With four rounds of racing completed, the 2024 F4 UAE season will conclude this weekend at the Dubai Autodrome. Following three rollercoaster races at Yas Marina, Keanu Al Azhari has emerged as the championship leader, taking over from Freddie Slater by 13 points. With Kean Nakamura-Berta another 12 points back, the top three are set to put on a show in Dubai. Feeder Series spoke to all three contenders.

By George Brabner

After Al Azhari slashed Slater’s championship lead during round three, F4 UAE’s third visit to Yas Marina started with drama as the two title contenders crashed in race one.

Alongside each other off the line, Slater squeezed Al Azhari off track and towards the inside wall on the run towards turn one as the Briton tried to snatch second place from Doriane Pin. Al Azhari, still on Slater’s left, was left minimal space, and with Pin unaware that two cars were alongside her, the gap soon closed. Slater was pitched perpendicular to Al Azhari as they locked wheels and both drivers slid towards the wall, acquiring race-ending damage.

The stewards ruled not to take any further action on the incident. Speaking about the collision and its effect on the championship dynamic after the weekend’s conclusion, Al Azhari was quick to downplay any kind of simmering personal rivalry with Slater.

“What happened in race one was unfortunate. I had no intentions of having an incident. Whatever happened, happened,” he told Feeder Series. “I’m not quite sure if Freddie saw me, or whatever happened. The stewards made their decision. It’s obviously not what we want, but there’s not really a rivalry going on. I’m pretty relaxed about it. These things happen and it’s quite normal.

“People could say I could have lifted, but I think the moment you lift in this situation, you’ve lost your status as a proper racing driver. I had a lot of momentum off the start and I was catching the cars ahead and just got into a little bit of a mess. 

“There wasn’t enough space for the cars, we all went for a risky move and it didn’t end well. But it’s completely fine. These things happen. We’ll learn from it.”

As a result of the crash, Nakamura-Berta was presented with a golden opportunity to close his 20-point deficit to the top two in the championship and claim the lead. Having taken first place from debut pole-sitter Pin, the Japanese-Slovakian took a second victory of the season as he took the chequered flag. However, his celebrations were short-lived. Post-race, he received a five-second time penalty for jumping the start, demoting him to fifth and thus leaving him ten points behind leader Slater in the standings after race one. 

Neither Slater nor Al Azhari were able to reach the top ten in an uncharacteristically wet second race as they started from the rear of the field, but crucially, Nakamura-Berta, who started eighth, didn’t score either. He retired with a puncture and did so again in race three, taking only ten points from round four.

Whilst Nakamura-Berta faltered, race three was where Al Azhari made the difference. The Emirati finished third whilst Slater failed to score after starting 21st, having crashed in qualifying two. This now gives him a 13-point lead and the upper hand heading to Dubai – an unlikely scenario given his single top-ten finish at Yas Marina.

Al Azhari on the front foot

Despite the adversity he faced in round four as a result of the crash with Slater, Al Azhari enters the season finale as the title favourite. 

Now on his sophomore season of F4 competition, experience and maturity are on his side. So far this season, he has made no major mistakes. Nakamura-Berta initially “apologised” for the incident that led to his retirement during round one – although the Japanese-Slovakian later told Feeder Series that “you can’t blame either side for what happened” – and Al Azhari’s only other two pointless races were a direct result of the clash with Slater in round four.

With a gap to the Mumbai Falcons driver now established, he feels less pressure before the season finale.

“Being in a sort of comfortable lead takes off quite a lot of pressure. All I need to do is finish the races, and it’s pretty much secured. Honestly, I was really not expecting that considering after what happened in race one, to come out of the weekend in the lead of the championship by 13 points,” he said.

Using round three as a reference, Al Azhari has high hopes for his speed in Dubai, where he picked up two second-place finishes and enjoyed a titanic scrap with FIA F3 driver Nikita Bedrin for a victory.

“The pace in the races at Dubai was really mega. In qualifying it was as well. In Q1, we got a bit unlucky with the red flag. I was improving in sector one and two and then the red flag came out. Should have put me on the front row for race one. 

“Still, solid race one, finished P5, and everybody saw my pace in the last race. Had a great battle with Nikita. The pace was pretty clear there. Probably was a little bit better than the pace I had this weekend in Abu Dhabi, but I feel comfortable there,” he explained.

Al Azhari is therefore largely on the defensive. With the points lead and confidence in his and Yas Heat Racing’s speed at the Dubai Autodrome, the focus is on keeping out of trouble.

“Definitely don’t want to be taking any risks through the weekend, just finish the race. Whatever happens, happens. This weekend was a complete mess,” he chuckled. “But I managed to stay out of trouble in the last race, so I don’t have to be making up points, but I still have to consider many things through the weekend.”

Al Azhari’s title glory is far from being secured, which round four proved to no end, but it’s difficult to ignore what a win for him could mean: becoming the first champion of Emirati descent in Formula 4 single-seater racing.

“It’s a goal I’ve had on my mind for a long time now,” he said. “It was one of the main reasons why I stayed in F4 for another year because a milestone like this, it’s obviously a great accomplishment for your career, but it’s also something you can keep to yourself for many years to come. 

“It’s always a great story to tell, you get your local support as well, winning a championship like this with such a competitive field with so many great teams and drivers. 

“I’m doing the most I can. I can’t celebrate too early, you never can, but obviously, it would be a very satisfying feeling and a lot of pressure off my shoulders. I’ve had a great time in the championship so far.”

“I’m really excited. A little bit nervous, trying not to overthink, trying to distract myself throughout the week! I’m really, really looking forward to it.”

Slater needs to bounce back

As the F4 UAE season got underway, Slater brilliantly took control. Despite being at the beginning of his first full F4 campaign, he possessed no typical characteristics of a rookie still learning the ropes of car racing competition, finishing within the top four in every race across the first two rounds and piecing together a 23-point championship lead.

However, Al Azhari has been the thorn in his side. The Emirati’s two podiums during round three saw his lead evaporate as he struggled in comparison at the Dubai Autodrome before mistakes crept in during round four. 

Slater has to return to the same dominance we saw at the start of the year, in need of a bounce-back on his recent form.

“Ultimately it was a difficult weekend, the last two weekends. It was a bit unfortunate in all the races. I think there was a lot of moments when there was not much I could do, but we’re going to bounce back. We’ve been showing good pace in most practice sessions, most qualis, purples, so I think it’s pretty clear, the job that is there, as long as I string it together,” he told Feeder Series.

“To be honest, it doesn’t mess around with my mentality too much. It’s the same frame of mind, I just have to crack on. I know my ability. I am able to put a lap together and do a good lap that’s fast enough for pole and race wins. I think we’ve shown that. 

“Now, we’ve had our good luck, when at the start we were getting out the crashes, there was not much happening to me so I could really show my form. And then the last couple of races, we’ve had things that have been induced from my side, but also things that have been out of my control, which we’ve had to take on the chin and push on from that and just focus on the next thing.”

It’s easy to get bogged down by a string of poor results and try to change the way you go about a weekend, but Slater says that his approach to the season finale is the same as usual even with a points margin to make up.

“For me, my trajectory doesn’t change at all. It’s the same thing if I’m leading it by 100 points, if I’m leading it by one point, or if I’m behind by 100 points. It’s the same thing: you’ve got to win the races, you’ve got to get the most amount of points, minimise the damage and just crack on really. So I’m not really too bothered about this. It doesn’t change my mind, it doesn’t change what I’ve got to do. 

“It’s the same thing, score as many points as possible with minimum risk. And sometimes I will have to take that extra risk just to grab that extra little bit. 

“It’s all about being smart, and it’s all to play for, especially with this championship how crazy the points actually are. How they work is that the reverse grid is also full points, so it’s quite intense in that, and also the point margins are big so it’s quite interesting how it’s played out. It’s pretty clear what we’ve got to do,” he said.

It’s important to remember that Slater is still extremely early in his racing career despite the accolades he has already picked up in the Ginetta Junior Championship and the multiple podiums he collected as an official F4 rookie late last year. Mistakes should therefore be expected, so the Briton is still positioning the F4 UAE season as a learning opportunity in his close proximity to the title.

“I’ve always been pushing the limits. I don’t want to just be sitting under the limit, I want to be pushing over the limit and bringing it back for my future because I want to be better long term. 

“I feel like this is quite an important period in my time to make these mistakes and push on instead of holding back, so then in the future, down the line, I have more of a feel of what I’m doing in the future. 

“I’m ready to bounce back in Dubai, get on with it, crank it up. It is what it is, there’s always going to be bad weekends.”

Nakamura-Berta remains in contention

Only 25 points separate Nakamura-Berta from championship leader Al Azhari in the standings. He is currently fourth – behind Bedrin who bowed out of F4 UAE after round three – but his deficit could quickly close, as it so nearly did at Yas Marina last weekend.

The Alpine junior won the season-opening race and collected four podiums across the next two rounds so front-running speed is by no means uncommon for him, but Nakamura-Berta is conscious that he is at a clear experience disadvantage compared to the drivers around him.

Whilst he is poised as a candidate for the overall championship, he currently leads the rookie standings by a healthy 44 points so overhauling Al Azhari and Slater is not his primary focus.

“My competitors around me in the championship are all second years or have a lot more experience than me. Me being a rookie, I just approach this whole championship as an opportunity for me to learn as much as I can before the main season, so I think that’s still my goal,” Nakamura-Berta told Feeder Series. 

“It would be nice if we can finish well in the championship, but still, approaching this race I am going to approach it with just trying to learn as much as possible.”

With that in mind, he is already evaluating the steps forward he has made in the UAE and how they could help him once the Italian F4 season begins, which will be his primary focus in 2024.

“I think throughout the UAE F4 championship I have gained a lot of confidence, a lot of experience in the racing and also slowly gained more mileage in the F4 car. With all these factors adding together, I think it can make for a more positive start in the Italian F4 season,” he said.

However, in the present day, Nakamura-Berta is confident ahead of the return to Dubai where any extra pace could pay the ultimate dividend.

“I definitely prefer the Dubai layout to Abu Dhabi. I definitely like how the circuit in Dubai flows and I feel like I have a little bit more pace left in Dubai than I do in Yas [Marina]. We’ll just have to wait and see and hopefully I can make a good qualifying and we can be there at the front.”

Outside shots

Whilst Al Azhari, Slater and Nakamura-Berta are within direct reach of the championship, the top seven, four of which are part of the Prema Racing stable, are all within mathematical contention of title glory. 

In particular, fifth-placed Rashid Al Dhaheri could be a driver to watch. The Emirati is currently a distant 42 points behind Al Azhari, but after taking his maiden race win and pole at Yas Marina, momentum is on his side. 

Round three in Dubai only yielded one points finish, but a technical issue on the start line led to a crash from fourth in race one and front wing damage in race three forced him out of podium contention. He fought back to seventh from 32nd on the grid in race two, which tells you everything you need to know about his pace at the Dubai Autodrome.

Things could quickly change if any of the top three contenders suffer retirements, and Al Dhaheri is within definite touching distance of Nakamura-Berta.

In a similar position to Al Dhaheri is Alex Powell, who is a further 16 points back and realistically would need a significant upset ahead of him to have any chance of the title. The Jamaican-American proved to have strong pace in Dubai during round three, where he fought from the rear of the field to 10th place in race one, earning his reverse grid pole for race two, which he took full advantage of to win.

The Jamaican-American is second in the rookie standings, but without third-place Pin on the grid who is in Saudi Arabia preparing for the F1 Academy season, his position is likely secure.

Header photo credit: F4 UAE