round schedule appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 NEZ

F4 turns a decade old this week, and the entry-level winged category already has close to 600 race winners. But there have also been years in some series where a single driver has dominated, even with reversed grids

Italian Formula 4 was the very first championship to run to FIA F4 regulations in 2014, and soon there were others that were not only being launched in very different parts of the world but also featuring different chassis, engine and tyre suppliers. Unlike modern-day Formula 2 and Formula 3, F4 is an actual single-seater formula.

Countries with few car racing circuits were able to launch their own championships, but they tended to have short calendars, while British F4 has made a 30-race schedule its norm and F4 South East Asia had a history of packing six or even seven races into its rounds. That meant drivers had far more opportunities to win than in other F4 championships.

Some F4 paddocks feature Formula 1 juniors and teams that also compete in F2 and F3, while others have a mix of professional and amateur teams that are running a combination of highly-rated karting graduates but also total newcomers to motorsport. That’s a combination that can lend itself to one driver or team dominating, which is far harder to do in the ultra-competitive paddocks in Italy and the United Arab Emirates in particular.

Here’s a rundown of the most successful drivers from the first decade of contemporary F4 competition:

30. Kas Haverkort NETHERLANDS
13 wins, 12 poles and 17 podiums in 21 races   Post-F4: currently 5th in 2024 Porsche Supercup and 11th in 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, 4th in 2023 FRegional Europe

29. Casper Tobias Hansen DENMARK
13 wins, 4 poles and 18 podiums in 24 races

Photo: Spanish F4

28. Nikola Tsolov BULGARIA
13 wins, 15 poles and 18 podiums in 21 races   Post-F4: currently 12th in 2024 FIA F3 Championship, 10th in 2023 Eurocup-3

27. Lirim Zendeli GERMANY
13 wins, 11 poles and 21 podiums in 84 races   Post-F4: currently 4th in 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Italia and 15th in Porsche Supercup, 17th in 2021 F2, 6th in 2023 USF Pro 2000, 8th in 2020 FIA F3 Championship

26. Moises de la Vara MEXICO
13 wins, 10 poles and 25 podiums in 98 races   Post-F4: 8th in 2019 USF Pro 2000

25. Mac Clark CANADA
13 wins, 12 poles and 26 podiums in 42 races   Post-F4: currently 12th in 2024 USF Pro 2000, 5th in 2023 USF2000

24. Daniel Cao CHINA
13 wins, 5 poles and 28 podiums in 54 races   Post-F4: 3rd in 2019 FRegional Asian Championship

23. Frederik Vesti DENMARK
13 wins, 5 poles and 28 podiums in 62 races   Post-F4: currently 7th in 2024 European LMS, 2023 F2 runner-up, 9th in 2022 F2

22. Jak Crawford USA
13 wins, 8 poles and 33 podiums in 55 races   Post-F4: currently 11th in 2024 F2, 13th in 2023 F2, 3rd in 2021 Euroformula, 7th in 2022 FIA F3 Championship

Photo: F4 UAE

21. James Wharton AUSTRALIA
13 wins, 11 poles and 37 podiums in 96 races   Post-F4: currently 5th in 2024 FRegional Europe, 6th in ’24 FRegional Middle East, currently 22nd in ’24 GB3

20. Luke Browning BRITAIN
13 wins, 10 poles and 37 podiums in 87 races   Post-F4: currently 2nd in 2024 FIA F3 Championship, 2023 Macau GP winner, 2022 GB3 champion

19. Ugo Ugochukwu USA
13 wins, 9 poles and 43 podiums in 87 races   Post-F4: 15th in 2023 Macau GP, currently 2nd in 2024 GB3, 7th in ’24 FRegional Middle East, currently 17th in ’24 FRegional Europe

18. Pedro Juan Moreno COLOMBIA
14 wins, 9 poles and 18 podiums in 21 races

17. Luis Leeds AUSTRALIA
14 wins, 10 poles and 37 podiums in 83 races   Post-F4: 13th in 2017 Toyota Racing Series, 17th in ’17 FR2.0 NEC

16. Jayden Ojeda AUSTRALIA
15 wins, 6 poles and 18 podiums in 24 races   Post-F4: 32nd in 2022 Australian Supercars, 3rd in 2021 Super2

15. Ren Sato JAPAN
15 wins, 10 poles and 25 podiums in 52 races   Post-F4: currently 10th in 2024 Super Formula, 10th in ’23 SF, 12th in ’22 SF, 3rd in 2021 Super Formula Lights

Photo: Spanish F4

14. Dilano van’t Hoff NETHERLANDS
15 wins, 26 poles and 28 podiums in 42 races   Post-F4: 13th in 2022 FRegional Asia, 19th in 2022 FRegional Europe

The late van’t Hoff spent one year in F4, and he was the third-highest placed F4 competitor in Formula Scout’s Top 50 junior single-seater drivers of 2021.

On his debut in F4 UAE he took all three pole positions and won two out of the four races. After that, he scored three more wins (from eight poles) and several podiums to top the standings. However, a difficult last round at Dubai Autodrome with two penalties, two poles but only one podium denied him the title against fellow rookie Enzo Trulli by just a single point.

He bounced back in Spanish F4, which like F4 UAE was not yet as its competitive peak as a championship but definitely on the up, as he took 10 wins, six other podiums and 13 poles from 21 races. Of the 11 races that he didn’t win, only one of those went to one of his MP Motorsport team-mates, which shows the individual brilliance he brought to the grid.

13. Alessandro Ghiretti FRANCE
15 wins, 4 poles and 31 podiums in 62 races   Post-F4: currently 1st in Porsche Carrera Cup France & Carrera Cup Asia and 10th in 2024 Porsche Supercup, 7th in ’23 Porsche Supercup

Ghiretti did two points-free weekends of Italian F4 in 2017, then began the next year by cameoing in the 2017-18 F4 SEA finale and promptly claiming a win and four other podiums. Clearly it was easier to get results in Asia than Europe, so he committed to doing the full 2018 F4 SEA season. That consisted of 24 races on only three different circuits, and he faced very weak opposition. The outcome was 14 wins, four poles out of eight and only three races off the podium.

When he returned home to France he proved his pace was tranferrable, as he claimed two podiums at Jerez on his debut weekend. But his average finishing position from six races was 8.67. There was still a need to prove himself to some, and for 2019 he became a Sauber junior and raced in the talent-stacked ADAC F4. He could only get three podiums from 20 races.

Photo: FFSA/KSP

12. Joey Mawson AUSTRALIA
15 wins, 8 poles and 35 podiums in 48 races   Post-F4: 13th in 2017 FIA European F3, 13th in 2018 GP3, 11th in 2019 Porsche Supercup

It may look like Mawson did three years in F4, but his rookie year of car racing in French F4 was actually when the championship was still run for Formula Renault 1.6 cars. That campaign featured three wins, but doesn’t count here.

Instead its his two seasons in ADAC F4 that make up his F4 career, and in his first he won five times but only took one pole. Clearly qualifying was something he needed to work on, and straight out of the box in his sophomore campaign he proved he had with two poles that were both turned into wins. Racing was still his strong suit, as while he did turn first on the grid into first at the finish five more times, he also took three wins from ninth, 11th and second on the grid.

11. Hadrien David FRANCE
16 wins, 16 poles and 24 podiums in 42 races   Post-F4: 2021 FRegional Europe runner-up

In slightly similar fashion, David started his sucess-filled year with an F4 SEA cameo. He took three wins and two poles from a four-race weekend at Sepang, then headed home to race in the centrally-run French F4. With competitors all in equal machinery it came down to individual brilliance, and David had enough of that as he won seven races and finished seven others on the podium to take the title by 47.5 points. But 2019 was not one of French F4’s more competitive years.

Another F4 SEA outing led to three more wins and two more poles, and he also did two ADAC F4 rounds to put himself against the toughest opposition. He made the top 10 three times, with a best finish of seventh.

Four years later, David added another three wins to his F4 CV by returning to Sepang and dominating against young drivers.

Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography

10. Alex Dunne IRELAND
16 wins, 16 poles and 36 podiums in 86 races   Post-F4: currently 20th in 2024 FIA F3 Championship, 2nd in 2023 GB3

Dunne dabbled in ADAC and Spanish F4 as a rookie, claiming pole and finishing third on his debut in the latter then in his outings in the German championship taking two poles and finishing second twice. Clearly racing full-time would make it easier to attain strong results, so for 2022 he attempted to do that in three different championships.

He started with F4 UAE, where two wins put him sixth in the standings. Next was British F4, where his experience counted against rookie opposition and he netted 11 wins. The title was wrapped up early, meaning he could miss the season finale.

That was critical because it clashed with the penultimate round of Italian F4, where he had already won three races and was in title contention. Dunne finished three of the Italian championship’s last five races in second place, but was thoroughly trumped in the title fight by a driver further down this countdown.

9. Jonathan Aberdein SOUTH AFRICA
17 wins, 12 poles and 19 podiums in 66 races   Post-F4: 2nd in 2021 European Le Mans Series, 10th in 2019 DTM

In two ADAC F4 seasons, Aberdein was only able to make the podium four times and he came ninth in the 2017 standings.

But in F4 UAE, where there were two future F1 drivers on the grid but only five full-time entrants, he was a winning machine. After being victorious in all three races at the trophy event in October 2016, he then won 14 races out of 18 in the 2016-17 season and was unbeaten in qualifying. Motopark team-mate Logan Sargeant finished second to him 15 times.

Photo: F4 Spain

8. Christian Lundgaard DENMARK
17 wins, 14 poles and 32 podiums in 44 races   Post-F4: currently 11th in 2024 IndyCar, 8th in ’23 IndyCar, 14th in ’22 InyCar

Although the wider opposition may have been week in the North European Zone and Spanish championships in 2017, Lundgaard did at least face a proper challenge in both from MP team-mate Bent Viscaal who won nine races. But Lundgaard won 10 in F4 NEZ alone, and a further seven in Spanish F4, and had a title-winning margin of more than 60 points in both championships. In a Danish F4 cameo he also took a podium and two fastest laps.

Lundgaard and Viscaal may have been flattered by the standard of the rest of their rivals, but it’s no surprise the former now races in IndyCar as in his rookie seasons he rose to the standard needed to be a race-winner in FRenault 2.0, FIA F3 and F2.

7. Kacper Sztuka POLAND
18 wins, 16 poles and 28 podiums in 81 races   Post-F4: currently 19th in 2024 FIA F3 Championship

It took three years for Sztuka to rise to the top in F4, but he did so in the category’s most competitive championship and also by single-handedly taking the fight to Prema as a US Racing driver.

He came a points-free 36th in his rookie Italian F4 campaign, improved to seventh in year two with two wins and two other podiums, then last year started the season with a win but then only got two podiums in the 11 races that followed and was 113.5 points off the championship lead with three rounds to go. Remarkably he then went unbeaten at Paul Ricard and Mugello to move to the top of the points table, and at Vallelunga finished things off with a third and two more wins.

In addition to that magnificent comeback he did six Formula Winter Series races and six in Euro 4. He became FWS champion with five wins, a second place and four poles (with 0.767 seconds making the difference in not having an unbeaten campaign), while in Euro 4 he took two wins, two other podiums and three poles.

Photo: Campos Racing

6. Hugh Barter AUSTRALIA
18 wins, 11 poles and 35 podiums in 62 races   Post-F4: 19th in 2023 FIA F3 Championship

Barter does not have an F4 title to his name, but he was French F4 runner-up as a rookie and the year after repeated that feat while also coming second in the Spanish F4 standings.

It was not necessarily his two wins or consistency that gave him such a high championship placing when he first entered French F4 in 2021, but he scored strongly even when a few places back due to guest drivers racking up wins and podiums. The points in reversed-grid races also got spread out across the field.

In the final championship standings he was 23 points off the top, and the next year that gap grew to 59 despite Barter winning 10 races. This is because he was ineligible to score at Spa-Francorchamps and Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit having already raced there in his parallel Spanish F4 campaign. Given he won twice at both venues, it cost him the title.

As for the Spanish F4 season, Barter won six races (none at Spa or Valencia) but trailed the champion by 113 points.

5. Ollie Bearman BRITAIN
19 wins, 13 poles and 31 podiums in 68 races   Post-F4: currently 12th in 2024 F1 & 13th in 2024 F2, 6th in 2023 F2, 3rd in 2022 FIA F3 Championship

A year of learning with US Racing was followed by a year of domination with Van Amersfoort Racing, and most impressively the feat of being the first driver to be champion of both ADAC and Italian F4.

There was one win in each championship in his rookie year, then he came eighth in Formula Scout’s Top 50 drivers of 2021 as he romped to 10 wins in Italy, three in Austria, two in the Netherlands and two in Germany.

Photo: ACI Sport

4. Dennis Hauger NORWAY
22 wins, 16 poles and 36 podiums in 71 races   Post-F4: currently 3rd in 2024 F2, 8th in 2023 F2, 2021 FIA F3 champion, 2023 Macau GP runner-up

Hauger was already a Red Bull junior before he made his F4 debut, which put additional pressure on the Norwegian. Initially he trailed his Arden team-mates in British F4, but a mid-season run of form put him ahead even though his results tailed off again in the last rounds. He still had more to prove, and switched to the European scene to do so.

With VAR, Hauger was able to win six races in ADAC F4, which likely would have been enough for the title had he not failed to score in four of the first six races (with two poles turning into two 14th places), while in Italian F4 his 12 wins made him champion by a colossal 136 points. This was a season in which both championships were stacked with talent.

3. Charles Leong MACAU
25 wins, 11 poles and 33 podiums in 42 races   Post-F4: 4th in 2018 FRegional Asian Championship

In 2017, Leong obliterated the (very weak) opposition in Chinese F4. An 11-win season comfortably made him champion, and while it did launch him up the single-seater ladder his succes very rarely took him out of Asia. So Leong kept returning to Chinese F4 as a guest driver, winning races in 2018, 2020, and ’21.

It didn’t entirely neutralise his career, since the Macau Grand Prix was part of the schedule in the latter two seasons and he became one of only 11 multiple-time winners of the prestigious race. Although Chinese F4 may lack pedigree outside of its Macau trips, there were races at a variety of track types.

Photo: ACI Sport

2. Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITALY
26 wins, 24 poles and 37 podiums in 57 races   Post-F4: currently 6th in 2024 F2, 2023 FRegional Europe & Middle East champion

There was a huge amount of anticipation surrounding Antonelli as he went from karts to cars, and he delivered on it.

After turning 15 in 2021 he did the last three Italian F4 rounds, which resulted in three podiums, and F4 UAE’s F1-supporting non-championship event where he claimed pole and finished third. That only raised the expectations for 2022.

He kicked off that year with two F4 UAE outings, and the first featured a pole, two wins and two other podiums. The second only had one podium, but he still came eighth in the standings despite missing 60% of the season and his scoring rate was strong enough to have made him champion.

ADAC and Italian F4 followed, and he won the title as a part-timer in the former and was champion by over 100 points in the latter. In total there were 20 victories, five other podiums and 23 poles.

The week after wrapping all that up he represented Italy at the Motorsport Games, driving for a team other than Prema for the first time, and in the F4 Cup claimed pole won the qualifying race and then dominated the medal-awarding main race.

1. Richard Verschoor NETHERLANDS
28 wins, 19 poles and 35 podiums in 49 races   Post-F4: currently 14th in 2024 F2, 9th in 2023 F2, 2019 Macau GP winner

Four different championships, three different teams, two titles and just one year in the category.

Verschoor joined MP to contest F4 NEZ and the inaugural Spanish F4 season in 2016, and he had very little opposition in either. Neither had reversed-grid races, which meant in addition to the 19 times he qualified on pole he also got to start another 10 races from first place. On 22 occasions he converted first on the grid into first at the chequered flag.

In F4 NEZ it was only team-mate Jarno Opmeer who posed a challenge, while in Spanish F4 the grid lacked cars as well as quality with only three full-time rivals to Verschoor. He finished second and retired in the only two races there he didn’t win.

Quite rightly he also took to ADAC and Italian F4 to test himelf against more competitive opposition, doing two rounds with Motopark and taking two fifth places in the former and making the podium in a cameo with Bhaitech in the latter. While it is hard to make assumptions from one round, his scoring average in Italy was better than all but the championship’s top three.

The post The most successful drivers in Formula 4 history appeared first on Formula Scout.