Photo: ACI Sport

Prema has announced that Sebastian Wheldon will be part of its Formula Regional European Championship line-up this year.

The 17-year-old joined the Mumbai Falcons squad that Prema provides technical support to for a race-winning Formula Trophy cameo at the end of 2024, then raced for the Italian outfit across three championships in 2025.

He came seventh in Formula 4 Middle East with one podium, fourth in E4 with one victory and two other podiums, and his six wins in Italian F4 put him third in the standings. Later in the year he raced in the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau and came fourth.

“It feels great to be back with Prema and to move up to FREC this year. We had a really good first season, winning races in F4, and I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish in 2026!” said Wheldon.

“I feel adjusted to the European environment and feel at home within the team. I want to thank TWG Motorsports for continuing to support me. Excited for what’s ahead!”

TWG owns Cadillac’s Formula 1 team and Andretti Global, which races in Formula E and IndyCar.

Wheldon, son of the late 2005 IndyCar champion Dan, has been an Andretti junior since 2021. His single-seater career began in 2023, when he won the USA’s Skip Barber Formula Race Series, and the following year he was YACademy Winter Series runner-up then third in IndyCar support series USF Juniors with four victories.

Wheldon picked up his first competitive FRegional experience last month, racing for Mumbai Falcons in FRegional Middle East. He came fifth in the standings with three podiums and a pole.

“Sebastian has been really impressive since his very first steps with the team,” said Prema’s team principal and chief executive officer Stephen Mitas. “He is a hard worker and a strong competitor, and we are confident that, working together, we will be up to pace with the series’ new package.”

The final version of FREC’s 2026 calendar has been released, and features several differences from the draft schedule. Mugello was absent from the calendar for the first time last year, and had been set to return while the Nurburgring was in contention to be raced on by FREC for the first time.

With the season downscaling from 10 to eight rounds this year, those two tracks’ spots would have come at the expense of the Hungaroring and Imola. Instead, the latter two tracks will continue to host FREC and Imola will be one of four venues to have featured every season.

The Red Bull Ring hosts round one on April 24-26, then there are trips to Zandvoort (May 22-24), Spa-Francorchamps (May 29-31) and Monza (June 19-21). The paddock heads to the Hungaroring on July 3-5, and Paul Ricard is raced at two weeks later. After a summer break, Imola and Hockenheim host the last two rounds in the first two weekends of September.

It has been confirmed, as Formula Scout reported, that several rounds will feature three races.

The post Sebastian Wheldon to race for Prema in FREC, 2026 calendar confirmed appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRME

ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato topped Formula Regional Middle East pre-season testing at Yas Marina Circuit this week as the grid grew ahead of this weekend’s opening round.

Kean Nakamura-Berta led Mumbai Falcons team-mate Sebastian Wheldon in session one on Tuesday, with Pinnacle Motorsport’s Alex Powell beating Wheldon by 0.053 seconds to top the slower session two.

Wheldon pipped Van Amersfoort Racing’s Dion Gowda by 0.016s in session three, but did not improve on his previous best laptime.

Kato concluded Tuesday by lowering the pace to 1m48.053s in session four, leading MP Motorsport’s Christian Ho by 0.11s and Powell by 0.137s.

Powell set a 1m48.519s to top session five by 0.105s over Trident’s Maximilian Popov, with a 0.285s gap to MP’s third-placed Alexander Abkhazava.

ART GP’s Kabir Anurag was 22nd, but jumped to first in session six with a 1m48.857s, topping the timesheet by 0.184s over Kato while Race Performance Motorsport’s Jan Przyrowski trailed by 0.485s in third.

Anurag improved to 1m48.829s in session seven, denying Wheldon top spot by 0.01s and Ho by 0.027s. Kato was fourth, 0.137s behind.

VAR’s Francisco Macedo set a 1m48.358s to top session eight by 0.212s over Powell and 0.229s to Ho, with a second splitting the top 22.

During testing, nine drivers were announced as joining FRME’s grid. R-ace GP’s line-up now exceeds its car count, as Gerrard Xie will race in rounds one and two then Emanuele Olivieri will contest rounds three and four.

Euroformula and GB3 race-winner Xie spent 2025 in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, and last year R-ace ran Olivieri to the Formula 4 Middle East title and second in the FIA F4 World Cup.

The Prema-run Mumbai Falcons team has promoted Salim Hanna, new Williams Formula 1 junior Nakamura-Berta and Wheldon from its F4 squad. Wheldon came third in Italian F4 and fourth in E4 last year, while Hanna was fourth and seventh.

Macedo, who was 14th in Eurocup-3 last year, has joined VAR for FRME and the FRegional European Championship while Trident has told Formula Scout that Luka Sammalisto has left its 2026 FREC line-up but not shared why.

CL Motorsport will run Michael Belov, Newman Chi and Enea Frey in FRME after fielding them part-time in FREC last year.

The ultra-experienced Belov came seventh in FREC’s 2022 season, 11th in FRME predecessor the FRegional Asian Championship and 13th in the FRegional-spec Formula Renault Eurocup back in 2020, and last year was 15th in both FREC and the FRegional-based Eurocup-3.

His 2026 team-mates primarily spent 2025 in F4. Chi came fifth in Italian F4 and ninth in F4 Middle East, while Frey was ninth in Formula Winter Series and 14th in E4.

Test results

The post Kato tops FRME testing in new car as grid grows before round one appeared first on Formula Scout.

30. Sebastian Wheldon

New entry • F4 returnee went global with wins in Europe and UAE

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

After winning a Formula 4 title in 2023 in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series and starring in USF Juniors cars in 2024, Wheldon returned to F4 machinery for his third year in single-seaters but relocated his career from the United States to Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

He joined the Prema team to race in three championships this year, starting off with F4 Middle East (after a winning debut in the Formula Trophy at the end of 2024). Wheldon began his campaign with a podium, then two further top-five finishes put him seventh in the standings, behind three of his team-mates.

In Italian F4 he had a far more successful time, and again started on a high with victory and fastest lap in the season opener. A second place followed in his next race, then in rounds two and three he took a win and another podium each time.

There was a dry run of three podium-free rounds that followed, but in the season-closing quintuple-header at Misano three of the wins and two of the poles went to Wheldon. Those results put him third in the standings, not far from second, while in the sister E4 championship he came fourth with one win and two other podiums.

Wheldon’s year ended with the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau, where he set the pace in practice and qualifying. He crashed out at the first braking zone of the qualification race, but impressively recovered to fourth in the main race.

29. Victor Martins

Down 9 • Results didn’t reflect rapid pace in F2

Photo: Williams Racing

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

The Williams junior was the fastest driver in Formula 2 this year, yet came 11th in the standings. He failed to see the chequered flag six times, and only had a podium view three times.

Martins was on pole for the feature races in Melbourne and Silverstone, his average starting position was fifth and his median starting position was 2.5 due to being so consistently near the top in qualifying.

He finished higher than where he started in nine races, usually slipping back since he only had the 13th best race pace in the field. But at the ART Grand Prix team, that still translated into being able to score over three times as many points as his team-mate.

Lots of things did not go Martins’ way during the year, most notably having his two poles do nothing for his race chances. In Melbourne the race was cancelled, and wet weather at Silverstone led to him dropping down the order and coming 19th. He was also on the receiving end of contact from some of his less mature rivals, but that was an accepted risk in opting to remain at this level for a third year – a commitment that ultimately didn’t pay off.

28. Alex Ninovic

New entry • GB3 champion with victories in five countries

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Although he was taking a step up Britain’s single-seater ladder, 2024 British F4 runner-up Ninovic faced many new circuits as he graduated to GB3. However it was at those venues where he outshone his usual rivals, ultimately leading to title success.

Only half of this season’s rounds were in Britain, and the championship’s new, more powerful car presented further challenges. In the opening round, Ninovic had a fourth, a fifth and a non-finish and left the event seventh in the standings.

It only took four more races for Ninovic to move up into the points lead, and from there he continued to score big and was crowned with a 148-point gap to second place.

The Australian won from pole at Zandvoort, Spa-Francorchamps, the Hungaroring, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Monza, with double victories at the two British tracks. He was GB3’s only driver to star at ‘home’ and abroad.

27. Martinius Stenshorne

Re-entry • F3’s top sprint race scorer

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Stenshorne was ninth in Formula Scout’s end-of-year list in 2023, when he was Formula Regional European Championship runner-up, and last year he stepped up to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Hitech GP. Although he won a sprint race, he scored no feature race points until the season-ending race where he finished fifth and took fastest lap.

For 2025 he decided to stay with Hitech, and a new F3 car made it difficult to build on any end-of-2024 momentum.

But Stenshorne delivered from the off, starting his sophomore campaign on the podium, winning the Monaco sprint race, taking victory in the Red Bull Ring feature race from 15th on the grid and claiming two other podiums in the season’s second half to make him the year’s top scorer in sprint races.

He more than doubled his 2024 points tally, improved to fifth in the standings after being 18th as a rookie, was in the top seven on single-lap and race pace and delivered all but one of Hitech’s points. Now no longer a McLaren junior but still guided by Nicolas Todt’s All Road Management, he also ran highly on his F2 debut in Baku.

26. Evan Giltaire

Up 14 • FRME champion also starred in FREC

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Giltaire first started racing for ART GP in FREC back in 2023, and his first full season last year may have only featured two podiums but his haul of 97 points from eight races that he finished in the top 10 put him seventh in the standings.

This year he more than doubled his number of points-scoring races, came close to doubling his 2024 points tally, more than doubled his podium count and claimed his first two poles. For the second season in a row the highlight was in the opening round, this year at Misano, where Giltaire broke his pole duck and converted it into his sole victory of 2025.

Before FREC was FRegional Middle East, and that campaign led to the second title of Giltaire’s single-seater career. In a series new to him and the team, he won three times and had five other podiums from the five-round season, allowing him to beat Freddie Slater to the crown.

A similar title challenge in FREC ultimately didn’t follow after he went seven rounds without a podium, but Giltaire was back on form at the end of the year and starred too at the Macau Grand Prix. In qualifying he was third fastest, he finished fourth in the qualification race then was sixth in the main race.

25. Pedro Clerot

New entry • Uber-consistent FREC campaign earned plaudits

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Aside from a points-free weekend at Spa and a single 10th place finish in Hungary, Clerot’s lowest result in FREC this year was seventh as he utilised a superb level of consistency to come fourth in the standings and only miss out on third on victory countback.

Clerot’s highest-scoring weekend was at Zandvoort, where he claimed a double pole and converted first place on the grid into a victory and a second place. He was also on pole at the Red Bull Ring, where he won again and was fourth in the event’s other race, and he collected four other podiums in rounds at the Hungaroring, Barcelona and Monza.

The Brazilian became the first Van Amersfoort Racing driver in FREC to surpass 200 points in a campaign since 2020, and his seven podiums was a haul nobody driving for the team has ever bettered.

There was a run of four rounds where Clerot was in the top five in every race, which not even the champion achieved this year.

24. Gabriel Gomez

New entry • Marked himself out by threatening Prema’s Italian F4 supremacy

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Having only been 18th in Spanish F4 last year, driving for the inexperienced TC Racing team, it wasn’t expected that Gomez’s switch to US Racing for his second full year in single-seaters would lead to him being one of the best F4 drivers on the globe.

His title-winning potential was shown from the off, as he started the Formula Winter Series with two wins and two poles. He remained on the podium through the next seven races, including another win and three more poles, and he was crowned champion by a huge margin.

Prema was not present in that paddock, whereas Gomez had to take on the drivers of the dominant Italian outfit when he then headed to Italian F4 and E4. In the former he won four times, took seven other podiums and five poles, inflicting defeat on Prema more times than anyone else. In the latter championship, lasting nine races, he had two wins and three second places.

Although he was far from Prema’s champion in both, Gomez was runner-up in the standings twice and has a lot of career momentum behind him now.

23. Tim Tramnitz

Up 12 • Solid second F3 season was built on strong early form

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Red Bull

Quietly impressive is the best way to describe Tramnitz’s sophomore FIA F3 campaign, as he scored strongly enough while his MP Motorsport team was on the pace early in the season that, even with a six-race points-free run following that, he finished fourth in the standings.

He was the fourth-highest scorer on the grid in feature races, making the podium at Bahrain and the Red Bull Ring and finishing fifth in Melbourne and Monaco. Tramnitz’s two team-mates’ combined points tally from the season was less than his, and he outperformed his season-long data metrics thanks to maximising the package he had early in the campaign.

While he only qualified in the top five twice, and there were no standout results, Tramnitz was getting the job done on track each race in a way few others were able to when F3’s new car was introduced.

22. Theophile Nael

Re-entry • Macau GP win followed starring F3 drives

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Macau GP Organising Committee

Nael was 16th in this list in 2023, when he romped to the Spanish F4 title. He continued to impress last year, but with less headline results as he continued with Sainteloc Racing for the step up to FREC and FRME.

He won once in each championship, and decided to stick with the French team again into 2025. This time he only did three FRME rounds, with a return of three podiums that was still enough to put him seventh in the standings.

Focus moved on from that point to FIA F3, which meant having to leave his long-time team. Nael joined VAR, and enjoyed a stellar start to life at his new home. He qualified third on his F3 debut, rising from 10th to seventh in Melbourne’s sprint race and making the podium in the feature race.

His next points came in round five at Barcelona, and it was a similar story. He qualified fourth, rose to fifth in the sprint race and second in the feature race. There was only one point next time out at the Red Bull Ring, as VAR lacked qualifying pace, but Nael starred again in the feature race Silverstone with a charge from ninth to second. Further points finishes put him eighth in the standings – the third-highest rookie – with more points than his two team-mates combined.

Nael capped off 2025 at the Macau GP. Driving for Pinnacle Motorsport, he set the qualifying pace and stayed cannily in contention through the two races to wind up as winner of the grand prix.

21. Lochie Hughes

Up 9 • Continued stellar rise up road to Indy

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Photo: James Black

Hughes has sped up the Road to Indy, coming third in USF2000 in 2023, winning the 2024 USF Pro 2000 title and placing third in his rookie Indy Nxt season this year.

The Andretti Global driver was on the podium in seven out of the first eight races, with the exception being a fifth place (with the fastest lap) around the tricky Detroit street circuit.

In just his third weekend in the championship, Hughes claimed a double pole on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and converted those into a victory and a second place.

His next win was at Gateway, his first ever oval race at this level, and a performance that left the Australian in shock as he found a level of extreme confidence on the high line. He also made the podium on an oval at the Milwaukee Mile.

Hughes was third fastest on single-lap pace across the season and fourth on race pace, and for drivers who were stepping up to single-seaters’ second tier he was way clear of the next best driver who was 13th in the standings.

Written by Ida Wood

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2025: 30-21 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: ACI Sport

His first season in Europe didn’t quite yield a title, but Sebastian Wheldon stood out in one of the most competitive F4 fields. Roger Gascoigne got his thoughts in the paddock.

Sebastian Wheldon, son of the late two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, has wasted no time in establishing his own reputation in his first year racing in Europe.

It started with victory on his Italian Formula 4 debut at Misano, preventing any scepticism forming that he was another over-hyped second-generation driver on the lower rungs of the single-seater ladder. And his subsequent performances continued to demonstrate his talent.

The 16-year-old was embarking on his third year of car racing, the first two having been spent at home in the USA. Wheldon won the F4-spec Skip Barber Formula Race Series title in 2023, then he switched across to USF Juniors for 2024. He came third in the main championship for those cars, after being YACademy Winter Series runner-up.

Rather than tackle the next step of the USF Pro championships, he opted to continue his development across the Atlantic: “Because the level and the atmosphere is just way, way more intense. Everything’s done here in a more professional way.”

He went on to come third in Italian F4, fourth in the E4 championship and FIA F4 World Cup, and seventh in F4 Middle East.

Wheldon impressed with his speed, commitment and level of professionalism throughout the year, showing resilience to bounce back from a couple of disappointing rounds.

His European adventure began with a test for Prema at a hot Red Bull Ring in 2024, which paved the way for an F4 seat in Europe with the powerhouse team this year after “we were able to get the budget sorted”.

Photo: F4 Middle East

Another programme with Prema was added in the United Arab Emirates, inclusive of F4 Middle East and the final round of the 2024 Formula Trophy season last December where he claimed victory from pole in the first of the weekend’s two races.

“The UAE season was a bit tough for me, especially with the different tyre compound. I did have a pretty good FTrophy race, which I was able to win but we just kind of struggled a bit in UAE, mostly with the tyres.”

Pre-season testing in Europe restored Wheldon’s confidence going into the Italian championship. He was second in practice for round one, then narrowly missed out on pole in qualifying before storming to victory in the season-opening race.

After what he calls “a difficult middle part”, Wheldon went on to take another six wins in E4 and Italian F4, including “finishing on a high note” with a hat-trick of victories in the Italian finale at Misano.

“[It’s] a track I love. It is one of my favourites on the Italian calendar,” said Wheldon.

Prema was once again the dominant force in Italian F4, with its drivers filling four of the top five places in the standings, and Wheldon credited the competitive environment for accelerating his development:

“All the team-mates I had are extremely talented. You’re really able to learn from them in every single session and do things that they’re doing that you may be doing wrong, which is really helpful and it just makes you a better driver in the end.”

Wheldon ended up 11 points behind US Racing’s championship runner-up Gabriel Gomez, but won two more races than him.

A lack of consistency allied to some minor scrapes ultimately proved costly, and Wheldon was never afraid to get his elbows out in his on-track battles. He showed a willingness to defend his position robustly and an ability to attack decisively when opportunities arose. This was evident in his wheel-to-wheel battles with champion Kean Nakamura-Berta, the two making contact at Vallelunga and Monza, as Wheldon showed he was prepared to take on his team-mate as he marched to the title.

Photo: Macau GP Organising Committee

Pole position for the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau was further evidence of Wheldon’s talent, although a lap one crash in the qualification race meant he had to start from 15th for the main but he charged to fourth with the fastest lap.

Wheldon has been an Andretti Global junior since 2021, and throughout his single-seater career has raced using a black-and-yellow livery due to primary sponsor Gainbridge. It is a subsidiary of Group 1001, which like Andretti is owned by TWG Global.

“Andretti and Gainbridge have always been with me, they feel like family. Dan Towriss, the guy that owns Andretti [and is the Cadillac Formula 1 team’s CEO], has always been helping us as much as he can. I feel really connected, especially to the team, knowing all the drivers and stuff like that, just being able to take some advice from some of the IndyCar drivers there. It’s really cool, and I’m really grateful to be part of their team.”

He added: “[Having the Andretti name behind me means a lot. I’ve got to keep on my A-game, to keep proving myself [but] it’s such a privilege to be part of that team.”

The Floridian proudly flies the USA’s flag, which is alongside the British one on his overalls since his father hailed from England, and has acknowledged he has already been able to learn so much from racing in Europe this year. Reflecting on his first year outside of the USA, he also noted the higher level of competition:

“In the US, I’d say it’s a bit less competitive. You really only have about maybe five guys that can fight for the championship, but I feel like over here you can have [more] people fighting for the championship. Obviously, you want more competitive because it just makes you a better driver.”

Wheldon added: “F1 is looking at some of the junior drivers here, so that’s pretty cool. Overall, [it feels] like a more professional deal over here in Italy.”

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

The Anglo-American is yet to announce his programme for 2026. Another year in Europe or a return to the USA? He has proved that he is at home on either side of the Atlantic.

But looking forward, if he had to choose between winning F1’s Monaco Grand Prix or IndyCar’s Indy 500? “Oh shoot! It’s super close. How about both maybe?” was Wheldon’s diplomatic reply.

Maybe with an eye to the European environment around him, he hesitantly ventured: “Probably Monaco. Just driving through Monte Carlo, there’s nothing more special [than] that, but the Indy 500 is right up there too.”

In either case, he stands ready to continue representing the Wheldon name with distinction.

The post Sebastian Wheldon: The Anglo-American making his mark in Europe appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Macau GP Organising Committee

Sebastian Wheldon claimed pole position at the FIA Formula 4 World Cup in an incident-filled qualifying session in Macau.

The first 15 minutes ran clean. Fionn McLaughlin, who had not set any laptimes in practice, was first to the top before Wheldon and then Emanuele Olivieri lowered the pace. Olivieri’s 2m25.719s put him 0.301 seconds ahead, with Jules Roussel a further 0.018s behind.

On his next lap, Olivieri improved to 2m23.455s to lead Kean Nakamura Berta by 0.046s until Roussel completed his lap and went fastest by 0.119s. Rintaro Sato then posted a 2m25.284s to pip him by 0.052s.

Wheldon returned to the top with a 2m25.023s set 13 minutes in, with Olivieri 0.137s behind. Roussel was able to go even faster, reclaiming provisional pole by 0.27s while Sato set a 2m25.089s to demote Olivieri to fourth.

Alexandre Munoz had set fastest sector times before a crash and then stopping at turn 16, with Wheldon reducing Roussel’s advantage by 0.002s just before red flags waved as Munoz’s car was retrieved. Rayan Caretti graced the barriers too, but got away with it.

The session clock was paused during the seven-minute stoppage, and after it restarted Gino Trappa locked up at Lisboa and stopped by the barriers, but was able to continue without issue. However just before qualifying’s halfway mark Caretti was not as lucky as he parked his car in the Lisboa barriers and red flags returned.

Nobody improved between the two stoppages, the latter lasting six minutes, and personal bests began to be set with 15 minutes left of qualifying.

Nakamura went from fifth to first with a 2m24.538s, then Olivieri rose to third by lapping 0.352s off the new benchmark.

Three minutes later, Thomas Bearman got within 0.007s of Nakamura and Tiago Rodrigues went fifth fastest. That demoted Wheldon to sixth, but when he crossed the line he set a 2m24.148s to lead the way by 0.39s.

Nakamura reduced his advantage to 0.136s with 10-and-a-half minutes to go, and Olivieri set a personal best to be 0.216s off Wheldon.

Rodrigues returned to fifth with another improvement, then Roussel tried going down his inside at Lisboa. Roussel’s front-left wheel tagged Rodrigues’s rear-right at the apex and the latter was sent into the barriers. Elsewhere, Trappa hit a barrier and was sent spinning, so red flags waved. The recovery of Trappa’s car meant the stoppage lasted almost 10 minutes.

When qualifying resumed, nine minutes remained. Nakamura slid into the barriers at Dona Maria on his first flying lap post-restart but continued, while Sato was not as fortunate as he had a session-ending shunt at Fisherman’s Bend.

Nobody had improved, meaning Wheldon secured pole for the qualification race ahead of Nakamura.

McLaughlin completed 16 laps and qualified seventh, just behind Roussel. Both moved ahead of Sato after his fastest lap was deleted for causing red flags.

Qualifying results

The post Wheldon takes pole in red flag-filled F4 World Cup qualifying in Macau appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Sebastian Wheldon was quickest in free practice two for the FIA Formula 4 World Cup on a drying track in Macau.

He went to the top of the order with his penultimate lap of the 40-minute session, becoming the only driver to lap sub-1m25s.

It was a more mixed session than FP1, led throughout by Kean Nakamura Berta, as first place swapped between a handful of drivers.

As first leaving the pits, Nakamura was first to set a flying lap and was swiftly beaten by Jules Roussel and then Tiago Rodrigues who posted a 2m31.816s. Unlike everybody else, Fionn McLaughlin did not set a laptime as he pitted at the end of his outlap and his engine cover was removed. A technical problem had already denied him any running in FP1.

Nakamura improved to 2m28.511s on his second lap to lead Emanuele Olivieri by 0.54 seconds, until Roussel crossed the line and set a 2m27.955s that put him 0.397s ahead of Rayan Caretti.

Gino Trappa crashed hard at Lisboa 10 minutes in, stopping the session for five-and-a-half minutes. There were three more minutes of action before Emily Cotty hit the wall at turn 15, triggering further red flags. McLaughlin had joined the rest of the field for the restart, but he and Alexandre Munoz were denied the opportunity to record their first flying laps.

Running resumed with 14 minutes remaining, with everyone heading out, and there were no further disruptions. However McLaughlin once again ended his outlap by pitting and did not return to track after that.

Nakamura lowered the pace to 2m26.240s with nine minutes to go, a benchmark which Roussel beat by 0.119s. Wheldon went third fastest, 0.322s behind, and Rodrigues was 0.788s off in fourth until Caretti completed his lap and got within 0.185s of Nakamura’s pace.

On his next lap Nakamura improved to 2m25.816s, which Olivieri was 0.124s shy of just behind. Caretti then went quickest by 0.099s, and Olivieri beat him by 0.198s with four minutes remaining.

Roussel was next to the top, by 0.387s as he posted a 2m25.132s, and with one-and-a-half minutes to go Nakamura set a personal best in third to sit 0.556s behind.

Olivieri also got faster, but was 0.205s off Roussel, them with 53s to go Wheldon jumped from ninth to first with a 2m24.323s which put him 0.809s clear at the top.

Nakamura reduced that gap to 0.771s after the chequered flag, with Olivieri a further 0.018s behind with his final lap.

Caretti and Rodrigues had already pitted and ended FP2 in fifth and sixth behind Roussel, while others missed the chance for a last-lap improvement as Yuzhe Wang crashed and caused yellow flags.

Rintaro Sato pipped Thomas Bearman to seventh, with the latter warned for pitlane speeding. Shimo Zhang and Ary Bansal completed the top 10.

Additional reporting by Ida Wood

Free practice results

The post Wheldon quickest by big margin with late lap in FP2 for FIA F4 World Cup appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: ACI Sport

Championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta secured pole position for the second and third races of the E4 season finale at Monza.

However, his Prema team-mate Sebastian Wheldon took pole position for race one with a perfectly timed lap in the first qualifying session.

In so doing, Wheldon became the only driver other than Nakamura-Berta to top an E4 qualifying session in the three rounds of the 2025 season.

US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez, Nakamura Berta’s closest challenger for the crown will line up third for race one but will have to fight back from sixth and 13th in the second and third races respectively.

PHM Racing’s Reno Francot, currently fourth in the standings, produced a strong performance in both sessions, notably by earning a front row start for the second race.

R-ace GP’s Alex Powell, the remaining driver still in contention for the championship, endured a miserable afternoon, and will start the three races from 18th, 28th and 26th positions.

Powell had been second quickest in a damp opening practice session on Friday morning, topped by Kabir Anurag with a 2m02.207s. Conditions improved considerably for the second session, which Nakamura-Berta headed with a 1m51.425s

Nakamura-Berta had dominated the first qualifying session from the opening lap until the final seconds, when Wheldon crossed the line to beat his team-mate’s time by 0.256 seconds.

Wheldon had barely featured until that point. With four minutes remaining, he languished back in 26th position, climbing to 10th with his sixth and penultimate lap, 1.1s adrift of Nakamura-Berta.

In the opening minutes, US Racing pair Andrija Kostic and Anurag had been the Japanese-Slovakian’s closest challengers, with Prema’s Andrea Dupe in fourth.

Nakamura-Berta set his best lap on his fourth tour, putting him briefly 1.104s ahead of Prema’s Newman Chi who had jumped up to second place. Chi dropped back to seventh next time around but improved again on his sixth lap to go back to second and within 0.272s of Nakamura-Berta.

However, with neither improving on the final lap, Gomez was able to improve up to third at the close, with Francot moving up to seventh behind Anurag and Prema’s Salim Hanna.

After an early red flag in the second session, it was Elia Weiss – the Porsche Formula E tester switching to Jenzer Motorsport from Cram this weekend – who set the early pace, setting the first sub-1m53s lap of the session, before being demoted by Francot.

After building slowly, Nakamura-Berta leapt from 23rd to first on his fifth lap, with Chi moving up to second, 0.149s back.

Francot moved back ahead, by just 0.014s, before the chequered flag was shown, but was unable to improve further on his final lap.

This time, it was Nakamura-Berta who timed his run to perfection to grab back race two pole position by 0.601s.

In a last-second surprise, US Racing’s Ary Bansal improved by 0.9s to jump up to third from 16th.

Chi held onto fourth from the US racing trio of Anurag, Gomez and Kostic. Wheldon could not repeat his last-gasp Q1 move and ended up eighth ahead of Hanna and Weiss.

The Prema awning has swelled to seven cars this weekend with the addition of 17-year-old Lucas Nanji. The Canadian Open karting champion is making his car racing debut and placed 26th and 21st in the two qualifying sessions.

Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Sebastian Wheldon Prema 1m51.440s
2 Kean Nakamura-Berta Prema +0.256s
3 Gabriel Gomez US Racing +0.380s
4 Newman Chi Prema +0.528s
5 Kabir Anurag US Racing +0.549s
6 Salim Hanna Prema +0.693s
7 Reno Francot PHM Racing +0.889s
8 Andrija Kostic US Racing +1.006s
9 Andrea Dupe Prema +1.167s
10 Maximilian Popov Van Amersfoort Racing +1.294s

Race 2 grid
1 Nakamura-Berta 1m51.272s
2 Francot +0.601s
3 Ary Bansal US Racing +0.735s
4 Chi +0.764s
5 Anurag +0.794s
6 Gomez +0.851s
7 Kostic +0.901s
8 Wheldon +0.927s
9 Hanna +0.951s
10 Elia Weiss Jenzer Motorsport +0.992s

Race 3 grid
1 Nakamura-Berta 1m51.887s
2 Chi +0.254s
3 Francot +0.263s
4 Hanna +0.343s
5 Weiss +0.400s
6 Alexander Ruta Van Amersfoort Racing +0.700s
7 Wheldon +0.700s
8 Arjen Kraeling US Racing +0.710s
9 Andy Consani R-ace GP +0.725s
10 Kostic +0.744s

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Photo: ACI Sport

Sebastian Wheldon won the fourth Italian Formula 4 race at Misano to move back up to second in the points table with one race to go of 2025.

The Prema driver started from pole and covered the outside line entering turn one to keep team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta at bay. Further back, US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez and Jan Koller both took to the grass down the pit straight and lost ground.

Nakamura got past Wheldon a few corners later, and US’s Luka Sammalisto overtook Prema’s Newman Chi for fourth.

At the end of the lap there was a crash involving multiple cars, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Bader Al Sulaiti eliminated on tue spot while R-ace GP’s Guy Albag had to pit and BVM Racing’s Niccolo Maccagnani then did the same a lap later.

Sammalisto dived past Prema’s Salim Hanna Hernandez at the end of the back straight on lap three, and Wheldon set back-to-back fastest laps up front before the field was bunched back together on lap four due to the safety car being summoned.

R-ace GP’s Alexander Savinkov and Cram Motorsport’s Oscar Repetto had crashed at turn one, and just before racing was neutralised Gomez overtook Maffi Racing’s Kirill Kutskov for eighth.

Gomez was behind Prema’s Andrea Dupe and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov for the lap six restart, and managed to get around the outside of Popov.

Wheldon’s pace advantage continued, as he passed Nakamura starting lap seven then lowered the pace seven times in the race’s second half to win by 3.159 seconds.

Hanna meanwhile dropped down the order. He lost fourth to Chi at turn seven on lap 11 of 16, and tried fighting back later in the lap but it resulted in contact.

Next to attack him was Popov, who had climbed two places on lap eight after Dupe had gone off at turn one, got overly defensive against Gomez later in the lap and left a gap for Popov to pass both.

When Popov made his dive on Hanna on lap 13, Gomez immediately followed him through and then started attacking Popov again through the next two laps but could not make an overtake happen.

Kutskov snatched eighth from Dupe on the penultimate lap, having held off prolonged pressure from R-ace’s Emanuele Olivieri.

Prema’s Sasha Bondarev and VAR’s Dante Vinci had been in points contention until they clashed and damaged their cars.

Race results (16 laps)

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Photo: ACI Sport

Kean Nakamura-Berta clinched the Italian Formula 4 championship after rival Gabriel Gomez was unable to start race two at Misano, which Sebastian Wheldon won.

Gomez had been due to start his first heat race of the weekend from pole position, but his car came to a halt on the out lap to the grid, had to be towed back to the pits and would not take the start, with an alternator failure reportedly to blame.

Given that Nakamura-Berta only needed to score one point to secure the title even if Gomez could win all four remaining races, the US Racing driver’s problems effectively made Nakamura-Berta champion before the race even started. Gomez did eventually manage to join the race for one lap before pitting again.

Wheldon effectively inherited pole position and led the field away at the start of the race in front of his Prema team-mates Newman Chi and Andrea Dupe.

Nakamura-Berta lost a place at the start to Kabir Anurag, but when Anurag then made contact trying to attack Maximilian Popov, the champion-elect passed them both to make it a Prema 1-2-3-4.

Wheldon pulled away out front to take his second win of the day by just under four seconds, and move up past Gomez into second in the standings.

Nakamura-Berta passed Dupe for third and caught Chi, who fended off the mid-race pressure from his team-mate to finish second.

Kirill Kutskov climbed up to fifth place early on for Maffi Racing and then managed to break the Prema dominance at the front of the field by passing Dupe and score his best ever finish of fourth. Compatriot Popov followed him through for fifth, with Dupe just managing to hold off Emanuele Olivieri for sixth.

Race results (17 laps)

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Photo: ACI Sport

Sebastian Wheldon won the opening Italian Formula 4 race of the weekend at Misano from pole.

The Prema driver covered the inside at the start then moved back to the outside approaching turn one, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov getting into second past Prema’s Salim Hanna Hernandez.

The top two quickly pulled away, as further down the order PHM Racing’s Reno Francot broke his front wing and had to pit.

Jenzer Motorsport’s Artem Severiukhin and VAR’s Marcus Saeter also picked up damage while battling for 11th, meaning they pitted on lap two.

It took five laps for Wheldon to break a second clear of Popov, at which point Hanna was down in fifth.

US Racing’s Luka Sammalisto and Prema’s points leader Kean Nakamura Berta had overtaken him late in lap one, then Nakamura had got into third on lap three by sweeping around the outside of Sammalisto at turn eight.

Sammalisto tried fighting back through the next corners but the job was done.

Although Wheldon set the fastest lap next time by, Nakamura took it from him once he had time in clean air and by lap 10 he was pressuring Popov.

He made his first attempt at a pass into turn 14, then two laps later took the outside line through turn 10 and nosed ahead. His move was complete at turn 12, where he had the inside, and Nakamura then had 3.17s to make up on Wheldon.

The leader responded with two successive fastest laps, and won by 3.541s. By finishing second, Nakamura grew his championship lead to 91 points over the absent Gabriel Gomez.

He will contest the other two ‘group’ races, starting from pole in both, and even if he wins the four remaining races of this weekend Nakamura only needs one point to become champion due to Italian F4’s dropped scores rule.

There was little other action in the top 18 places during race one. VAR’s Dante Vinci went wide into turn one on lap three and very briefly lost seventh to Prema’s Sasha Bondarev, who then got a move done properly on lap eight.

They were later in a train behind Maffi Racing’s Kirill Kutskov, and on lap 11 Bondarev made a bold attempt to get past. He locked up as he went for the inside of Kutskov at turn 10, and succeeded in getting through. Vinci overtook Kutskov too through turn 13.

Popov also came under more pressure at the end of the race from Sammalisto, who stole the fastest lap.

Race results (17 laps)

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