Saintéloc Racing’s rise has been one of the most fascinating to watch in the last year and a half. Competing in FRECA and Spanish F4 for their first full season in single-seaters, the French side clinched their maiden win in the category through Théophile Naël in the second round of Spanish F4. Feeder Series spoke with Saintéloc Racing’s team manager, Morgan Caron, after a promising start to the season.

By Grégoire Devaux

In 2022, 18 years after its creation and with an established portfolio in GT series and rallying, Saintéloc Racing started in single-seaters. It was the beginning of an ambitious project for the French outfit that has already shown some sparks of success with a maiden win in single-seater earned by Théophile Naël at Motorland Aragón during the second round of Spanish F4.

‘I had nothing – no car, no tools.‘

Saintéloc’s journey in single-seaters started in the fourth round of the Spanish F4 Championship last year. Held in Spa, the French outfit came with a line-up composed of Théophile Naël and Ethan Ischer. While Naël had just turned 15, the Swiss driver already had some experience with Jenzer Motorsport in Italian F4.

But before this first race weekend in Spa, it all started months earlier with an idea from Sébastien Chétail, founder and owner of Saintéloc. Morgan Caron, Saintéloc’s team director, told Feeder Series about the origin of the project.

“The genesis of the single-seater program came from Sébastien Chétail, who wanted to extend Saintéloc’s activities to single-seaters after the success he had achieved in other categories,” Caron said. “In April 2022, he contacted me to join him and lead this project. When I arrived, I was on my own. I had nothing – no car, no tools. We had to recruit staff and engineers, and we started our first race in July with the Spanish F4.”

The French outfit didn’t wait long to score their first points in single-seaters. In the first race of the fifth round, held at Motorland Aragón, Naël secured an amazing eighth-place finish. The French driver managed to score points in three of the last eight races of the season, gaining all of Saintéloc’s points in their inaugural season.

Despite arriving in the middle of the season with an inexperienced line-up, the French outfit finished seventh out of 12 in the team’s championship, an impressive first few months that set the path for 2023.

“There was already a very clear plan,” Caron said. “We arrived in a very humble way but with very high ambitions. For 2022, the plan was to do a few races in Spanish F4 with the aim of entering the championship full time in 2023. We’d also been thinking since last year about entering FRECA in 2023. We’ve put a lot of work into recruiting people for these projects so that we have quality.

“After that, we also have a specific working method with very precise processes. This applies to both the car and the drivers. This work is coming to fruition, with positive results and drivers who are learning from their mistakes. All this means that we can optimise at every level and achieve our goals.”

For 2022, the plan was to do a few races in Spanish F4 with the aim of entering the championship full time in 2023. We’d also been thinking since last year about entering FRECA in 2023.

Morgan Caron

Soon after the end of their Spanish F4 campaign, Saintéloc completed post-season winter testing in Barcelona to find the best lineup for the 2023 Spanish F4 and FRECA seasons. The team based in Saint-Étienne then moved to the Middle East to take part in the 2023 F4 UAE Championship.

Even though nothing was publicly official at that time, Caron confirmed that their Spanish F4 lineup for the 2023 season was already signed by that point. Sending the three drivers to F4 UAE was then the perfect opportunity to gain experience and team spirit.

“Very early on, at the end of last year, we had already finalised the lineup for 2023. To optimise our performance and our work with the different drivers, we wanted to have the same lineup for the UAE F4 and the Spanish F4. We succeeded in achieving this objective with Théophile, Theodor [Jensen] and Luciano [Morano].

“We have an open working relationship with the drivers. Our aim was to make the most of the UAE F4 Championship, firstly to perform well and show that we’re making progress, and secondly to prepare as well as possible for the Spanish F4 Championship.”

‘To say that we don’t have ambitions to win would be a lie’

The 2023 UAE F4 campaign was yet another positive experience not only for Saintéloc but also for Naël. The French driver once again scored all of his team’s points during the five rounds of the championship. He even came close to a maiden podium in single-seaters, finishing fourth in the first race at Kuwait Motor Town.

After an insightful championship and some pre-season testing, the start of the Spanish F4 season in Spa couldn’t have come any sooner. For their first full season in single-seaters, Morgan Caron told Feeder Series that their objectives were really clear.

“In Spanish F4, it’s been clear since the start of the championship, especially with Théophile, that we’re capable of being a potential winner. To say that we don’t have ambitions to win would be a lie. Théophile and I want to try, do the best we can, and if we can fight for the championship, we will. We’re up against teams like MP Motorsport and Campos, who have more cars, so we’re not always on equal terms, but we’ll do our best to fight for the championship in Spanish F4.”

If they are shining in Spanish F4, Saintéloc are still looking for the right rhythm in FRECA. With a full-time line-up composed of Lucas Medina and Emerson Fittipaldi Jr., the French side is still chasing their first point in the category. Against experienced teams and talented drivers such as Italian wunderkind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, there’s nothing to worry about for Saintéloc, which is still in a learning phase.

“In FRECA, we started the championship this year against teams that are all ultra-competitive with very experienced drivers. We started with two cars. We’re a rookie team with two rookie drivers. I’m sure we’re still in a phase of learning certain aspects of the discipline. In any case, we can see that the results are going in the right direction. Both Fittipaldi and Medina are making progress. In the next few races, we’ll have a third car coming in with a driver [Esteban Masson] who has a bit more experience and who, we hope, will enable us to progress in this championship.”

Everything arrives in due time, and Saintéloc’s first moment of glory happened in Race 3 of the second round of the Spanish F4 season. At Motorland Aragón, Naël earned his, and the team’s, maiden victory in single-seaters. With three podiums in six races, the 15-year-old driver sits in second place in the general standings. That Naël sits only eight points behind leader Pedro Clerot is no surprise to Caron.

“Last year he started halfway through the season because he was waiting to turn 15 before being allowed to race in a single-seater. When he did, he was able to take part in the last four rounds of Spanish F4. Already there, he was showing some interesting signs in terms of pure speed. He needed to channel his energy into racing. He grew from his mistakes. He also matured and learned a lot during the UAE F4 this winter.

“Now he has attacked the 2023 season in a very good state of mind. He’s got the pace. Now it’s up to us to give him the tools he needs to perform at his best in each of the events. We’re going to support him in this championship and hope for a good result at the end of the year.

“I wouldn’t say [his win] was a surprise. Every day, you can see the work we put in and the energy we spend. We push our team towards excellence at every level, whether it’s the mechanics, engineers, or drivers. During the collective tests with all the teams after the F4 UAE, we immediately saw that we were there. We had the performance. After that, we had to put it into practice.”

‘If the opportunity arises, our strategy is to join F3 and F2’

Now that they have clinched their first win in single-seaters, the sky is the limit for Saintéloc. The team wants to build on this success and move forward to achieve their goals.

“Now that we’ve done that, we’re going to ask for more. Whether it’s our engineering, our drivers, or whatever. It gives a positive dynamic to the whole team because our engineers are young engineers that we recruited last year and trained. It’s also a human adventure for them. They were able to experience their first victory, and that shows that the intense work we ask of them daily comes to fruition on the track, and that motivates them even more to give it their all.”

Saintéloc’s ambitions don’t stop at Spanish F4 and FRECA. After less than a year in single-seaters, the team is already about to expand its activities to a new category.

As Caron confirmed to Feeder Series, Saintéloc Racing will join the brand-new Eurocup-3 this season. The French side will make their debut during the fourth round of the championship, held at Zandvoort in July. After having done some post-season testing with the team last winter, Dario Cabanelas will be their only driver. Coming from two campaigns in French F4 in which he finished eighth and ninth respectively, the 16-year-old Swiss driver will bring some experience to the team.

But Saintéloc’s ambitions don’t stop at Eurocup-3 either.

“Less than a year ago, there was nothing. Today we’re in Spanish F4 and FRECA. We’ll be joining Eurocup-3 from Zandvoort. We’re going to strengthen our structure in these three championships. At the same time, this winter, we’ll be back in F4 UAE, and we’ll start in FRMEC. In the long-term, if the opportunity arises, our strategy is to join F3 and F2.”

Header photo credit: F4 Spain