20. Mattia Colnaghi

Up 9 • Followed Spanish F4 title with Eurocup-3 glory

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull

With two titles in as many years in single-seaters, it’s no wonder that Colnaghi was snapped up by Red Bull before he even had this year’s Eurocup-3 crown in the bag.

After overhauling more experienced competition to become Spanish Formula 4 champion last year, the Italo-Argentine driver had to settle for being runner-up to fellow graduate and MP Motorsport team-mate Maciej Gladysz in Eurocup-3’s winter series at the start of 2025 after a disastrous double non-score in the deciding round.

He started the main campaign with a pole, win and fastest lap at the Red Bull Ring, but was only on the podium twice more across the first nine races, and was trailing Red Bull-backed rookie Ernesto Rivera at the top of the standings at the halfway mark.

After that though, while Rivera was wildly inconsistent – scoring just three times in the last nine races – Colnaghi was never off the podium and put the title out of the reach of the more experienced Valerio Rinicella and Kacper Sztuka with a round to go.

Colnaghi missed the final round to test himself against a deeper field at the Macau Grand Prix, proving his class with an impressive run with with PHM Racing to fourth in the main race as leading rookie.

19. Caio Collet

Up 7 • Indy Nxt runner-up secured a seat in the top tier

Photo: James Black

Photo: Travis Hinkle

Third in Indy Nxt as a rookie in 2024, Collet came into 2025 with his sights set firmly on the title, but had the misfortune to come up against the toughest of newcomers in Dennis Hauger.

Given how well proven Formula 2 drivers have adapted to IndyCar over recent years, Hauger came in arguably overqualified, and Collet and his HMD Motorsports team were left scratching their heads wondering how to keep up with the Andretti driver’s early pace.

They kept plugging away at it though and a breakthrough finally came mid-season at Road America, where Collet put a pass on Hauger to take his first win in nearly a year.

That didn’t exactly open the floodgates, but Collet did convert two pole positions into two victories at Laguna Seca, with a retirement for Hauger there keeping the title alive. Collet made it three poles in a row next time out at Portland, only for Hauger to this time overtake for victory, putting the title pretty much out of sight.

Most importantly though, Collet gets to join his rival on the IndyCar grid next year.

18. Fionn McLaughlin

New entry • Car racing rookie won British F4 title

Photo: Red Bull

Photo: Red Bull

Signed up by Red Bull through its revived Driver Search shootout last year, McLaughlin became by modern standards a relatively late starter in car racing at the start of 2025 at the ripe old age of 17, but he quickly made up for any lost time.

Driving with Hitech GP, he was a frontrunner from the off in the Formula Winter Series, taking a win on his debut weekend on the Algarve and adding two more victories at Motorland Aragon to finish third in the standings.

In British F4, it took him nine races to win, but was never outside of the points over the next three rounds as he traded the championship lead with second year racer Martin Molnar.

McLaughlin’s win in an eventful third race at Zandvoort, when Molnar was among those involved in contact, would prove pivotal. He dropped some points too over the following rounds, but still did enough to ease away in the title race.

There might have been some doubts about the level in British F4 this year, with other drivers holding Formula 1 connections unable to do what McLaughlin did and live up to their hype, but he confirmed his potential at the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau.

Mechanical issues prevented him from doing any proper laps in practice, but he qualified sixth and went on to challenge for the win in the qualification race, only to hit the wall out of second place just a few corners from the end.

17. Enzo Deligny

New entry • The fastest driver in Formula Regional Europe

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Deligny had lost the backing of Red Bull after a disappointing first season in the Formula Regional European Championship in 2024, but put that behind him with a much stronger 2025 campaign in which he was statistically the quickest driver on the always-competitive grid.

The French-Chinese driver remained with R-ace GP for a second season and team boss Thibaut de Merindol saw a big step in his maturity.

Marginally quicker than eventual champion Freddie Slater on qualifying performance across the year, Deligny claimed four pole positions and four victories during the season. The latter allowed him to finish third in the championship on countback against Pedro Clerot, who was more consistent but won only twice.

That inconsistency prevented him putting up a stronger challenge against Slater in the championship and there was still the odd wild moment, such as disqualification from third place at the Hungaroring for driving erratically on the slow-down lap.

Overall though we saw a much-improved Deligny this year, capped by a clean run to third at the Macau Grand Prix.

16. Dino Beganovic

Up 3 • First F2 campaign featured a pole and a win

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Beganovic wasn’t a factor in the Formula 2 championship fight like some of his fellow rookies were, but he certainly showed strong progression.

Having scored points just four times in the first half of the season, he did so 11 times out of 14 in the second half.

This not to say that the Ferrari junior was lacking performance in the early part of the year. He qualified fifth for the cancelled season-opening feature race in Melbourne, and by round four at Imola had put his Hitech car on pole position. He finished that race third, jumped by team-mate Luke Browning after being delayed in his pit-stop before the red-hot Alex Dunne passed both.

While Browning was now firmly in the tight fight, it took Beganovic longer to consistently find his feet, but fourth in the Silverstone feature race began a more competitive sequence of results. His season – which included two F1 practice runs for Ferrari – peaked on the streets of Baku, where he won the sprint race and came third in the feature race.

15. Thomas Strauven

New entry • Superior in winter and summer in Spanish F4

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Photo: Campos Racing

The standing and depth of the Spanish F4 championship seems to improve with every season that passes, making Strauven’s dominance of the series in 2025 all the more impressive.

There didn’t seem to be much to separate Strauven and Campos Racing team-mate Jan Przyrowski in terms of pace in the three-round winter championship at the start of the year, with the Belgian’s better consistency helping him to take the title.

The same trend was amplified in the main championship. Strauven had an early edge in qualifying, starting on pole for six of the first eight races, during which time Przyrowski matched him for wins with three apiece. But Strauven was only off the podium once in that time, and already opening up his championship lead.

While Przyrowski then started the next seven races from pole, he didn’t win again. Strauven on the other hand ended the season with a total of 10 wins and seven other podiums from the 21 races, and 157 points more than his nearest rival – which wasn’t Przyrowski but rookie compatriot Ean Eyckmans.

14. Arvid Lindblad

Down 3 • FROC title and early F2 promise were key to F1 chance

Photo: Red Bull

Photo: TGR NZ

Lindblad ends this year with arguably the best prize of any driver on this list, as the only one who will be an F1 driver in 2026.

He took an important step towards that already in the first six weeks of the year when he won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, giving him enough points for a superlicence. In truth, his prior record was a clear cut above the rest of what wasn’t the strongest field ever assembled in New Zealand, but stepping down a level and getting the job done under scrutiny and pressure is sometimes easier said than done.

Getting it done meant he could step up to F2 with less pressure to achieve results; valuable in the context of the struggles other highly rated drivers have had at that level.

Still, Lindblad did adapt impressively, which likely helped lead the FIA to grant special dispensation for him to receive his superlicence already at the age of 17.

That decision came less than two weeks after he won the Barcelona feature race from pole position. Including that result, across his first six rounds in F2, Lindblad had also won the Jeddah sprint race, come second in the Imola sprint and scored in all but one race.

At this stage he was third in the championship, just eight points from the lead, but he would score only seven times in the last 14 races and end up sixth in the standings. It was a tailing off that mirrored his previous campaigns in FIA Formula 3 and Italian F4, but it’s his quick adaptation at such a young age that should bode well for his next step.

13. Matteo De Palo

New entry • FREC’s surprise Slater challenger 

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

De Palo was arguably the biggest surprise package anywhere in junior single-seater racing in 2025.

That’s not to say that his potential had not been completely hidden previously, because his run to fifth in Spanish F4 as a car racing rookie in 2023 certainly showed promise. But there was little in his rookie FREC campaign in 2024 with Sainteloc Racing, finishing 17th in the standings, to put him among the favourites starting this season. After all, his new team Trident had yet to take a driver to victory in three previous seasons in the series.

Together, they put that right in race one at Misano. Maybe more surprising than that home victory was that it wasn’t a flash in the pan.

De Palo’s early 25-point advantage over Prema’s well-prepared Slater was eradicated in only five races, only for the Roman to go and win the next race at the Hungaroring. Slater started to pull away mid-season, but de Palo capitalised on two consecutive non-scores for his rival with a third win of his own at the Red Bull Ring to get in front again. They traded places again either wide of de Palo’s fourth win at Barcelona and he stayed close until the Monza decider, which he had entered only four points adrift.

Newly signed to McLaren’s driver development programme, de Palo’s first weekend in Papaya was underwhelming after a one-off switch to R-ace GP, but it’s with Trident that he steps up to FIA F3 next year – as Slater’s team-mate.

12. Mari Boya

Re-entry • New Aston junior came third in F3, second in Macau

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

49th in this list in 2023, when he was Eurocup-3 runner-up alongside his rookie season in FIA F3, it’s rare for a driver to stay in the latter series for a third season and rarer still for them to then make as positive an impression as Boya did in 2025.

The Spaniard’s appointment as an Aston Martin F1 junior in the middle of the year appeared to be one of the more left-field such signings, but it seemed to help him take a step forward.

At the time, six rounds into the season, he had been sixth in the standings with a couple of third-places to his name in the Monaco and Red Bull Ring feature races. So far, so solid. Next time out at Silverstone he won the feature race, having already finished third in the sprint race.

A second place would come later in the Hungaroring feature race and he ended the year third in the championship – and as the second-highest scorer in feature races.

Boya also made his experience count at the Macau Grand Prix to challenge for victory, ultimately finishing second.

11. Max Garcia

Up 31 • Prodigious rise continues with USF Pro 2000 title

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Garcia will still only be 16 years old when he makes his Indy Nxt debut next year after winning back-to-back titles on the IndyCar ladder.

While his USF2000 title in 2024 was hard-fought against several other drivers, with five wins from 18 races, his run to the USF Pro 2000 crown was far more dominant with nine victories from the same number of opportunities. He was on the podium in all but five races.

Such consistency was highly valuable. As an example, Alessandro de Tullio had three poles and three wins from the first four races, but the rest of his campaign was far more hit and miss and he finished fourth, 153 points behind Garcia.

Round three’s triple header at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was particularly wild and Garcia wasn’t able to avoid being involved, but he still finished all three races in the top four and increased his points lead over de Tullio from 16 to 57.

Written by Peter Allen

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2025: 20-11 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Campos Racing

A breakout year featuring 12 victories and two Spanish F4 titles has set expectations high for a leap up to third-tier single-seaters for 2026 that was planned long in advance as the Belgian revealed to Ida Wood

There is a wave of exciting Belgian talents currently winning in karting’s biggest events and making an impact in entry-level single-seaters, and leading that group is 17-year-old Thomas Strauven. This year he became the second driver in Spanish Formula 4 history to win the title with four races to spare, and he fell just short of the 400-point marker which Richard Verschoor and Nikola Tsolov reached in their title-winning seasons.

But with a 157-point winning margin, he officially became the most dominant champion in terms of his gap to what was a strong opposition.

This season was Strauven’s third in the Spanish F4 paddock, but that’s not a fact that should diminish his 2025 excellence. He did one round with MP Motorsport in 2023, and last year joined Rodin Motorsport for a double programme.

The first championship he contested was the Spain-based Formula Winter Series, and only scored in one of the four rounds but that included a victory that helped put him 12th in the standings. In Spanish F4 he started off very strongly at Jarama, finishing third with the fastest lap in the season-opening race, winning the next one from pole and finishing 10th in the third to depart round one second in the standings.

In round two at Algarve he took two third places, taking the fastest lap in both of those races, to sit third in the points. But there were only three top-five finishes in the next 12 races as the season literally heated up and Strauven dropped to seventh in the standings after missing the final round.

In conversation with Formula Scout this year as he romped to the title, Strauven said he “wasn’t really stressing about” his worsening form over the course of 2024.

Photo: Spanish F4

“Because in the beginning of the year, it was really cold every time, and I thought the car was really good in the cold conditions. Maybe because [Rodin] are British, I don’t know,” he said half-jokingly.

“The car was really strong when it was really windy. When the track was really hard to drive; the car was reacting really good. But while we were getting through the season, like the hottest race [of each weekend] would always be the worst race.

“I didn’t know really if it was me or the car, because I didn’t really have team-mates to compare with. So in the beginning of this year, we could only see how the car was in the [Spanish F4] winter series, and I think it’s really good [again]. But now in hot temperatures [in 2025], we can also see that it’s handling really well and we’re getting the same results as in the winter.”

In 2024, Strauven scored 122 points while the drivers of Rodin’s other two cars scored 25 between them.

“At Rodin it was really hard for me because: one, I was like 0.5 seconds off [the pace]. And I don’t know where to look for the 0.5s. And it was also hard for me when I’m the first [-placed] of the team and I’m one second faster than my team-mates. It looked like I drove well, but maybe if there was [to be] someone else and he’s faster than [me then] I drove bad. So it was pretty hard. I like it more with [strong] team-mates and more team-mates, so you have more data.”

By joining Campos Racing for 2025, who he “felt really confident with” after testing with them, Strauven became part of a six-car line-up and used that to improve himself and maximise results.

Strauven was certain that without such strong opposition, and team-mates, this year his own performances would’ve been worse. He particularly credited team-mate Jan Przyrowski, who was runner-up to Strauven in the Spanish F4 Winter Championship and third in the main championship.

“We were pushing each other, you know. If I’m faster, he wants to push more. And then he’s faster and I want to push more. I think we’re both getting stronger with each other [as benchmarks] because we are two strong team-mates.”

Photo: Spanish F4

Przyrowski won four races to Strauven’s two in the three-round winter championship, but the latter only finished one race outside of the top four and claimed more of the extra points for taking pole.

There was also a super start to the main championship for Przyrowski, who won three of the first four races. But he didn’t win again after that, while Strauven starred at every track and was on the podium in all but four of the season’s 21 races.

It felt similar to Tsolov’s 2022 domination, which was unsurprising given Strauven had Jose ‘Josete’ Perez as his race engineer. Perez engineered Tsolov in F4, and in the FIA Formula 3 Championship this year.

“I think he’s a really good engineer,” said Strauven. “I have a really good connection with him. We make some jokes as well. I really like him as a guy. And I learn a lot [from him].”

Strauven was not anticipating the level of form that meant he won at all but one track, and he tried to not think about his title prospects during the season.

“I always stayed in myself. Not like ‘ooo, I’m going to win this easily’. So I was always trying to keep my foot on the floor. And obviously tried to do my best.

“I didn’t really expect this domination. I definitely thought we had a chance to win the championship. But with three other really good drivers that were fighting a lot with me — Jan, Rene Lammers and Ean Eyckmans — it wasn’t expected. That’s quite cool to be 100 points ahead [of them].”

Eyckmans, another Belgian, and Lammers drove for MP and came second and fourth in the standings. There was a season-long trend though of when one was a rival to Strauven, the other was far from the podium.

Photo: Spanish F4

Eyckmans put Strauven under a lot of pressure in round three at Algarve, but that forced the championship leader to improve and as a result he delivered his only weekend where he won every race.

“I think my racecraft wasn’t really that good at the end of last year and in the beginning of this year,” Strauven reflected.

“Like I would always be good driving from P10 to the front, and starting from P1 [I wasn’t]. Now, all of a sudden at Portimao, I made it click and [every time] there’s someone behind I stay cool and try to get my head down and try to go and look ahead.”

The slipstream effect at Algarve made it hard for Strauven to pull away, so he had to “change the mindset”.

“When you’re starting a bit more in the back, [I knew] just take it easy, overtake some guys. I was quite good in overtaking, but my defending was just worse. So I think I made a good improvement in my defending through the year.”

Strauven converted his first pole of 2025 into victory, but failed to do so with the next six. With his Algarve breakthrough, only one of the next six poles didn’t lead to a win and over the year there were six victories where he had to pass rivals to win.

After winning the main Spanish F4 title in the penultimate round of the year, Strauven entered the Barcelona finale with the 400-point target in mind but wanting to “not take too many risks” to achieve it. He dominated race one, then had to take risks in the next two races as he qualified 10th.

Prior to that weekend, there were only two qualifying sessions where Strauven had been outside of the top two, and those outliers had been a fourth and a fifth place. On the final day of the season, some bold moves meant Strauven recovered to fifth and fourth in the final two races but ended eight points shy of his goal.

Managing his career is Benjamin Bailly, who came seventh in FIA Formula 2 back in 2010, and he secured Strauven his Campos seat not just for 2025 but also for 2026. A dominant year in Spanish F4 was far from their original racing plan.

Photo: Spanish F4

“I wanted to do Eurocup-3 or something [at the Formula Regional level] this year, but I think whatever you do, you need to be with a winning team [for career momentum] to get up to Formula 1 or F2. You always need to be in a winning team to win championships.

“We couldn’t find the budget to do Eurocup-3 with a good team, then Campos offered us a year of F4 and Eurocup-3 next year. So I’m really happy with them. And also in [Spanish F4’s] winter series, I got to learn how they work. I like the way they work a lot. They [have been] doing a really good job to make the car on point and get me also ready [to perform well].”

The Eurocup-3 part of the deal was announced a few days ago, and it will be a big jump as the championship introduces a faster car that moves it up from FRegional to F3 level. But the Campos-Strauven combination looks well placed to shine.

CV

Age 17
D/O/B April 5, 2008
Country Belgium

Car racing
2025: Spanish F4 champion (10 wins, 10 poles, 11 fastest laps), Spanish F4 Winter champion (2 W, 3 P, 4 FL)
2024: 7th in Spanish F4 (1 W, 1 P, 3 FL), 12th in FWinter Series (1 W)
2023: 32nd in Spanish F4

Karting
2023 (all OK): 2nd in WSK Super Master Series, 17th in Champions of the Future, 30th in CIK-FIA European Championship
2022: 2nd in LeCont Trophy – OK, 10th in WSK Open Cup – OK, 39th in WSK Final Cup – OK, 10th in CotF – OK Junior, 11th in CIK-FIA European Championship – OK-J, 13th in Italian Championship – Junior, 35th in CIK-FIA World Championship – OK-J
2021: 2nd in IAME Int. Games – X30 Jr, 6th in Rotax Max Euro Trophy – Rotax Jr, 11th in IAME Euro Series – X30 Jr, 19th in BNL Karting Series – Rotax Jr, 28th in WSK Final Cup – OK-J
2020: 34th in Rotax Max Euro Trophy – Rotax Jr, BNL Karting Series champion – X30 Mini, 2nd in Rotax Max Int. Trophy – Rotax Mini, 6th in IAME Euro Series – X30 Mini, 7th in IAME Winter Cup – X30 Mini, 30th in IAME I-Games – X30 Mini
2019: Rotax Max Int. Trophy winner – Rotax Micro, 2nd in BNL Karting Series – Rotax Micro

The post Scout Report: Thomas Strauven appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Campos Racing

Reigning Spanish Formula 4 champion Thomas Strauven will step up to Eurocup-3 in 2026 with Campos Racing.

The 17-year-old Belgian raced for the team this year, starting off in the Spanish F4 Winter Championship where two victories and four other podiums from nine races, along with three poles, delivered him the title.

In the main championship, he won 10 times, had seven other podiums and started on pole 10 times. He was crowned champion by 157 points, a tally only four drivers reached in the season.

“I am very happy to continue with Campos next year in Eurocup-3,” said Strauven.

“After a great year together, continuing to progress with the same team is the ideal decision. I am excited about the challenge ahead and motivated to keep learning and improving. Thank you to everyone who continues to support me in this project and make it possible.”

Strauven will be heading into his fourth year of single-seater racing. In 2023 he made a Spanish F4 cameo with MP Motorsport, then he joined Rodin Motorsport for a double programme in 2024. He came 12th in the Formula Winter Series standings with one win, and seventh in Spanish F4 where he started his campaign with a pole, a victory and a third place but only had three further podiums before dropping off the grid before the last round.

“It is excellent news to have Thomas with us for next season’s Eurocup-3,” said Campos’s team principal Adrian Campos Jr.

“The way he clinched the F4 Spain title was impeccable, one for the history books in terms of victories and podium finishes, and almost doubling the points tally of his closest rival.

“He is perfectly prepared for this new challenge ahead, which will be a step into the unknown for everyone as we introduce the new Dallara 326–Toyota car. We are delighted to continue working with him and very much looking forward to extending our successful record together.”

The post Spanish F4 champion Thomas Strauven to Eurocup-3 with Campos appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Spanish Formula 4 champion Thomas Strauven was once again the driver to beat in an unconventional day of track action at Barcelona.

A technical issue prevented qualifying from taking place, meaning laptimes from practice set race one’s grid.

Strauven earned pole by 0.142 seconds over Campos Racing team-mate Jan Przyrowski, with MP Motorsport’s Reno Francot 0.424s behind in third. Miguel Costa (Campos) and Ean Eyckmans (MP) were fourth and fifth, as a second covered the top 17.

Outside of that group were MP’s Niklas Schaufler and Rene Lammers, down in 25th and 28th, with the latter leading Eyckmans and Przyrowski in the battle to be championship runner-up.

Przyrowski tucked in behind Strauven at the start, Eyckmans overtook Costa then swept to the inside in defence and Lammers went to the outside at turn one to clear Costa too. Francot emerged from the opening chicane in third.

There was lots of squabbling through the rest of lap one. Eyckmans got back past Francot, Lammers fell to 28th and Campos’s Matus Ryba made it into sixth ahead of Christopher Feghali (Drivex School), Noah Monteiro (Campos), Nathan Tye (Rodin Motorsport) and Andrej Petrovic (Tecnicar Motorsport).

Francot sat fourth and on lap two wiggled a bit approaching turn 10. Costa pounced on his uncertainty by diving down the inside, with Feghali doing the same to Ryba. Both completed their moves by leaving no room for their rival exiting the corner, then at turn 13 Feghali went down Francot’s inside and Ryba skated off.

Francot entered the pits rather than the last corner, and Ryba fell to 10th. When he reached turn one he defended heavily, but his tight inside line cost him places to MP’s Rocco Coronel and G4 Racing’s Jean Paul Karras.

While Strauven kept Przyrowski out of reach and Eyckmans ran in a lonely third, the race took a twist on lap seven as several drivers pitted for new tyres. More and more did the same over the next laps, while Francot headed back out.

The logic for drivers outside of the points-providing top 10 was that with race one’s fastest laps setting race two’s grid, they could earn themselves a better starting spot by using new rubber early while consigning themselves to the bottom half of race one’s finishing order.

It added a challenge for the drivers up front as the pitters returned to track as traffic to lap, and Strauven navigated them expertly to grow his lead from one to 7.33 seconds.

Eyckmans held off Costa, and further back were Monteiro, Tye and MP’s Hudson Schwartz.

An off for Feghali meant he came home eighth, and unusually Karras pitted from ninth so his brother Philippe Armand inherited the position.

MP’s Juan Cota completed the top 10, and Francot scored by taking the fastest lap in 34th and last place as he took the chequered flag five laps down. Coronel finished 22nd on his single-seater debut after pitting, and Lammers was 29th.

Race results (19 laps)

The post Spanish F4 champ Strauven on top again in unusual day at Barcelona appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: MP Motorsport

Spanish Formula 4’s penultimate round of 2025 at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit concluded on Sunday with a victory for Rene Lammers.

The grid for race three was set by the event’s second qualifying session in the morning, and G4 Racing’s Karras brothers were the surprise early pacesetters.

MP Motorsport’s Niklas Schaufler set the first sub-1m35s lap, but was only ahead for eight seconds before Tecnicar Motorsport’s Andrej Petrovic posted a 1m34.694s.

TC Racing’s Alfio Spina beat that by 0.03 seconds just five seconds later, but Petrovic responded on his next lap with a 1m34.34s.

Ean Eyckmans was the next driver to top the times, a 1m34.203s briefly putting him ahead before MP team-mate Reno Francot went fastest by 0.095s.

His benchmark stood for a minute, then Schaufler broke into the 1m33s. Francot managed the same next time by, and went 0.01s quicker than Schaufler.

Their team-mate Lammers then came to the fore, posting a 1m33.906s to topple Francot by 0.026s then improving to 1m33.818s.

But that still was not enough for pole, and late on Campos Racing’s Thomas Strauven set a 1m33.787s to make it three out of three for the weekend.

His team-mate Jan Przyrowski went third fastest with his final lap, 0.14s off pole, and Petrovic improved to be sixth behind Francot and Schaufler. Eyckmans, team-mate Hudson Schwartz and Campos’s Noah Monteiro were also within 0.3s of Strauven’s pace, with a second covering the top 29 in the 35-car field. Spina had all of his laptimes deleted.

Pole position was on the outside, and the drivers on the inside made the better starts in the race. Lammers got alongside Strauven, and Francot drew level with Przyrowski. Both made passes into turn one, but Przyrowski reclaimed third around the outside at turn two and tried passing Strauven there too. However that then let Francot get ahead of him again.

Lammers began pulling away on lap three, growing his lead to 1.2s, and he was two seconds clear after nine laps. In the race’s second half he steadily pulled further, and led home champion Strauven by 4.238s.

Przyrowski kept Francot’s mirrors filled, but was never close enough to think about passing despite finishing just 0.181s behind him.

Schaufler dropped behind Petrovic, Eyckmans and Schwartz on lap one, and Rodin Motorsport’s finished ninth after making two opening lap moves and then overtaking Campos’s Noah Monteiro on lap five. He went down his inside at turn one, and they were wheel-to-wheel until turn two where Tye got ahead.

There was more overtaking outside of the top 25, while Drivex School’s Christopher Feghali took the fastest lap in 31st place after a lap two pitstop. His team-mate Kaiden Higgins had to pit several times, and other team-mate Stepan Suslov ended his race there, while Monlau Motorsport’s Alexander Jacoby stopped on track on lap three and finished 32nd.

Race results (20 laps)

The post Lammers cruises to victory in Spanish F4 race three at Valencia appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish F4

Thomas Strauven won the first two Spanish Formula 4 races of the weekend at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit, and wrapped up the title with five races to spare.

He started on pole for race one on Saturday, and already had a gap up front by the time he reached the opening corner. It was an easy day thereon, finishing 2.585 seconds clear of Campos Racing team-mate Jan Przyrowski to become champion.

Ean Eyckmans overtook MP Motorsport team-mates Rene Lammers and Reno Francot on lap one for third, then soaked up pressure from Lammers — who was Strauven’s closest rival — for the rest of the 20-lap race.

Campos’s Vivek Kanthan jumped two spots to sixth on the opening lap, while MP’s Niklas Schaufler dropped down the order and later had an incident with Rodin Motorsport’s Kyuho Lee that led to the latter losing their rear wing.

On lap nine, Monlau Motorsport’s Lorenzo Campos spun after lap nine contact with Global Racing Service’s Alexandar Bogunovic.

The only overtake in the top 18 after lap one was when Rodin’s Nathan Tye overtook Campos’s Miguel Costa for ninth on lap two, and post-race nine track limits penalties were issued.

Strauven claimed his ninth victory of the season in race two, which was the 200th race in Spanish F4 history.

He made a flying start from pole, as fellow front row man Pzyrowski bogged down and had to defend from Francot. He squeezed him onto the grass, as Eyckmans and Lammers went side-by-side to their right.

Lammers took second into turn one, ahead of Przyrowski, and Eyckmans had fourth place secured by turn three.

Tye and TC Racing’s Alfio Spina crashed out at turn five while battling for 12th, and at turn six Tecnicar Motorsport’s Wiktor Dobrzanski mounted the top of Rodin driver Emma Felbermayr’s car.

The safety car was summoned, and Drivex School’s Christopher Feghali became the fifth retiree when he pitted at the end of the lap.

Racing resumed on lap five, and Strauven could not shake off Lammers. He usually had a gap of around 0.6s, but it was down to 0.43s entering the 15th and final lap as he locked up into the downhill last corner.

Lammers was never close enough to force Strauven into defence though, and they finished 0.683s apart. Przyrowski was a further 1.845s back.

Lee broke his front wing on lap six and did not see the chequered flag, with Bogunovic stopping terminally at the side of the track and Drivex’s Ricardo Baptista crashing out on lap 13.

Written by Ida Wood and Jacob Awcock

Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Thomas Strauven Campos Racing 31m37.996s
2 Jan Przyrowski Campos Racing +2.585s
3 Ean Eyckmans MP Motorsport +5.039s
4 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport +5.612s
5 Reno Francot MP Motorsport +10.358s
6 Vivek Kanthan Campos Racing +11.950s
7 Santino Panetta TC Racing +17.804s
8 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing +18.738s
9 Nathan Tye Rodin Motorsport +23.870s
10 Miguel Costa Campos Racing +24.702s
Fastest lap: Strauven, 1m34.162s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Strauven 27m00.528s
2 Lammers +0.683s
3 Przyrowski +2.528s
4 Eyckmans +3.667s
5 Francot +4.856s
6 Costa +5.182s
7 Niklas Schaufler MP Motorsport +7.269s
8 Kanthan +8.186s
9 Monteiro +8.851s
10 Panetta +10.255s
FL: Strauven, 1m34.393s

Championship standings
1 Strauven 327   2 Lammers 195   3 Eyckmans 187   4 Przyrowski 176   5 Cota 111   6 Francot 100   7 Tye 98   8 Monteiro 86   9 Kanthan 63   10 Schaufler 61

The post Strauven crowned Spanish F4 champion as he adds to win tally appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish F4

Thomas Strauven took a double pole in Spanish Formula 4 qualifying at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit on Saturday.

The day kicked off with practice, and Campos Racing’s Jan Przyrowski set a 1m33.681s to be quickest by 0.09 seconds.

A quarter of the 35-car field spent time at the top once flying laps were being set during the 40-minute session, which was split in two by a red flag period caused by Tecnicar Motorsport’s Aleix Pinera crashing out at turn four.

Pinera is making his single-seater debut this weekend, having finished 17th in the IAME Winter Cup and come 18th in IAME’s Euro Series on X30 Senior karts this year, while 2024 French F4 runner-up Yani Stevenheydens has joined Global Racing Service’s line-up.

He came 13th in the 2025 Spanish F4 Winter Championship then 21st in Eurocup-3’s winter series and is currently 16th in its main championship after doing the first two rounds.

Stevenheydens ended practice in 24th, the first driver to be over a second off the pace. MP Motorsport’s Rene Lammers was Przyrowski’s closest rival, with Strauven (Campos), Ean Eyckmans (MP), Andrej Petrovic (Tecnicar), Vivek Kanthan (Campos) and Reno Francot (MP) also all within a third of a second of him.

Drivex School’s Christopher Feghali topped the timesheet several times but ended practice in 11th.

Qualifying was in the early afternoon, and TC Racing’s Alfio Spina was quickest at first. He led Pinera a third of the way through the 20-minute session, then Pinera improved to 1m35.331s but Strauven moved to the top as he went 0.554s faster than him.

He was not ahead for long, as MP’s Hudson Schwartz set a 1m34.676s. MP’s Juan Cota (MP) and Przyrowski completed a top five covered by a second.

Strauven responded on his next lap with a 1m33.827s, putting him 0.459s clear of Cota, with Przyrowski a further 0.048s behind.

Francot began the session’s second half by edging ahead of Cota by 0.014s, and improved again on his next lap. But Strauven did the same, posting a 1m33.813s to remain on top by 0.22s. Lammers and Przyrowski were less than 0.05s behind Francot.

Przyrowski later cut Strauven’s advantage to 0.113s, and Cota demoted Francot to fourth by 0.001s.

Strauven and Przyrowski made 0.001s gains with five minutes to go, and found more pace on their next laps. A 1m33.69s kept Strauven ahead by 0.086s, as Lammers set two 1m33.9s laps to take and then hold third place.

Nobody improved at the end, locking in a top five featuring Cota and Francot, and also the race two grid set by drivers’ second-best laptimes.

Strauven earned pole for that race by 0.222s over Przyrowski, with Lammers a further 0.019s back while Cota and Francot were fourth and fifth again.

Eyckmans was the top rookie, and will start sixth for both races, with a second covering the top 22 in qualifying.

Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Thomas Strauven Campos Racing 1m33.690s
2 Jan Przyrowski Campos Racing +0.086s
3 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport +0.235s
4 Juan Cota MP Motorsport +0.342s
5 Reno Francot MP Motorsport +0.343s
6 Ean Eyckmans MP Motorsport +0.395s
7 Santino Panetta TC Racing +0.417s
8 Niklas Schaufler MP Motorsport +0.440s
9 Vivek Kanthan Campos Racing +0.473s
10 Miguel Costa Campos Racing +0.497s

Race 2 grid
1 Strauven 1m33.703s
2 Przyrowski +0.222s
3 Lammers +0.243s
4 Cota +0.383s
5 Francot +0.412s
6 Eyckmans +0.479s
7 Costa +0.505s
8 Schafuler +0.535s
9 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing +0.554s
10 Kanthan +0.569s

The post Strauven doubles up in Spanish F4 qualifying at Valencia appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish F4

Spanish Formula 4 may still have a four-way title fight with two rounds remaining, but Thomas Strauven is very close to the title.

In the Sunday races at Jerez on September 21, Campos Racing’s Jan Przyrowski started on pole both times but had a terrible day and his title hopes reduced.

Drivers’ second-best laptimes from the first qualifying session set race two’s grid, and a 1m43.979s earned Przyrowski race two pole by 0.402 seconds over MP Motorsport’s Rene Lammers, with team-mate Juan Cota the only other driver within 0.5s of his pace. The pole gap was larger than what covered second to 10th place.

As in race one, Przyrowski stalled and immediately dropped outside of the top 10. Lammers inherited the lead, ahead of Cota, Rodin Motorsport’s Nathan Tye and MP’s Ean Eyckmans.

Red Bull juniors Christopher Feghali and Niklas Schaufler fought over fifth, and Campos’s Strauven ended lap one in eighth.

Przyrowski started squabbling with Drivex School’s Gino Trappa for 10th behind, then they and MP’s Hudson Schwartz got past Strauven. He was now outside of the points positions, but the race would go his way.

Trappa was overtaken on lap five, and Shwartz passed Francot on lap seven as suspected electrical issues meant Strauven’s closest title rival Eyckmans slowed then headed to the pits to retire. Przyrowski was his next closest rival in the standings and he attacked Francot ahead.

Francot spun into the last corner on lap 11 under pressure, and Kanthan dived past Strauven into turn six on lap 12. But he still extended his points lead as he was promoted to ninth when Przyrowski got a time penalty. He almost gained another spot as Feghali began slowing before the race’s last corner and dropped from fourth to sixth, then stopped on track after the finish.

At the front, Lammers and Cota were well clear of the rest of the field.

In qualifying two, Przyrowski claimed race three pole by 0.087s over Strauven. Cota, Campos’s Noah Monteiro, Lammers and Eyckmans were all within 0.2s of pole.

This time Przyrowski did not stall, but was slow off the line and lost out to Strauven. He fended off Cota’s attacks, and the safety car was summoned after Schaufler and Tecnicar Motorsport’s Andrej Petrovic were eliminated in a clash also involving Feghali.

Racing resumed on lap five, and Strauven returned the field to racing pace early so he could make a gap. Lammers passed Cota, but could not keep up with the top two.

Strauven defended turn six on lap nine, Przyrowski eyed a move there on lap 15, then on the final lap Strauven defended the inside. Przyrowski tried passing around the outside but was squeezed off at the exit, leaving no further chances to stop Strauven from winning.

A five-second penalty then demoted Przyrowski to sixth, so Strauven grew his championship lead to 110 points over new closest rival Lammers.

Monteiro and Eyckmans finished ahead of Przyrowski, while Tye was gapped in seventh.

Results round-up
Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport 27m59.674s
2 Juan Cota MP Motorsport +1.374s
3 Nathan Tye Rodin Motorsport +4.852s
4 Niklas Schaufler MP Motorsport +10.512s
5 Hudson Schwartz MP Motorsport +11.237s
6 Christopher Feghali Drivex School +13.248s
7 Gino Trappa Drivex School +15.027s
8 Vivek Kanthan Campos Racing +16.970s
9 Thomas Strauven Campos Racing +17.456s
10 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing +17.747s
Pole: Jan Przyrowski, 1m43.979s
Fastest lap: Cota, 1m44.350s

Race 3 (17 laps)
1 Strauven 32m34.068s
2 Lammers +2.188s
3 Cota +3.840s
4 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing +4.456s
5 Ean Eyckmans MP Motorsport +5.033s
6 Jan Przyrowski Campos Racing +6.080s
7 Tye +6.617s
8 Kanthan +9.990s
9 Trappa +11.053s
10 Kaiden Higgins Drivex School +12.798s
P: Przyrowski, 1m43.198s
FL: Przyrowski, 1m44.627s

Championship standings
1 Strauven 278   2 Lammers 168   3 Eyckmans 162   4 Przyrowski 146   5 Cota 111   6 Tye 96   7 Francot 82   8 Monteiro 81   9 Schaufler 57   10 Kanthan 53

The post Lammers wins at Jerez but Strauven closes in on Spanish F4 title appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Campos Racing

Thomas Strauven moved over 100 points clear at the top of the Spanish Formula 4 standings with victory in race three at Paul Ricard.

The Campos Racing driver took the lead from pole-sitting team-mate Jan Przyrowski off the line and then had to fend off MP Motorsport’s Ean Eyckmans until he was forced deep at Virage and his fellow Belgian went past.

Eyckmans weaved his way down the Mistral straight, and Strauven got alongside at Signes. They rubbed wheels and Strauven got back through into Beausset. As Przyrowski lost further places, Reno Francot passed MP team-mate Rene Lammers for third.

There was several lock-ups from Strauven on lap two, but after that he without pressure and sprinted off to take his sixth win of the season by 4.5 seconds.

Campos’s Noah Monteiro overtook Lammers early in lap two, then Przyrowski got back past him at Virage. There was squabbling down the Mistral straight, and the big loser was Lammers who ended the lap in ninth.

Przyrowski reclaimed another place on lap four by diving down the inside of Francot at the final corner, but a lap later he retired in the pits as Lammers was spun down the order at the last corner by Tecnicar Motorsport’s Andrej Petrovic.

Monteiro had attacked Francot through the first sector of lap five, but then got stuck behind him. Francot weaved down the Mistral straight on lap six, and they ran nose-to-tail after that but there was no change and it brought MP’s Niklas Schaufler into play. He attaced at the last corner on lap seven, unsuccessfully, and Rodin Motorsport’s Nathan Tye had joined in by lap 10.

A lap later he went down the inside of Schaufler at turn one, but there was now a small gap to the two ahead. As he pursued them, MP’s Juan Cota began attacking a defensive and sliding Schaufler.

Cota tried again around the outside at turn one on lap 14, then at Signes and made it through. But his unusual line meant Schaufler was back ahead at Beausset. Campos’s Vivek Kanthan, who was a few seconds behind a lap before, was now on their tail.

The battles for third and sixth culminated on the last lap. Francot expertly weaved his way through the final lap to keep his podium place, while Cota overtook Schaufler as they began the lap but they were side-by-side again by turn two.

Schaufler had to concede once Kanthan was getting volved, getting his move done at Virage and beating Schaufler by 0.025s in a photo finish.

Race results (16 laps)

The post Strauven goes over 100 points clear in Spanish F4 with sixth win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Campos Racing

Thomas Strauven resisted Ean Eyckmans to continue his Spanish Formula 4 winning streak in race one at Paul Ricard.

It was Strauven’s Campos Racing team-mate Jan Przyrowski who claimed pole position in qualifying by almost a quarter of a second over the championship leader, but that effort went to waste when the Pole was slow away went the lights went out at the start of the race.

Strauven took the lead ahead of Eyckmans and had to defend from his fellow Belgian as they charged down the Mistral straight for the first time.

The safety car was deployed on lap two to retrieve the damaged car of Alexander Jacoby, and at the restart Nathan Tye snatched third from Przyrowski. Later in the lap, Przyrowski fought back into the final corner and forced Tye wide, but the Rodin Motorsport driver managed to hold on into Turn 1. A lap later though, Przyrowski grabbed the place back around the outside.

That battle allowed Strauven and Eyckmans to escape out front. They remained separated by just tenths of a second until the last few laps, in which Strauven grew the gap to 1.2 seconds to secure his fourth win in a row. Eyckmans finished second to his compatriot for the third time in those four races.

Przyrowski shook off Tye as he completed the podium. Another championship contender, Rene Lammers, also slipped backwards at the start from fifth to seventh at the start, but he recovered those places after the restart to beat Christopher Feghali and Reno Francot.

Race results (14 laps)

The post Strauven continues Spanish F4 winning streak at Paul Ricard appeared first on Formula Scout.