After a successful inaugural season in 2023, the Formula Winter Series is back for an even more promising second edition. Keeping the same format of four race weekends across five weeks in all of Spain’s most iconic tracks, the latest winter championship has attracted many teams and drivers, who seem to consider it a cheaper alternative to the giants F4 UAE and FRMEC. The Formula Winter Series presents your guide to the 2024 Formula Winter Series season.

By Grégoire Devaux

In recent years, winter championships have expanded a lot across all continents. From the pioneering F4 UAE to the neighboring Formula Regional Middle East Championship or even the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, it all left Europe behind for the winter, as most of the season already takes place there in the summer. Hence, the brand-new Formula Winter Series had everything it needed to become a perfect alternative to these championships.

Cheaper and closer than its rivals, the grid has more than tripled from the inaugural race in 2023 to the upcoming first race of the 2024 season. From 10 drivers across four teams last season to 38 drivers from 12 teams in Jerez this weekend, the Formula Winter Series recently signed a partnership with Formula 4 to allow all drivers to compete both in Spanish F4 and the Formula Winter Series, hence avoiding the testing limits problems of last season. Feeder Series takes a close eye to every driver and every team making it for this second edition of the Formula Winter Series.

The calendar

For this new season, the Formula Winter Series decided to keep the exact same schedule as for its inaugural season, with the championship taking place across four of Spain’s best tracks: Jerez, Valencia, Aragon, and, of course, Barcelona. Despite rumors of a race in Portimao, Portugal, the organisers decided to stick with Spain, as most of the teams composing the championship are from there. In addition to the three race days per event, the Formula Winter Series has also included a test day on each Thursday of a race week in order to allow the drivers to get accustomed to the new tracks.

• Round 1: Circuito de Jerez (9-11 February)
• Round 2: Circuito Ricardo-Tomo Valencia (16-18 February)
• Round 3: Circuito de Navarra (1-3 March)
• Round 4: Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya (8-10 March)

The format

Outside of the calendar, the championship also sticks with the same format. Each round will be composed of a two-part qualifying session to set the grid for the two 30-minute plus one lap races, both taking place on Sunday. Friday and Saturday will help drivers become accustomed to the car, with a total of four hours of free testing being spread across the two days.

Concerning the points system, FWS aligns with the standard FIA points allocation, with the winner of the race taking 25 points, down to 10th scoring one point. One additional point will be awarded for the fastest lap in both qualifying sessions, and another additional point will go to the fastest lap holder in each of the races.

Where to watch

All FWS races will be livestreamed on their official YouTube channel.

Teams and drivers

US Racing

After having won all but one race last season, US Racing is back to defend its hegemony. The German outfit will line up five cars throughout the whole series. 

The first driver to have been announced is no less than a returnee, Gianmarco Pradel (#12). The Australian driver finished second in the driver’s championship last year, behind his teammate Kacper Sztuka. He also gathered a lot of experience by competing in the Italian F4 Championship and the newly created Euro 4 series. 

US Racing also reaffirmed their confidence in two young drivers that competed in some rounds with them, those being Kabir Anurag (#19) and Akshay Bohra (#31). In 2023, Anurag made his singleseater debut with the German outfit, driving the last three rounds of the Italian F4 Championship. On the flipside, Bohra gathered a lot more experience in many FIA Formula 4 championships. Outside of the Formula Winter Series season finale in Barcelona, the Singaporean driver competed in F4 UAE, Italian F4, Euro 4, and the last round of Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport.

Added to these experienced drivers are two young talents about to make their single-seater debuts. Competing in karting, where he most notably took part in the Karting World Cup and European Championships in the KZ2 category, Maxim Rehm (#71) is about to make a giant leap in his career. The same can be said for Matheus Ferreira (#10), who, after stints in Italian and Brazilian F4 last year, will try to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible throughout the four rounds of the championship.

Campos Racing

With six cars lined up for at least the opening round of the Formula Winter Series in Jerez, only MP Motorsport can match the Spanish outfit ahead of the Formula Winter Series’ first round. The first driver announced was no less than Andrés Cárdenas (#18), who was already part of the team last season for the Spanish F4 Championship, in which he took a win and two further podiums. His main rival in his team could potentially be James Egozi (#48), who gathered a bit of experience in Italian F4 last season.

Alongside him will be Finn Harrison (#88), who competed in the Ginetta Junior and GB4 championships last season. If the British driver will drive outside of his native England for the first time in his career, Campos has two drivers about to make their single-seater debut. Competing in the X30 Senior category in various European and World championships, Pacôme Weisenburger (#11) will certainly learn a lot in one of the most renowned teams for finding new talent. Along with him, a young Mexican talent will also drive abroad for the first time in his career. Ernesto Rivera (#49) gathered most of his experience in the Mexican Karting Championship, where he competed in the X30 Junior category.

Finally, Campos announced earlier this week the arrival of Carrie Schreiner (#8), who competed in the F1 Academy’s inaugural season in 2023 with ART GP, where she took her maiden win in single-seaters.

A few weeks ago, three young talents from karting were announced to compete in the Formula Winter Series: Enzo Tarnvanichkul, Nathan Tye, and Jan Przyrowski. However, none of them are on the first round entry list, and it remains to be seen if they’ll join the Spanish outfit later during the championship.

MP Motorsport

Another giant of the feeder series ladder is undoubtedly MP Motorsport. Competing in Spanish F4, the Formula Winter Series represents the perfect training for the Dutch outfit, which will line up six cars, of which no less than five will be occupied by drivers about to make their single-seater debut. Hence, Griffin Peebles’ (#3) task will be to share the experience gathered across his stints in the Italian F4, Spanish F4, British F4, and Euro 4 championships last season.

The first talent to have been announced has a name known to all motorsports fans, as he’s the son of former Formula 1 driver and Le Mans 24H winner Jan Lammers. René Lammers (#9) will make his single-seater debut after a successful career in karting, where he most recently won the FIA Karting European Championship and finished second in the FIA Karting World Championship, both in the OK category.

Both of his rivals in those two championships will now drive alongside him, as Maciej Gladysz (#7) and Mattia Colnaghi (#87) have also been announced by the Dutch outfit. Competing in X30 senior until then, Spanish talent Lucas Fluxa (#21) will try to gather as much experience as possible, while Peter Bouzinelos (#46) is about to compete in Europe for the first time of his career after competing in the Australian Karting Championship and the F4 South East Asia, where he took a podium.

DriveX

Well-established in the Spanish F4 for years, DriveX will line up three cars during the whole of this Formula Winter Series championship. Hence, it is no surprise that the Spanish outfit decided to line up Juan Cota (#4), who, along with Gianmarco Pradel and Akshay Bohra, will be the only driver who has already taken part in the Formula Winter Series previously. The Spanish driver has also just been confirmed to stay with the team out of Alcalá de Henares for a second season in the Spanish F4 Championship, in which he finished 14th.

DriveX will also line up Mikkel Pedersen (#66) in the hope of putting the 2023 Danish F4 Champion in the best condition ahead of his Spanish F4 season, his first experience outside of his native Denmark. Finally, Francisco Macedo (#33) will complete DriveX’s lineup for this Formula Winter Series and make his single-seater debut after having competed in the FIA World and European Karting championships in the OK class.

Jenzer Motorsport

After competing in two of the four rounds of the inaugural Formula Winter Series season, Jenzer Motorsport will now compete in all races with four cars. Out of these four cars, only two drivers have already gathered single-seater experience. Edouard Borgna (#27) has experience in singleseaters. The French driver, renowned for having made his motorsport debut straight away in the 2023 French F4 Championship without competing in karting before, finished last, with a best finish of 14th. He’ll try to gather experience in improving tracks and in a team that, slowly but surely, is expanding his activities after also competing in the inaugural F4 CEZ season in 2023.

Edouard Borgna will not be the only French driver with Jenzer, as the promising Arthur Dorison (#25) will try to gather even more experience after having made his single-seater debut in the last round of French F4 last season. Both competing in the OK category in various karting championships across Europe last season, Adam Hideg (#24) and Enea Frey (#26) complete Jenzer’s lineup and will make their single-seater debut.

GRS

Until last week, GRS were about to start their second season in the Formula Winter Series with only one car, driven by Belgian talent Douwe Dedecker (#28), who gained a podium in British F4 last year. However, two female drivers will not only expand GRS activities on track but also bring diversity to the grid.

After having competed in F4 UAE last season, Bianca Bustamante (#16) will now stay in Europe for her 2024 winter championship. The Philippines driver also competed in F1 Academy and in various rounds of the Italian F4 before completing her season at the Macau Grand Prix.

Alongside her will be Lia Block (#57), a member of the Williams Driver Academy and the daughter of the late Ken Block. Competing in American Rally and Extreme E, she will make her singleseater debut in Jerez this weekend and will gain experience in the Formula Winter Series before the start of the 2024 F1 Academy season with ART Grand Prix.

AKM Motorsport

Just like last year, AKM Motorsport will line up two cars for the upcoming Formula Winter Series. Driven by Tina Hausmann and Carl Bennett during the first two rounds, those seats are now taken by two drivers about to make their single-seater debut.

Both announced this week, Ukrainian talent Oleksandr Savinkov (#52) and Emanuele Olivieri (#73), who competed in the FIA World and European Karting championships, will both represent the Sammarinese team.

Rodin Motorsport

Despite being supposed to join the inaugural season of the Formula Winter Series in the latter stages of the series, Rodin Motorsport decided to come back on their intention to focus on other championships. However, this season is the right one for the British outfit, which will have two cars throughout the whole season.

The first one will be driven by Thomas Strauven (#99), who made his single-seater debut with MP Motorsport last year in the fifth round of Spanish F4, which takes place in Jerez, the track that will host the first round of this 2024 Formula Winter Series this weekend.

Alongside him will be Bart Harrison (#77). The British driver will try to gain as much experience as possible, making his single-seater debut before competing in British F4 with Chris Dittman Racing.

Monlau Motorsport

Another team that was supposed to join the inaugural season of the Formula Winter Series is Monlau, which finally joined the strong 2024 grid with two drivers about to make their single-seater debut.

Announced to be part of the team for the upcoming 2024 Spanish F4 Championship, Tim Gerhards (#50) will make his single-seater debut after having competed in the Karting European Championship last season.

He will drive alongside Lenny Ried (#74), who gained experience in the German Karting Championship and the FIA Karting World Championship last season. Not announced to compete in any further championships as of now, the German talent will aim to prove his worth during the fourth rounds across Spain’s best tracks. 

Tecnicar Motorsport Solutions

Another new team about to kickstart its activities in the Formula Winter Series is Tecnicar. The Spanish outfit has reiterated their confidence in Lorenzo Castillo (#5), who already competed in various rounds of Spanish F4 last season with the team based in Valencia.

He will drive alongside Wiktor Dobrzański (#14), who will make his single-seater debut after a short career in karting.

Cram Motorsport

Well-established in Spanish F4 for the past two seasons, Cram Motorsport will finally extend its activities in single-seater by joining the Formula Winter Series, its first pre-season championship. The Italian outfit decided to compete with its 2024 F4 Spanish lineup, composed of two drivers.

Announced all the way back in December, Filippo Fiorentino (#37) was one of the first drivers to be announced for the upcoming Formula Winter Series season. The Brazilian talent made his single-seater debut in Valencia last year, as he competed in the last two rounds of the championship.

After having represented the team throughout the whole 2023 Spanish F4 season, local driver Flavio Olivieri (#35) has seen his collaboration with the Italian outfit extended. He will try to build up on his superb dynamic, which saw him gain two top-10 finishes in the season finale last year.

Maffi Racing

Competing in one round of Italian F4 in 2023, Swiss outfit Maffi Racing is still a brand new team, aiming to make themselves a name in the feeder series ladder. As they’ll take part in both Italian F4 and F4 CEZ this season, they will try to gather as much experience as possible in the Formula Winter Series with local driver Nathanaël Berreby (#22), who is about to make his single-seater debut after having gathered various experience in karting. Valuable training for the young talent, who will represent the team this season in Italian F4.

Header photo credit: Gedlich Racing