Brazilian F4’s second season saw a large part of the 2022 grid return, and exciting on-track racing and the championship fight ensured it was one worth watching. Feeder Series reviews five memorable storylines from the year…

By Laura Anequini

1. The last-round title fight

Brazilian F4 gave us something to hold onto until the last minute, with the new winner of the championship decided only in the final weekend at Interlagos. Fighting for the title were Vinícius Tessaro from Cavaleiro, Matheus Comparatto from Bassani, and Álvaro Cho and Luan Lopes from TMG. Comparatto was 24 points behind Tessaro, Cho 30 and Lopes 52 with 70 points still up for grabs.

Starting off in qualifying, the session that set the grid for races one and three saw intense competition. The top five drivers were separated by only 0.203s, while the top 10 drivers were all within one second of the best time. Several drivers took provisional pole position, but ultimately, Comparatto set the fastest time, and he and Lopes earned front-row starts for races one and three.

The action did not finish here. Starting from third, Tessaro won the first race of the weekend and extended his lead to 40 points over Comparatto, who finished sixth. With Cho and Lopes now out of the title fight,  Tessaro only needed to finish in seventh in race two and the title was his.

If you thought this would be an easy task, you would be wrong. Race two had only started when a touch between Cecília Rabelo and Tessaro in the first lap forced the championship leader to pull into pit lane with a broken suspension and retire from the race. But since Comparatto finished the race in fourth place, the retirement did not matter: as he stood in pit lane, Tessaro was now the new Brazilian F4 champion.

2. First time on the F1 support bill

The 2023 season also marked the first time that a Brazilian F4 round was part of a F1 weekend – a huge moment for the championship and a rarity among F4 series, with only F1 Academy, NACAM F4 and F4 UAE doing the same this year.

F4 series are intended as an entry point into junior single-seaters after karting, but this usually takes place on a localised scale. Racing in front of F1 meant that these drivers were, for one weekend, racing in front of the world as well. Having such a spotlight on these junior drivers could help them get the attention of F1 teams, increasing their chances of joining an academy in the future and attracting new sponsors.

The round also came with new challenges for the drivers. Pirelli tyres were used for the first time this season instead of the Hankook rubber introduced at the start of the year. They also had to adapt quickly to a new weekend format with less track time. The drivers had only one free practice on Friday instead of the two they usually have, followed by qualifying the next morning at 6:40 ahead of race one at 9:50. Under the spotlight, some drivers shone especially brightly…

3. Rabelo takes a historic pole

On that Saturday morning, before the main F1 crowds had arrived to the circuit, Rabelo made history as the first woman to qualify on pole in Brazilian F4. Qualifying was pushed from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning because of the thunderstorms in São Paulo, and the track was still wet when the drivers went out. Rabelo was the only one with rain tyres on during the session, which made the difference in the end.

By using the right strategy, Rabelo led the whole session, and her lap time of 1:51.757 put her on the first row for both races one and three. However, she had problems in both races. In race one, her car stalled at the start, but she managed to finish the race in seventh. In race three, she and João Tesser made contact at the Senna S on lap nine, leading to her retirement from the race.

4. Ferreira’s maiden podium

Apart from the title decider, the last weekend in Interlagos also saw Rafaela Ferreira become the first woman to stand on the podium in Brazilian F4 as well as the first woman to take a win in the rookies’ championship.

Ferreira showed strong pace throughout the whole weekend, finishing fifth in extra practice three and in the top 10 in both free practice sessions. After qualifying 10th, Ferreira went on to finish seventh in race one. However, it was in race two that she had her strongest performance.

The opening-lap incident between Rabelo, Tessaro and Nelson Neto brought out the safety car. Upon the restart on lap four, Ferreira jumped to third place by passing Comparatto at turn 9 and managed to retain her position for the rest of the race.

5. Nine of 15 drivers win races

The 2023 season also saw nine different drivers out of 15 total entrants secure a victory, up from six in 2022. Between the title contenders, Tessaro took six wins, while Comparatto took four and Lopes and Cho took one each. It is worth noting that all teams had at least one contender fighting for the title, and the margin separating the top four was small.

Besides the four title contenders, Neto started the year by winning race two of round one in Interlagos, with Callejas winning the same race at the following round. Alpine junior Matheus Ferreira, who primarily raced in Italian F4 in 2023 and joined Brazilian F4 only for the F1 grand prix weekend, won races one and three of that round, while Alexandre Machado won race two. To close the season, Lucca Zucchini won race two of round six.

All nine race winners took their first championship wins this year, and their triumphs not only added to the season’s overall competitiveness but also demonstrated the depth of talent in Brazilian F4 in 2023, which helped generate unpredictable races all year long. The victories were especially notable for Callejas, Comparatto and Machado, rookies who showed strong performances and versatility in their first seasons.

Header photo credit: Stock Car Pro Series