Photo: Top Speed

New McLaren junior Christian Costoya has been announced as doing a double Formula 4 programme in Europe with Prema.

The 15-year-old Spaniard will race full-time in Italian F4 and sister championship E4 with the team, which he made his single-seater debut with last month in UAE4. He took a win in round three, and sits sixth in the points with one round to go.

Costoya became a McLaren junior last December, at the end of a year in which he was CIK-FIA European Karting champion, WSK Euro Series champion and WSK Super Master Series runner-up on OK karts. He had previously been European championship runner-up at the junior level.

“Very happy to join Prema for the 2026 F4 season,” said Costoya. “This marks a new chapter for me in a new category. I’m fully committed to giving my best, continuing to progress and improve as a driver, and making the most of this opportunity.”

Stephen Mitas has become Prema’s team principal and chief executive officer amid off-season overhaul of the Italian outfit.

“Christian showed great potential in karting and we are delighted to welcome him to our team for a very challenging and important step in his career,” he said of the team’s latest driver signing.

“We will give him our best support as he approaches the transition to single-seater and gets ready for the year ahead.”

Also racing in E4 and Italian F4 this year is Ludovico Busso, who will be part of US Racing’s line-up. He is currently racing for the team in the Iberia-based Formula Winter Series, and sits 10th in the standings with one podium.

The 16-year-old Italian debuted in single-seaters with a FWS cameo last year. He drove for Viola Formula Racing, and remained with the team for Italian F4. After round three he was the team’s only driver, and after round five he switched to US’s line-up. That also meant a team switch following one E4 round. Busso failed to score in both championships, and came 23rd in E4’s standings.

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Photo: Prema

Van Amersfoort Racing has added Andrea Dupe to its 2026 Formula Regional European Championship line-up.

The 17-year-old Frenchman currently sits 20th in the FRegional Middle East standings with one round to go, having scored one point so far with G4 Racing.

Last year he raced for three different teams in Formula 4 as a single-seater rookie, starting off with AS Motorsport in Formula Winter Series where he came 17th in the points table. He joined PHM Racing for Italian F4 but switched to Prema after three rounds and no points. In the remaining four rounds he scored 20 points to come 22nd in the championship.

Prema also had Dupe in its E4 line-up for two rounds of three, and he failed to score.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining VAR for the upcoming season,” said Dupe. “Stepping up to FREC is a major milestone in my career, and doing it with such a prestigious team makes it even more special. VAR has been a top contender in this category for many years, but what truly stands out to me is the atmosphere—it’s a team where you immediately feel like part of a family. I can’t wait to get started and give my best for the colors of the team.”

VAR’s team principal Brad Joyce commented: “FREC is a demanding step, and we’re looking forward to working closely with Andrea as he prepares for the season and continues his development with the team.”

Also signing contracts with VAR this year are Thomas Bearman and Alexander Ruta, for triple programmes in FWinter Series, E4 and Italian F4. The first of those three is already underway, and the pair sit eighth and 16th in the standings. Bearman, the 16-year-old younger brother of Formula 1 racer Ollie, made the podium in round one.

Both Bearman and Ruta began their single-seater careers last year in FWinter Series, with the former racing for Hitech GP and the latter joining Cram Motorsport then switching to VAR for the final round. They came eighth and 21st respectively in the points table, and Bearman ended the season with his maiden podium.

Racing on home soil followed in British F4, and Bearman finished eighth in the championship. He took one win and one pole, and his tally of four other podiums included one in the non-championship round supporting F1’s British Grand Prix. Late in the year, he contested the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau and finished in the top 10 from 17th on the grid.

Ruta stuck with VAR for E4 and Italian F4, coming 13th in the former and 23rd in the latter. Seventh places were his best results in both championships.

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Photo: Mat Acton

US Racing has announced its first three signings for the 2026 Formula Winter Series, E4 and Italian Formula 4 seasons.

Remaining with team for a second year is Ary Bansal, who came 19th in E4 and did one Italian F4 round in 2025 with the German outfit.

The 16-year-old Indian primarily raced in Britain, taking the GB4 title with four wins and seven other podiums and coming 11th in British F4 with a part-time campaign that featured a victory and three other podiums.

Later in the year he did two Saudi Arabian F4 rounds, with a win and two second places putting him seventh in the standings, and finishing fifth in the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau.

“I am looking forward to hitting the ground running with US Racing in 2026,” said Bansal.

“The momentum from last season gives us a strong platform to build on as we head into a full European campaign. Together, our aim is to maximise the package across each round and push hard to fight at the front consistently.”

US’s team principal Gerhard Ungar called Bansal “a very talented race driver with big potential”, who “has improved and developed a lot over the last year, and I am sure he will have a strong season in 2026″.

He won’t be the only single-seater champion in US’s line-up, as it has also signed Noah Killion. The Australian won his home country’s AU4 championship this year, then came 13th in the United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy for F4 cars.

Ukrainian racer Olexander Savinkov joins US after a very busy first two years in car racing. He raced for AKM Motorsport in 2024, and came a points-free 32nd in E4, 37th in FWinter Series and 42nd in Italian F4. For 2025 he switched to R-ace GP, and enjoyed an instant provement as he was 11th in F4 Middle East.

However Savinkov then scored only one point in both E4 and Italian F4, coming 21st and 27th in his sophomore campaigns. His part-time British F4 campaign with Virtuosi Racing was more productive, as he had five top-10 finishes.

Prema has annnounced it has added Chinese youngster Kingsley Zheng to its 2026 E4 and Italian F4 line-ups after a prolonged testing programme this year.

“Starting a single-seater career in this way is the best opportunity,” said Zheng, who has past karting experience.

“Being able to work with such a prestigious team, where I can grow learn and grow quickly race by race, is something truly special.”

Embarking on a triple European programme like the US drivers is Pedro Lima, who joins Van Amersfoort Racing. He raced on home soil this year, coming third in Brazilian F4 with two victories and seven other podiums.

“Joining the upcoming Italian F4 season is a pivotal step in my career. I am ready for all the challenges and extremely excited to race for VAR, a team with a victorious history that has been home to great names in motorsport,” said Lima.

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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.

Photos: ACI Sport

Italian F4 added more races in 2025, but it didn’t mean more starts compared to previous seasons and Kean Nakamura-Berta had to rely on consistency to set a new record in the longest-running F4 championship

After 11 years with regularly massive grids, the Italian Formula 4 championship had to revisit a format change for its seven-round 2025 season. Rather than every event featuring three races, a fourth was added at rounds where entry lists exceeded the 42-car cap. It was a tweak previously needed for 2016’s first two rounds, once in 2022 and for the 2023 season opener.

For those events, qualifying was split into two and the results determined which of three lettered groups drivers would be put into. Three ‘qualifying’ races followed, with groups A and B in the first, A and C in the second, then B and C in the third. Those all lasted 25 minutes-plus-one lap, five minutes shorter than the regular race length, then the event’s points table determined the 36 drivers who progressed into the fourth ‘final’ race. A full season therefore meant, as in previous years, 21 starts.

Since Italian F4 does not use reversed-grid races, and despite historically having had one of the category’s strongest fields in terms of depth, the championship has had a tendency to be dominated and most often by Prema drivers. Six of the first 11 champions won nine or more races, and 2025’s format change rewarded winning with the opportunity to do more winning.

Freddie Slater delivered 15 of Prema’s 16 wins last year, with the odd one out being Kean Nakamura-Berta’s maiden success at Paul Ricard. He had made the podium once in the first 14 races, suffering a dip in confidence that his victory reversed.

“It’s a relief that finally I’ve won a race and I think I’ll treasure this win over many wins I’ve done before because I got a bit of confidence back,” he told Formula Scout at the time, before a run of top-four finishes (including three podiums) to end 2024.

Nakamura-Berta was edged to fifth in the standings and the rookie title by team-mate Alex Powell, and the pair were the highest placed drivers to stay on the grid for 2025. While Japanese-Slovak racer Nakamura lost his Alpine Academy backing in the off-season, he was the title favourite for this year as Powell moved to R-ace GP which had only ran one car full-time in 2024.

Prema’s sophomore star delivered on the title-fighting expectation in the season-opening round at Misano, topping his qualifying group and converting pole into three wins out of three. Rookie Salim Hanna Hernandez topped the other qualifying group but was beaten to race one victory by Prema team-mate Sebastian Wheldon, then came fourth and third in the next two.

A sign of things to come were Powell’s results. He was seventh in Nakamura’s qualifying group, set the fastest lap in his first race but finished 11th, struggled to overtake in the next one and finished eighth, then was a penalised 11th in the ‘final’ race.

Before any precedents could be truly set though, wet weather shook things up during round two at Vallelunga. PHM Racing’s David Cosma Cristofor, who would go on to come 26th in the standings with just seven points, was fastest in qualifying by a huge 1.549 seconds. He jumped from outside of the top 10 to top spot before red flags waved and prevented rivals from reasserting themselves as ahead.

Nakamura topped the other group, which Powell was eighth in, and converted pole into victory in race one. A slow-starting Cosma lost the lead immediately in race two, and Nakamura then looked set for an easy victory. But he came under lots of late pressure and had to put in a defensive masterclass to hold off Wheldon. His fifth win marked the best ever start to a season in Italian F4 history, with no other driver having begun their season with such a long unbeaten run.

He got to watch race three from the garage, and in the chaotic first few laps Wheldon and Powell went from fifth and 10th to first and second. Powell had no answer to Wheldon’s pace, but he was at least back on the podium.

Cosma finished 14th, a result he repeated in race four but by climbing up from 21st rather than falling down the order. Nakamura’s victory hopes ended on lap one as he lost his front wing on the rear of Wheldon’s car, and after pitting he recovered from 28th to 11th as US Racing’s Formula Winter Series champion Gabriel Gomez claimed his first race win after three third places from the first five races.

Most podiums in Italian F4 season

The four-race format was not needed in the next rounds, and at Monza things were super close in qualifying. Pole for all three races was decided by under 0.03s, and the track’s pronounced slipstream effect set up races key for learning wheel-to-wheel skills as well as qualifying’s fine margins.

Wheldon won race one from pole, but at one point Gomez and Nakamura were ahead and he got back past them after going three-wide. Nakamura gained 10 spots from 13th on the grid, while Powell went from 18th to fifth and back again.

Defensive prowess earned Nakamura victory in race two while Wheldon frequently overdid it at the first chicane and Gomez got between them after starting 10th. The Prema team-mates collided in race three, and Newman Chi won.

Powell showed what had been missing at Mugello, although not immediately. He was 0.425s off the pace in Q1, enough for fourth on race one’s grid as Nakamura went quickest, but then he topped Q2 by 0.36s to earn two poles.

Nakamura led lights-to-flag in the safety car-filled race one, then Powell nailed the challenge of a race which included rain and strong winds to land his first win then followed it up with a dominant second victory. His 65-point haul from the weekend equated to 51% of his total tally for the season, and after over six-and-a-half years with its support the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team now no longer has Powell’s name on the list of its junior drivers.

A ninth podium of the season significantly grew Nakamura’s points lead as closest title rival Wheldon finished 14th, and it also marked the start of a run of nine podiums in a row.

Round five was at Imola, and the stars of qualifying were Gomez and Prema’s Sasha Bondarev although Nakamura was less than 0.04s off pole twice. Gomez led home Hanna in race one to move up to second in the standings, then race two lasted 17s and was ultimately cancelled.

Newman Chi, Alex Powell and Reno Francot

Chi and Hanna stalled at the start, and were collected by several cars. Yellow flags waved but Kornelia Olkucka still crashed, leading to her Maffi Racing team-mates going off in avoidance of debris but ending their races.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov spun, other drivers had heavy crashes and when red flags waved 16 drivers were already out. Due to noise curfews preventing a restart, the race was rescheduled to feature in the final round at Misano.

Race three was the next day. Nakamura fought his way past poleman Bondarev on lap one before the safety car appeared, then pulled away after the restart. Bondarev closed back in, along with Popov, and Nakamura was warned over his defending before the safety car reappeared. Once again he got his tyres up to temperature to get a gap on the restart, but a lap later was back defending. Bondarev got past on the outside into Tamburello with two laps to go to win, as Popov lost out to Chi and later Gomez and Hanna.

The season’s only round abroad took place at Spanish track Barcelona, and sophomore Emanuele Olivieri returned to form to become R-ace’s lead driver in the standings. He had made the podium twice at Misano, finished second in the fourth Vallelunga race and then taken top-five finishes in the next two rounds but not reached similar heights to Powell despite comfortably beating him to the F4 Middle East title at the start of the year.

In Barcelona qualifying, Olivieri claimed two poles and was 0.118s shy of a third while Powell was 15th and 13th in the two sessions. Nakamura claimed race one pole, and Gomez and Wheldon were on the front row of the next two races.

Gomez stalled, got hit at turn two, punctured then pitted on race one’s opening lap, and retired shortly after. Nakamura dominated, extending his championship lead over Gomez to 80 points while Wheldon faded to sixth late in the race.

Race two was declared wet, and began behind the safety car since the field thought it was dry enough to start on slick tyres. Olivieri appeared to make an error bringing the pack up to racing speeds, and lost out to Gomez and Nakamura who were evenly matched until the safety car returned late on. Popov landed his fourth podium as Olivieri finished fifth.

Emanuele Olivieri

Heavy rain meant race three was red-flagged early. Wheldon led Nakamura, but as the race was abandoned it counted for nothing. The four-race format returned for the 44-car Misano finale, but the rescheduled encounter made it a five-race event.

Wheldon pipped Gomez to race one pole by 0.078s, Gomez returned the favour by 0.044s for race two, then also clinched race three pole. A controlled display by Wheldon to win race one wasn’t enough to keep his title hopes alive as Nakamura put in a composed display in second place, earned by passing Popov.

Gomez’s group was back on track for race two, but he didn’t get to line up from pole as an alternator meant he couldn’t even get to the grid and joined the race for one lap later on. Nakamura was already one point away from the title due to dropped scores, so it was comfortably secured as he finished third behind Wheldon and Chi.

Wheldon returned to second in the standings, but was not in race three in which Gomez handled a late attack from Hanna for his fourth win and move back ahead by 16 points.

The combined results put Wheldon and Gomez first and sixth on race four’s grid, and Gomez lost ground early on with a grassy moment. Wheldon was fastest on track throughout but lost the lead to Nakamura early on took a while to recover it. The championship’s top thee finished where they started, and Wheldon moved one point ahead of Gomez.

The ball was back in Gomez’s court for the season-ending rescheduled Imola race, as he had pole. Nakamura also had an opportunity to not only break Italian F4’s record podium tally for a season, but to do it in 20 races rather than 21.

Gomez led all the way until the last lap when, having held off many overtaking attempts, Nakamura got a run on him onto the back straight and after putting two wheels on the grass snatched first place. The champion got his ninth win and podium record, Gomez clinched runner-up spot as Wheldon finished seventh and Williams junior Bondarev took his second podium.

Gabriel Gomez

Hanna came fourth in the standings with sixth podiums, and will step up to a 2026 Formula Regional European Championship seat with Prema, but on a points-per-race basis Tomass Stolcermanis had the potential to be in that position. He only did the first two rounds with Prena, but claimed a podium and three other top-five finishes that still put him 11th in the championship.

PHM’s Reno Francot was another impressive part-timer, his three-round run beginning with a double podium at Mugello.

Existing under the same promoter as Italian F4 is E4, a sister ‘continental’ championship contested by most of the paddock and is essentially three further Italian F4 rounds with their own points table.

Ugo Ugochukwu and James Wharton’s 2023 record of five podiums in a season was thoroughly beaten by Nakamura this year as he picked up four victories, three runner-up finishes, a third and a fourth from the nine-race campaign. Despite taking the title by 47 points, it wasn’t wrapped up until the final race which was two weeks after his Italian F4 crowning.

The wins were shared by Gomez and Francot in round one at Paul Ricard in France so Gomez left the track as points leader, then Powell denied Nakamura a triple pole at Mugello. Nakamura resisted Powell’s early attacks in race one there to win, then did the same in race two but a track limits penalty demoted him to second between Powell and Francot.

Wheldon romped to race three victory ahead of Powell, and Francot overtook Nakamura to cause his sole podium-free race.

At the Monza finale, Nakamura won a dramatic race one, fended off title rival Gomez in race two then undid the places lost at the start of race three to become the first ever champion of both Italian F4 and E4 with another win. Francot was third in the points.

Had those events been incorporated into Italian F4’s schedule, here’s how the points table would have looked…

Combined 2025 Italian F4 + E4 table

The post How Nakamura-Berta broke podium records en route to F4 title double appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Prema

Niccolo Maccagnani will race for Prema next year in Italian Formula 4 and the sister E4 championship.

The 15-year-old was signed by Scuderia Ferrari this August, while in the middle of an intense private testing programme in single-seaters (which began in 2022), to become a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy for 2026.

In September he turned testing into racing, joining the F4 South East Asia grid for the last two rounds at Sepang and making the podium in all six of his races. He won three times, had three poles and came fourth in the standings.

Next up was his Italian F4 debut, which came in the season finale, and he had a best finish of 15th. Over the last month he has raced in the United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy, where two podiums was enough to make him series runner-up.

“I’m very happy to join a winning team for a season that will be very important for me,” the Italian said of joining Prema.

“Being part of the Ferrari Driver Academy gives me great confidence and motivation, and together we will try to do the best we can, and we’ll see where that will lead.”

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.

Next year he will race in at least three championships, with his programme away from Italy to be announced at a later date.

Prema founder Angelo Rosin commented: “Niccolo has been extremely impressive in his first few races despite being very young and a rookie in F4, so we are proud to have him with us, and we look forward to helping his talent develop. Italian F4 and E4 are challenging championships; we’re confident he will be battling at the front.”

The post Future Ferrari junior Niccolo Maccagnani to race for Prema in Italian F4 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Prema

Sasha Bondarev, a junior driver of the Williams Formula 1 team, will stay in Formula 4 next year with Prema.

The Italian outfit made the announcement during a gap in the winter test schedule, with Bondarev having been busy in Italian F4 tests over the last month. In 2026 he will race in Italian F4 and the sister E4 championship, both familiar paddocks to him.

He graduated from karts to cars by contesting the last two rounds of the 2024 Italian F4 season with Prema, coming 30th in the standings, then with a full campaign this year was 10th in the points table with one win. In E4 he was ninth in the points.

“Very happy to stay with Prema for another year in Italian F4,” said the 16-year-old Ukrainian.

“I believe that we put in great work over this year to learn everything we needed to learn, and now ready to fight for the championship. Very grateful to Prema and Williams for believing in me, and we will work even harder to maximise everything we can next season!”

The team says “additional appearances will be announced in due course”, which will likely mean a return to the F4 United Arab Emirates paddock. The championship is returning to its original name after being ran as F4 Middle East this year, and in that season Bondarev came 12th in the standings with a best finish of sixth.

“After a year of learning, we are confident that Sasha will do a great job in 2026,” Prema’s founder Angelo Rosin added.

“He has been part of the Prema family for a while now, and we know he has great potential. The experience he gained this year will be crucial, and we are looking forward to seeing where his progress will bring him next.”

The post Sasha Bondarev continues with Prema as he stays in F4 for 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Prema

Bernardo ‘Beco’ Bernoldi, son of ex-Formula 1 driver Enrique, will debut in single-seaters next year with Prema.

The 16-year-old Brazilian will race in Italian Formula 4, E4 and at least one other championship. Through 2025 he has tested with the team, as well as racing OK class karts. He came 36th in WSK’s Super Master Series and 67th in the CIK-FIA European championship.

Last year he was in the same class, coming sixth in WSK’s Euro Series and 38th in its Final Cup. On OK-N karts he was 21st in the Champions of the Future Academy Program series and 34th in the Trofeo Andrea Margutti.

“I’m very excited to join Prema for the 2026 F4 season,” said Bernoldi. “I really want to learn and improve, getting better race by race and get some good finishes in my rookie year.”

His father raced for Arrows in F1 during the 2001 and ’02 seasons, coming 16th in International Formula 3000 prior to that and returning to junior single-seaters after. He was third in the 2004 World Series by Nissan, and in the late 2000s raced in IndyCar and Superleague Formula.

“It’s great to see one of the Prema karting drivers make the step up to single-seaters, and we think he has good potential to be developed during the season,” said Prema founder Angelo Rosin.

Also already confirmed to be racing in Italian F4 and E4 next year are Andre Rodriguez and Augustus Toniolo.

Rodriguez will drive for Cram Motorsport, and have a busy year which starts in the Formula Winter Series.

The 17-year-old American cameoed in Spanish F4 with Monlau Motorsport, drove for Van Amersfoort Racing in E4 and with Cram in Italian F4 this year. He failed to crack the top 20 in his three Italian F4 outings and Spanish F4 appearance, and a 16th place was his best E4 result.

Top Formula 2, Formula 3 and Formula Regional team Trident will mark its 20th anniversary next year by expanding into F4. It will enter the Italian championship, and now E4 too with single-seater newcomer Toniolo as its first signing.

Toniolo called the move “a crucial step in my career” with a firm belief “Trident is the right environment to continue my development as a driver, given their proven record of success and tradition in nurturing young talents.”

During his karting career, the Brazilian won the ROK Junior class at ROK Vegas was sixth in the CIK-FIA World Championship for OK Junior karts in 2023. He was still racing OK-J karts at the start of 2025, and came 24th in WSK SMS.

“This agreement marks an important milestone for Trident, as he is the first driver with whom we have reached an agreement for our participation in both the Italian F4 championship and the E4 championship,” commented Salvadori.

“Augustus brings a genuine curiosity and an infectious enthusiasm, and I am confident that together we will set the best possible tone as we embark on this exciting new chapter.”

The post Ex-F1 driver Enrique Bernoldi’s son to race in F4 for Prema appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: ACI Sport

Prema’s Kean Nakamura-Berta completed a clean sweep of victories at the final round at Monza to add the E4 championship title to his Italian Formula 4 crown.

Nakamura-Berta made a good start from pole position but in the run down to the Rettifilo chicane was passed by team-mates Newman Chi and Salim Hanna, with PHM Racing’s Reno Francot taking fourth from the Prema car of Sebastian Wheldon.

US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez, who needed to win with Nakamura-Berta not scoring to snatch the title, was up to seventh from 13th on the grid, having straightlined the chicane in the opening lap confusion.

Nakamura-Berta was back in front within five laps and was able to hold position to the flag, although never escaping the clutches of his pursuers.

Gomez was giving everything as he tried to get on terms with Nakamura-Berta, but had to fight lap-after-lap with Wheldon. One optimistic move at the first lap saw Wheldon edge him onto the gravel but Gomez was able to continue after losing just one place.

Chi’s challenge came to an end after taking to the first chicane escape road, and then damaging his front wing in a collision, requiring him to pit at the end of lap 6.

Wheldon and Gomez continued to battle, with both cutting the second chicane, although Wheldon gave back the position he had gained in the process.

US Racing’s Kabir Anurag had slowly been moving through the field, taking fourth on lap 12, and demoting Gomez for fourth on the following lap.

However, Nakamura-Berta was ultimately out of reach, Hanna following him him, 1.4s adrift.

Gomez, whose freeform interpretation of the track layout attracted the attention of the stewards, took the flag in fourth from Wheldon and Francot.

R-ace GP’s Alex Powell put in a stunning drive to come home seventh from 25th on the grid, with Ferrari junior Niccolo Maccagnani following him over the line after a very mature and impressive drive for BVM Racing.

Race results (14 laps)

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Photo: ACI Sport

Kean Nakamura-Berta took another step towards the E4 title with his second victory of the weekend at Monza as Gabriel Gomez kept his title chances alive with second.

The Prema driver’s third E4 win of the season leaves him just one point shy of adding the title to that of the Italian F4 championship.

While Nakamura-Berta asserted himself at the front, the battle for second place generated the principal excitement of the race.

A four-car fight, involving PHM Racing’s Reno Francot, US Racing’s Gomez and the Prema pair of Newman Chi and Sebastian Wheldon raged throughout.

With Nakamura-Berta heading for victory and 25 points, Gomez knew that only second would be enough to continue the title fight into the final round. In a dramatic finale, he was able to regain the position from Wheldon just before the safety car brought an end to green flag running.

Francot made the best start from the front row, drawing alongside Nakamura-Berta into the Rettifilo chicane but could not slow down enough to make the apex, cutting the corner and ceding the position to the Prema man on the run to Roggia.

US Racing’s Ary Bansal, an impressive third in qualifying, was an early spinner, rejoining at the back of the field.

Chi slotted into second place with Francot in third ahead of Gomez and Wheldon.

US Racing’s Arjen Kraling and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Alexander Ruta came together at Turn 1, but fortunately managed to get themselves going before a safety car was necessary.

Into the first chicane on lap four, Francot again locked up, this time taking to the full escape road and allowing Gomez to make a move into Parabolica for third, with Wheldon following him by into the second chicane on the next lap.

Gomez was on a charge as he looked to chase after Nakamura-Berta, sailing past Chi on the pit straight at the end of the sixth lap, with Wheldon also slipping through into the Rettifilo. Gomez started to gradually chip away at the two second gap to the leader.

Bansal completed a miserable race with contact with R-ace GP’s Oleksandr Savinkov at the same corner, bringing out the safety car.

At the restart, Gomez had a look to the outside of Nakamura-Berta into the first chicane but had to back out, losing momentum and allowing Wheldon to get back in front at the Roggia.

The safety car was back out after Jenzer Motorsport’s Andre Rodriguez and Savinkov both spun wildly on the exit of Ascari after contact.

As Gomez again challenged Nakamura-Berta at the restart he lost ground, allowing Francot to draw alongside on the exit. Three abreast on the run through Curva Grande, Gomez just managed to squeeze past Francot into the second chicane to regain second.

Just in time, as it turned out, as behind them Prema’s Andre Dupe and VAR’s Dante Vinci had collided at Turn 1, blocking the track, and ensuring that the last lap would run under yellows.

Francot held onto third ahead of Wheldon and Chi. The US Racing pair of Andrija Kostic and Kabir Anurag took sixth and seventh respectively, ahead of VAR’s Maksimilian Popov, Prema’s Salim Hanna – supported here at Monza by Juan Pablo Montoya – with AMG-Mercedes junior Andy Consani taking 10th for R-ace GP.

Race results (15 laps)

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