In the second weekend of F4 UAE we ventured to the Dubai Autodrome to see who would take a hold of the championship standings with no Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Here are four takeaways from a fantastic weekend of racing.
By Charlie Parker
Wharton’s domination
In his last weekend in the competition, Prema driver James Wharton dominated, claiming pole in both qualifying sessions and winning the first three races. Wharton made his way up to sixth in race four after starting in reverse grid 12th, completing a stellar weekend.
Race two was the only race where Wharton did not set the fastest lap of the race and he won race three by just under nine seconds.
The Australian leaves F4 UAE at the top of the standings ahead of a F4 campaign with Prema. He will be replaced by Andrea Kimi Antonelli for round three.
PHM win again
PHM Racing is a brand-new team and F4 UAE is their first ever racing competition, but they’ve already made a name for themselves as Nikita Bedrin claimed victory in race four, making it two race four victories in two weeks for the new German team.
Bedrin managed to control race four after allowing Martinius Stenshorne and Suleiman Zanfari to battle for the lead and then sneaking past them both as they pushed each other wide.
Fellow PHM driver Taylor Barnard, who won race four at Yas Marina, was battling for a podium spot before picking up damage in the battle, forcing him to pit. Overall, it was a great weekend for PHM who have used the reverse grids to their advantage.
To learn more about PHM Racing, their team owner Paul Mueller and team manager Roland Rehfeld spoke to F1 Feeder Series, you can read that here.
Prema still the one’s to beat
As expected, Prema dominated proceedings, constantly having their drivers fighting for the victory and having all of their claim at least one podium this weekend.
Wharton won the first three races. Aiden Neate finished second two times while finishing fourth in race one and eighth in race four. Charlie Wurz finished third twice while claiming fourth in race two and seventh in race four. Rafael Camara, who was making his single seater debut this weekend, had to wait to race four to claim his podium, finishing third.
New Tatuus cars showing great racing
F4 UAE debut the new Tatuus T-421 race cars with fans eager to see how the new generation would look in battle. They have not disappointed. Specifically shown in race four, the cars, and drivers, have shown a great ability to race close and race hard.
A lot of wheel-to-wheel action took place this weekend, including two Prema’s literally coming wheel-to-wheel in race four. If you missed out on any action this weekend and want to see a lot of the close battles, race four is highly recommended.
Header photo credit: F4 UAE
Feeder Series 