After six rounds and 18 races, it all comes down to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with three more races to determine who will succeed Nikola Tsolov as Spanish F4 champion. A clear favourite stands out, but there’s still hope for four drivers ahead of the last race weekend of the season. Feeder Series takes a look at what to expect from a special season finale, whatever the outcome. 

By Grégoire Devaux

Except for an unforgettable 2019 season in which Drivex’s wunderkind Franco Colapinto managed to win the title, no one has been able to prevent MP Motorsport and Campos Racing from catching the drivers’ and team title since the series launched in 2016. The Dutch outfit has won five out of six editions between the inaugural season and 2022, with Richard Verschoor, Christian Lundgaard, Amaury Cordeel, Kas Haverkort and the late Dilano van ’t Hoff adding their names to the history book. 

However, in 2022, Campos broke MP Motorsport’s hegemony thanks to Nikola Tsolov’s record-breaking season. This weekend, another team is about to break the hegemony of feeder series giants MP Motorsport and Campos Racing: French outfit’s Saintéloc Racing. Led by Théophile Naël’s stunning season, the team based in Saint-Étienne could make a statement, having joined the single-seater world only in the middle of the 2022 season. The title may seem almost secured for the Frenchman, but there’s still hope for three other rivals and much more to fight for this weekend. 

Naël’s meteoric rise

Ahead of the season finale in Barcelona, Naël missing out on the title would undoubtedly be the biggest fumble in Spanish F4 history. With a maximum of 75 points available to earn at the last three races and 281 points on his tally, Théophile Naël only needs 10 points to realise the biggest achievement of his young career. 

Back in August, the French wonderkid told Feeder Series, “We’re doing pretty well at the moment, but there’s still half a season to go. We must keep doing”. 

The least we can say is that’s exactly what he did. Naël went into the summer break with a 24-point gap to the driver placed second in the championship; now his lead has been extended to 65 points. Since his chat with Feeder Series over the summer, the Saintéloc Racing driver has won five of the last nine races.

He could have clinched the title last time out at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but the last race was one for him to forget. After a failed start that dropped him from pole position to 12th, Naël struggled to catch up because of the multiple safety car interruptions. After climbing back to ninth, the Frenchman was given a post-race penalty, leaving him in 19th place and preventing him from being even closer to the title.

Considering the gap to his rivals, the title seems almost all but granted for Théophile Naël, who could become the first French driver to win the drivers’ championship in Spanish F4 history.

Ho vs. Deligny: a huge teammate battle incoming?

Given Naël’s gap out front, the more pressing fight appears to be for second place. Campos Racing’s duo of Christian Ho and Enzo Deligny are fighting not only for that second spot in the drivers’ championship but also for the pride of being the best driver in the team. In Valencia, Christian Ho concretized his stunning second part of the season with his second win of the season, a success that put him just ahead of Enzo Deligny, who sits third with 213 points. 

After an almost perfect weekend in Estoril, in which he took three podiums, including a win, Deligny struggled more in Valencia, failing to take a podium for only the second time of the season, the last time being at round one in Spa. The Frenchman will have much more to fight for than the aim of being runner-up, as he only needs eight points to clinch the rookie championship. 

His only remaining rival for the rookie title, teammate Matteo de Palo, sits fifth in the drivers standings with 145 points. Despite having obtained two podiums last time out in Valencia, the Italian driver seems too far to catch up with Deligny. However, the three Campos drivers will each have a bigger target: finishing ahead of MP Motorsport’s Valerio Rinicella at all costs.

Valerio Rinicella: MP Motorsport’s last shot at the drivers’ title

Despite having taken five podiums in the last nine races, MP Motorsport and Valerio Rinicella’s comeback is too late for the hope of clinching the driver title. Naël only needs to take four points to put an end to the Italian driver’s title hope, and the Campos duo of Christian Ho and Enzo Deligny are ahead in the runner-up fight. 

Rinicella’s target this weekend is less to win the drivers’ championship and more to help MP in the teams’ championship. While Naël seems to have the drivers’ title secured ahead of this weekend, his teammates Luciano Morano and Theodor Jensen have failed to score a single point this season so far, ruining Saintéloc’s chances of fighting for the teams’ championship. 

MP Motorsport won five of the first six teams’ titles in Spanish F4, with Campos taking their first win last year, but the battle has never been closer than entering the season finale this year. The Spanish outfit, on 405 points, holds a slim nine-point lead over the Dutch team with 119 points on offer in the final three races.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool