After a thrilling finale at Paul Ricard that eventually saw rookie driver Evan Giltaire crowned French F4’s newest champion, the 26 drivers of the 2023 season must now prepare for next year. That means it’s also time for the championship to welcome its 2024 grid, and Feeder Series was at Paul Ricard to gather all the information about what that might look like.

By Perceval Wolff

The 2023 title protagonists

Despite being a rookie, Evan Giltaire was quickly tipped as one of the main favourites for this year’s French F4 season thanks to his impressive karting record and promising pace in testing.

Despite a 28-point deficit entering of the seventh and final round, the 16-year-old Frenchman was eventually crowned on Sunday after winning the final race of the season. The day after, it was announced thatGiltaire would step up to FRECA with ART Grand Prix for the final two rounds of the 2023 season at Zandvoort and Hockenheim later this month.

Feeder Series understands that the freshly crowned French F4 champion is set to stay with ART for 2024 and that the team led by Sébastien Philippe is keen to bring Giltaire to higher categories later if his results continue to be as impressive as those he took in French F4.

Enzo Peugeot had an amazing battle with Giltaire, eventually losing by only four points despite winning a lawsuit that helped him get back a win at Misano and 14 points on his chief rival before the season finale.

After two seasons in F4, the 17-year-old is targeting FRECA. Peugeot has been in talks with several teams, including ART and Saintéloc, but his seat for 2024 is not yet secure even if he remains confident about gathering enough budget. He will participate in some post-season FRECA testing at the end of the year.

The rest of the 2023 top 10

2022 FEED Racing winner Kevin Foster finished third in his maiden single-seater season with a podium in 10 out of 21 races. Eighteen months before, the 20-year-old didn’t have enough money to go to FEED Racing. His future is still unclear at the moment and is in the hands of his sponsors, mainly from Area 27 and other Canadian benefactors. FRECA and Eurocup-3 are options, but he has also considered a switch to Road to Indy categories, which could attract more Canadian sponsors.

Romain Andriolo, fourth in the standings, is also hoping to step up to FRECA next year, and Feeder Series can reveal that he is one of several drivers in contention for a seat at Saintéloc. This time last year, the 17-year-old driver from Toulouse was preparing for a move to Porsche Carrera Cup France before committing to a second year in F4, suggesting that the Winfield Racing School protégé is less certain about staying in single-seaters.

Hiyu Yamakoshi from Japan has been one of the most positive surprises from this year, finishing fifth overall. The 16-year-old is also participating in Spanish F4 with Tecnicar, currently sitting 14th in the standings despite missing two rounds because of clashes with French F4. For 2024, the Japanese driver is targeting a title challenge in Spanish F4, likely with Campos Racing, but the final decision about his future will be taken next week, after the Spanish F4 round in Valencia.

Garrett Berry has showed some steady progress throughout the year, which helped him to get sixth in the standings. The 19-year-old American driver is eyeing a move to faster categories, and Eurocup-3 seems his most likely destination.

Yani Stevenheydens, the 2022 winner of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium (RACB) Road to F4, said he did not know yet what the future would hold for him. Seventh in the standings with two wins in the final two meetings, the 17-year-old Belgian hopes to retain RACB support for a second year of F4 in 2024.

After starting his F4 career in July 2021, 17-year-old Enzo Richer is set to leave French F4, but his destination remains unclear.

Fellow 17-year-old Edgar Pierre is aiming to move to either FRECA or Eurocup-3. The VictoryLane protégé says he is confident in his budgetary situation and is in talks with several teams, including Saintéloc in FRECA.

Having finished tenth in the standings, Pol López has expressed a lot of criticism against the championship on social media. At 19 years old, the Spaniard is set to leave F4 but maybe not single-seaters entirely, as Eurocup-3 could be an option for him.

2024 returnees

Several current drivers are committed to a second season in this series. Feeder Series has also learned that between 35 and 45 drivers have already applied to enter French F4 in 2024, but only 26 of them will have a drive.

Fifteen-year-old Paul Alberto was the youngest driver in the field this season and is set to return for another campaign next year. The start of his year was difficult, with just two points from the first five rounds, but he took three top-five finishes and a total of 36 points in the two final rounds en route to 11th overall.

Just behind Alberto in the standings, 15-year-old Italian-Brazilian Leonardo Megna will follow the same path. Feeder Series understands that he will also receive coaching from Winfield next season.

Three drivers participated in French F4 this year with the support of the ADAC Formula Junior Team, a programme for drivers in their first two years of single-seater racing. Max Reis will no longer be eligible for the ADAC programme next year as he has already done two years of F4, but his management has not excluded the possibility of a third year in the series independently. Tom Kalender and Finn Wiebelhaus appear set to continue for a second year in French F4, perhaps with some other Italian F4 outings as they have done this year.

Feeder Series has also learned that British-French driver Gabriel Doyle-Parfait is also set for a second year of French F4 having switched to single-seaters this season from saloon cars.

Ukrainian Yaroslav Veselaho, a drift champion in Ukraine prior to his single-seater switch this year, has already tested FRECA cars during the summer and is believed to be making the move up for 2024.

Frenchman Édouard Borgna is also set to remain in F4, now with a year’s experience under his belt in cars. He will be joining Formula Winter Series in Spain during the winter before French F4, in which he aims to finish in the top 10.

While the single-seater futures of several other drivers still hang in the balance, at least one driver, Adrien Closmenil, is thought to be moving to LMP3 next season.

2024 rookies

The three reigning French FFSA Junior Karting champions will make their official single-seaters debut in the same year. As the newest FEED Racing winner, 16-year-old Augustin Bernier hopes to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Victor, who was French F4’s 2019 junior champion.

2022 CIK-FIA Academy Trophy champion Arthur Dorison, a protégé of Pierre Gasly, is regarded as one of France’s brightest karting talents. The 14-year-old made his single-seater debut last weekend in the French F4 finale, but he had a tough couple days of learning after having contracted COVID-19 prior to the weekend. Feeder Series can reveal that Dorison will be doing the Formula Winter Series with Saintéloc Racing to prepare for the full French F4 season in 2024.

Dorison’s successor as FFSA junior karting champion is Pacôme Weisenburger, a member oft he VictoryLane management scheme that also oversees Victor Martins’ career. The 15-year-old has collected strong results in karting at both the national and international level for several years ahead of a probable move to cars.

Several drivers that participated in the FEED Racing programme this year should do the full French F4 season, including 17-year-old Enzo Caldaras from France and 14-year-old Alex O’Grady from Ireland. Winfield is also planning to support 17-year-old Chester Kieffer from Luxemburg.

Next year, the ADAC Formula Junior Team will be represented by four drivers instead of three. Sixteen-year-old Maxim Rehm is set to join the series with the ADAC programme having been a frontrunner in the Deutsche Kart Meisterschaft (DKM) for several years.

French F4 will also welcome its first female driver since 2021 in the form of 14-year-old Lisa Billard. Third in the FFSA junior karting championship having led until the final round and seventh in the FIA Academy Trophy and first female driver on its podium since 2015, the protégée of Esteban Ocon has impressed many.

Billard has been a member of Alpine F1’s Rac(H)er Program since the start of the year with five other young girls. It was previously announced that only a couple of them would be supported by Alpine in preparation for F4, and Feeder Series can now reveal that Billard is one of those selected. Since she will turn 15 in September, she will only be able to participate in the final three rounds of the season. Billard’s absence also means that only 25 drivers will compete in the first four rounds.

French F4 will kick off its 2024 season at Nogaro with the traditional “Coupe de Pâques” (Easter Cup) at Nogaro on 31 March.

Editor’s note, 11 October 2023, 23:45 CEST: This article has been amended with updated information on Yaroslav Veselaho’s expected 2024 plans.

Header photo credit: French F4