Last week, Feeder Series attended the final day of French F4 pre-season testing. Thanks to the information gathered by our trackside reporter, we were able to draw the biggest stories going through the French F4 paddock.

By Perceval Wolff

With 27 drivers from eleven different nationalities, French F4 looks to welcome a record-breaking grid for this year’s championship. Eight of them have already taken part in the championship previously while nineteen will be new additions to the grid. After revealing the likes of drivers such as Pourchaire, Hadjar, Iwasa, Giusti or the reigning champion Giltaire in the past few years, all of these 27 drivers are keen to follow the path of these prestigious names.

Several French F4 drivers have been racing this winter in F4 UAE or in the Formula Winter Series, with Arthur Dorison and Édouard Borgna missing these final days of testing at Le Mans to race in the FWS finale at Barcelona with Jenzer Motorsport.

Caranta shows great pace

Amongst the French F4 drivers that have raced during winter, Jules Caranta was one who gathered a lot of attention following a strong F4 UAE campaign with R-ace GP, with one rookie win on his way to third in the rookies’ standings behind Prema drivers Kean Nakamura-Berta and Alex Powell.

“It’s so cold here!” Caranta said to Feeder Series in a laugh. Compared to UAE, the temperature in Le Mans didn’t exceed ten degrees Celsius during the whole day. FFSA Sporting Director Chloé Blossier could only agree with her driver, stating, “As Easter is quite early this year, our season opening is too, and so is our pre-season testing here.”

After his performances in the Middle East, Jules Caranta has been tipped as one of the main favourites this year for French F4.

“My goal is the title, for sure. I’m really happy of how the tests are going, especially in Nogaro some weeks ago.”

Caranta showed the pace he has, as the 15-year-old Frenchman was decisively the fastest driver on track during testing. Not only does this bode well for gaining more track time, but since this track opens the season, he could be the favourite right from the opening round.

Bernier: the ‘tyre whisperer’

However, another star in the making has also impressed during pre-season testing, specifically Augustin Bernier. The little-brother of former FRECA driver Victor is the latest winner of FEED Racing and has received many compliments from his rivals, including Caranta – who states he could be the biggest threat for his title objective.

Second-fastest in Nogaro while discovering the Gen2 car, he was also part of the leading group in Le Mans. But results were not totally representative of everyone’s pace for several reasons, such as the very cold weather and several red flags that prevented some drivers from extracting the maximum of their set of new tyres.

Moreover, one of Bernier’s biggest advantages might be his tyre management. While all drivers seemed to struggle on their final runs, Bernier was the only one to keep his pace consistent.

This year could well turn out to be a major season for the Bernier family, as Feeder Series has learnt Victor Bernier should be announced soon with Alméras in the Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup France.

Kato follows in the footsteps of his countrymen

Winner of the Honda-Suzuka Racing School, the 16-year-old Taito Kato has been sent to France by Honda, as were Ayumu Iwasa in 2020 and Souta Arao in 2022 – with the former winning French F4 that same year. 

“I know that my predecessors fought for the title, and I think I can play in front, but it’s too early to know if I will be able to fight for the title,” Kato said. “My main target is to show what I can do.”

Asked about a possible future in F1 thanks to Honda connections, the Japanese driver didn’t want to think about it yet.

“It’s useless to talk about F1, it’s so early. First, I have to do a good first season in single-seaters, otherwise I won’t go anywhere.”

Present in the top five in Le Mans, he was matching the best times of Caranta and Bernier and seemed to be in the lead group.

Will sophomore drivers beat the rookies?

Last year, after a season-long battle, returning driver Enzo Peugeot had to leave the title to rookie Evan Giltaire by for only four points. Once again this year, some returning drivers should give a fight to Caranta, Bernier and Kato.

Of course, this includes Yani Stevenheydens, who finished seventh last year with one win. Fastest in Le Mans, the Belgian driver enjoyed the best track conditions to set his time, as he got the track to himself after an electrical failure earlier in the running.

More surprising was Frank Porté Ruiz from Andorra. 23^rd last year with two points finishes, the FEED Racing protégé didn’t have any competitive karting experience before and had to start from nearly zero. During the winter, thanks to some testing with FEED, he seems to have immensely improved with the help of Augustin Bernier. Both drivers seem to get along very well, for what could be the start of a “bromance.”

“We both push ourselves to the top,” Bernier said. “We have two completely different driving styles. Frank is probably more aggressive while I let the car turn much later, but both seem to be efficient!”

Porté was very happy about how the tests in Le Mans went, but he remained prudent for the season opener at Nogaro, as he told Feeder Series that it was the most difficult track of the year for him.

Race starts proving pivotal

Last year, Enzo Peugeot’s greatest strength was on race starts where he could grab a couple of positions at every race.

“I will be making my first start procedure this afternoon,” Augustin Bernier said before the three start procedures at the end of the testing day. “I know that this will be the big advantage of returning drivers like Stevenheydens, so I will have to catch up with them as quickly as possible I guess.”

One of the other rookies, Jules Caranta, has also stated race starts were his biggest weak point in F4 UAE during winter. 

“It was getting better at the end of the campaign, but it was still not perfect.” Fortunately for him, the race starts procedures between the F4 from Tatuus in UAE and from Mygale in France are “pretty much similar.”

During the start procedures at the end of the day, even though Stevenheydens and Kato had an impressive first start, they were a little less brilliant in their next attempts. Some drivers struggled with them, such as Enzo Caldaras or Tom Le Brech, but the advantage of returning drivers didn’t seem too evident.

Other surprises

Stevenheydens, Caranta, Bernier and Kato seem to be part of the leading group, probably with the addition of Frank Porté Ruiz on other tracks. But some other drivers have also shown some steady progress during testing.

Winfield protégé Chester Kieffer from Luxembourg was one of the biggest surprises, being faster and more consistent than some of his most experienced teammates also coached by the Winfield Racing School, such as Leonardo Megna and Jason Leung. The latter struggled in testing, citing brake issues as a key inhibitor.

After two interesting appearances in Formula Winter Series with Campos, Pacôme Weisenburger should also be fighting for top positions. Little brother of WEC most recent race-winner Kevin, Dylan Estre started his singleseaters career on good foundations. Returning drivers Louis Schlesser and Gabriel Doyle-Parfait seem to have improved throughout the winter and are set to fight for higher positions than last year.

Despite showing good pace, FEED Racing finalist Enzo Caldaras wasn’t fully confident, as he hasn’t done much testing with the Gen2 car. Jumping up for his first singleseaters season, Caldaras kept his quote brief.

“I know I won’t be at 100% at the start of the year. My goal will be to progress as much as I can.”

14-year-old Alpine Rac(H)er driver Lisa Billard will enter French F4 from round five only but is already participating into testing. Having joined Alpine in 2023, the French racer is keen to get out on track and is savouring her track time. 

“I’m happy of how things are going for the moment. It’s so different from karting, it’s my third day with the Gen2 car. I’m here to learn, to understand the tyres,” she said to Feeder Series.

With the 2023 French F4 drivers Giltaire, Peugeot and Andriolo moving up to FRECA, Feeder Series has learnt that one driver from last year’s top four, Kevin Foster, is still in talks for a move to the European series. However, it also seems the FRECA grid could lose some entries, with two teams in danger of not making it to the grid in 2024, reducing the chances of the Canadian-Korean driver to join FRECA this year.

Only 25 of the 27 drivers will head out to Nogaro for the opening round of the season and the traditional “Coupe de Pâques” (Easter Cup), as Alexandre Munoz will join the field at round two in Lédenon, and Lisa Billard at round five in Magny-Cours because of age restrictions. Races will be held on Easter and Easter Monday on 31 March and 1 April.

Header photo credit: Perceval Wolff