Jack Beeton scored points only once in 15 races when he made his competitive debut in single-seaters. Having teamed up with Pinnacle Van Amersfoort for the 2023 F4 UAE season, he continued with Van Amersfoort Racing for a full Italian F4 campaign where points were scarce. Only two top-ten finishes in Europe left more to be desired, but after a switch to AGI Sport, he became F4 SEA champion and has since taken two podiums with the team in F4 UAE this year. Feeder Series spoke to Beeton to learn more about his single-seater journey so far.

By George Brabner

Rewinding to 2022, Beeton, then karting in Australia, impressed in the Ferrari Driver Academy Asia Pacific and Oceania Selection Program at Sepang International Circuit. He was invited to compete for a place on the prancing horse’s young driver programme in the FDA Scouting World Finals as a result of his performance, but alongside Rashid Al Dhaheri, Gianmarco Pradel, Emerson Fittipaldi Jr and Jesse Carrasquedo, the 14-year-old lost out to Finn Tuukka Taponen. 

However, with minimal prior experience in the Gen 2 Tatuus F4 car – not even in the Asia Pacific and Oceania Selection phase – Beeton entered what was the precursor to his F4 career with a different mindset. 

“We’d done the Asian camp, which was in the old car, so I went to the FDA finals with one day of testing in the new car. And, well, obviously, it didn’t go as planned, but it was still a great learning experience,” he told Feeder Series.

“Before going into that, we were just hoping to get some experience, basically have some fun and then do Australian karting again last year. But, obviously, my life was basically turned on its head! And, well, this is where we’re at now, so I’m not complaining!”

Signing for Van Amersfoort after test days with both the Dutch outfit and Cram Motorsport, Beeton embarked on the 2023 F4 UAE season and then moved to Desenzano, Italy, starting a whirlwind 12 months.

“Moving to Italy, it’s a massive change coming from Australia. I didn’t even do any karting in Europe. I was fully in Australian karting, just doing the national championship and club meets and state rounds. So it was a massive change. It’s very professional in Europe. Australia is professional, but Europe is just on a whole other level of, well, of everything, to be honest,” Beeton explained.

“I’m not trying to make excuses, but everyone else had been racing each other for years now and I came in as the newest guy from the other side of the world, from Australia… But, as much as it was a disadvantage, I’d still take every chance of doing it again. I wouldn’t shy away from it. It was definitely a great experience, that’s for sure.”

The opening chapter

Beeton journeyed to the Middle East for a full F4 UAE campaign with Pinnacle Van Amersfoort at the beginning of 2023. He took a best finish of seventh during round four on his way to 23rd in the standings, but after a minimal winter testing programme, expectations were never high. 

As the summer rolled around, the focus continued to be finding his feet in a single-seater.

“Last year with Van Amersfoort and Pinnacle, I’d done about two test days before the UAE. So I was a proper rookie,” Beeton said.

“Italian F4 last year, and we did the one round in Euro 4 in Mugello, it was okay. My goal was to just keep learning every round, every race that I did, and I think we were doing that. I didn’t really have much expectation in terms of results.

“I mean, we kept improving and we were showing that. At the start of the season, we were probably two seconds off the pace. And then at the end of the season in Vallelunga, we qualified in P7 for one of the races. So, you know, it just shows the learning curve that we’re on,” he explained.

After making personal steps forward across the European season, Beeton was given the opportunity to finish the year with AGI Sport in F4 SEA, where the outfit would be making its debut with the Tatuus F4 T-421 chassis. Whilst it was a gamble to move away from the established Van Amersfoort team at the time, Beeton quickly reaped the rewards of the swap. 

Success in Asia

Beeton picked up his maiden pole and first two race victories during the opening round of the F4 SEA season. He took three more podium finishes over the next two rounds, and aided by the extra 50 points he secured by competing in the season opener at Zhuzhou, he secured his first championship at Sepang by 48 points over Prema Racing’s Doriane Pin – a significant milestone to round out his debut year in cars.

Launched into yet another new region with a brand new team at tracks he’d never competed on, title glory wasn’t in Beeton’s mind to begin with.

“I was so happy. I was at a loss for words once I’d won the championship. I went into it expecting to try and get a win or two and try and get some podiums even, and to come out of it as champion, it was great. I couldn’t have asked for more, to be honest. I was at a loss for words after I’d done that,” he said.

“It was a completely new environment. I mean, it felt pretty much exactly how I’d felt in the beginning of last year and towards the end of last year of the year before at FDA. Just completely learning everything new.”

Whilst the F4 SEA grid was not as strong as that of Italian F4 or Euro 4, Beeton had made clear steps forward, which he believes AGI Sport played a significant part in.

“I’ve got a great team around me at AGI. There’s some great engineers, great mechanics. Everyone’s great at AGI,” he said. “All the engineers have quite a bit of experience. My engineer now has worked with Carlin for a few years, my engineer that I had in Southeast Asia had been working in Asia a fair bit in GTs and everything, so I feel like it aided my progression. I’ve done a lot working with them.

“And then, you know, feeling comfortable in a team that I feel right at home with, being Australian obviously just aids that progression even more. 

“When you start getting results, it makes it like a snowball effect. You know, you just keep improving, improving and getting your confidence up.  It was definitely a big confidence boost, the Southeast Asian Championship.”

Surrounded by familiar faces having joined the team for a short run in the Australian Formula Open and worked with some of AGI Sport’s personnel in the FDA’s 2022 scouting phase, Beeton was comfortable from the outset.

“It’s great to be obviously working with a full team of Australians. I feel right at home there.”

Return to the UAE

With the momentum of title glory, Beeton returned to F4 UAE, staying with AGI Sport after their success in F4 SEA. Straight away, round one proved that the results at the front in Asia did represent material growth, taking a podium in race two at Yas Marina against a stronger and larger grid. Pair that with another third place, this time in Dubai from seventh on the grid, and the start of 2024 has been encouraging for Beeton.

“Coming out of Southeast Asian F4, it’s good to see that it’s the performances that we were having there are overlaying into UAE and hopefully into the future championships as well, we’ll be able to replicate the performances there. 

“Obviously, it’s not going as well just yet. You know, I think we’re P8 in the championship, but the UAE is the highest level championship F4, I think you’ll get. Drivers racing it are from the UK, from Italy, you know, it’s the highest level championship, and to still be P8 in it is quite good. I’d like to be improving and be P1, of course, but we have to go step by step and just work towards that,” he said.

Beeton had of course already raced with AGI Sport when he entered the F4 UAE season, but he had crucially also had experience with the Giti tyre, which often poses issues for drivers coming from Europe who are acclimatised to the Pirelli compound. 

Whilst that gave Beeton an edge in some areas, he and AGI Sport still have work to do ahead of rounds four and five, taking on board the lessons of earlier weekends.

“Last year we were doing the Southeast Asia Championship so we were driving on the Giti tyre, but I mean, obviously it’s not on the same circuit. You may have the set-up for Sepang, for example, but by the time you get to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it’s completely different! So I think we went in with the same preparation as pretty much everyone else who had been driving,” he said.

“Abu Dhabi, I think we still have some work to do. We were playing around with the set-up a lot. We had four drivers in round one in the team in AGI so we were able to play around with it a bit. 

“I think, in my opinion, we went a bit far, we were changing the set-up, honestly, too much. And then we got to Dubai and after practice one, I said the car feels pretty good, like 98%. Let’s not push for the other 100, let’s just keep it consistent and I’ll work on my driving, which seemed to work. 

“So I think we’ll go for a similar route. I think we’ll go for a similar approach to these last two rounds in Abu Dhabi and then Dubai again and hopefully we can move forward.”

Progressing to podiums

Comparing Beeton’s results in the 2024 F4 UAE season to those in 2023, the difference is stark. By this point last year – prior to round four – he hadn’t scored a single point, yet he is currently eighth in the standings. Ultimately, a simple case of experience, particularly in the differing environment in Europe that Beeton wasn’t a part of in Australia, and consistency are behind the change.

“Just naturally, the more you drive, the more you’re going to get quicker. I did quite a few days last year with Van Amersfoort, and I learned a lot from them. I had a great engineer, great team around me last year, so I could keep improving in every session that I did. 

“Well, we only had seven rounds in the Italian F4 Championship, so then also going on to Southeast Asia with AGI, I was still learning then. I was learning how to drive. 

“You know, you have to improve every time you go out in the car, and if you stop improving, well, you may as well stop. You know, you’ve got to love it. And I do,” Beeton explained.

“I’m doing a championship for the second time and it’s my second time with the team as well. Obviously, last year, I did the UAE with Pinnacle Van Amersfoort and then Italian F4 with Van Amersfoort, but still, it was a bit of a different team. Now, it’s completely the same team. 

“It’s really nice to have some familiarity. I’m not working on just learning who everyone is. Now, I can actually focus more on the driving and everything, not adapting to the new environment.”

2024 could, however, have already brought Beeton another victory. Third place during round one was almost first as he led the majority of race two, only dropping behind FIA F3 driver Nikita Bedrin and Hitech’s Deagan Fairclough in the closing stages of the contest. Whilst that was a painful moment, it is a pillar of the progress he has made in only 12 months.

“I went the whole race handling all the pressure. My driver coach was saying to me before the race, ‘A podium would be great. Just try and hold it out’. I wasn’t expecting to be in the lead as long as I was but, you know, I was doing it. I kept the lead and I was happy with it,” Beeton said. 

“We had the pace to stay there, and then just after that safety car in the end of the race, it seemed that we lost a bit. I was struggling with the rear as you could sort of see in the live video, sliding around a bit, which was inevitably why I lost the lead and then also P2.

“But it was cool to be looking back at last year in the UAE where I scored points once, and it was a lucky race where I’d had a good grid position because of the qualifying format for a race two last year, to this year, being able to fight for wins and leading a race all the way up until basically the last lap. 

“It’s really cool to see how far we’ve come and I’m sure we’ll keep improving in the future to be able to fight for P1 and actually keep it this time!”

Rounding out the F4 UAE season

Looking ahead to F4 UAE’s third visit to Yas Marina Circuit and the season’s close at the Dubai Autodrome, consistency within the top ten is Beeton’s primary focus. Whilst he has collected 38 points so far this year, they have come from only three races, hurt by a combination of technical issues – particularly in round three – incidents, or simply getting caught up in the ebb and flow of the midfield.

Racing within the top three during race two in Dubai without pressure from behind allowed Beeton to dial into what we needed over a longer race distance, especially having had to move up from a starting position of seventh.

“We spent most of the race on my own so you can really just build a rhythm, build some consistency, which was what I was trying to do. My engineer was saying on the radio, just quali laps every lap, try and make it within two-tenths. Only driving it 99 per cent, but it’ll make the overall race time a bit faster rather than having one good lap and then maybe making a mistake the next lap.

“Consistency is really important for racing, and as the races get longer, it’ll make it even more important. 

“Also for overtaking, if you’re consistently sitting behind the car in front, consistently attacking them, just making no mistakes, always putting the pressure on, it makes it a lot easier to overtake the car in front of you rather than just having maybe one good lap and getting super close and then making a mistake,” Beeton explained.

“Sometimes that’s just the way you have to do it, you have to be decisive. And if you’re decisive most of the time, you’ll pull it off.”

Podiums and wins or not, Beeton takes pride in the results he has achieved so far in F4 UAE as he continues his single-seater ascension before a return to Italian F4 and Euro 4, which he has confirmed exclusively to Feeder Series.

“This has been my dream since I was younger, obviously, to be making it to F1 and, well, now to be on the actual path to be getting there… We’re doing F4, so there’s only a few more steps to go, they’re massive steps, and it’s obviously going to take quite a few years if I do inevitably get there. It’s going to take a lot of work, but younger me would be very proud of what I’m doing. I’d be super pleased.”

Header photo credit: F4 UAE