Brazilian F4 was able to deliver what many championships couldn’t last year: a title fight until the last round, poles and podiums by female drivers and nine different race winners. The championship comes now for its third and longest season ever, with eight rounds scheduled to take place. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the 2024 Brazilian F4 season.

By Laura Anequini

2023 was a great year for Brazilian F4. The championship was only in its second season, and the changes made from the previous year helped one of the newest junior categories to establish itself in the racing world. 

Three drivers from the 2023 grid are already confirmed to go racing either in Europe or the United States. Vinícius Tessaro – the 2023 champion – will race in the 2024 USF Juniors season with DEForce. In addition, Matheus Ferreira joined US Racing for both Formula Winter Series and Italian F4, while Fernando Barrichello is joining Motopark to compete in Euroformula Open. 

Although there were major adjustments from the 2022 season to 2023, this will not be the case this year. The championship will continue with the established format, with a minor change regarding the races’ duration. Also, even though Pirelli tires were tested last year during the F1 support bill weekend, Hankook tires will continue to be the ones used this year. 

The third season of the championship also comes with a renewed grid. This year, six out of the 10 drivers confirmed to race the full season are rookies, the polar opposite of 2023. Moreover, half of these rookies graduated from Brazil’s Formula Delta championship, showing how this championship is establishing itself as the learning ground for entering Brazilian F4 later on. Whether the grid will grow or not, we will have to see, but for now Cavaleiro Racing have confirmed four drivers, Oakbery Bassani Racing three and TMG Racing three for the full season and one more for the first round of the championship.

The calendar

The 2024 season will host the most rounds in the championship’s history, with eight scheduled to take place. The opening round of the season will be held at Velocitta, which now returns as season-opener for the first time since 2022. Since the championship can only take place on minimum Grade 3 FIA circuits, Velocitta will only appear one more time in the season. Interlagos, on the other hand, appears three times this year, with one being on the F1 support bill. 

A major news to this year’s calendar is that – for the first time – the championship will go international. The drivers will have the opportunity to race in Argentina at Autódromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Gálvez – the previous host of F1’s Argentinian Grand Prix. This parallels the trajectory of the Brazilian Stock Car Pro series, returning to Argentina after over six years in 2023. Similarly from previous calendars, Brasília is on the season schedule with a date confirmed, however, the circuit has not finished its construction yet, so this round might be redirected.

• Round 1: Autódromo Velocitta (22-24 March)
• Round 2: Interlagos Circuit (19-21 April)
• Round 3: Autódromo Velocitta (28-30 June)
• Round 4: Goiânia (26-28 July)
• Round 5: Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez, Argentina (4-6 October)
• Round 6: Interlagos Circuit (1-3 November)
• Round 7: Brasília (22-24 November)
• Round 8: Interlagos Circuit (13-15 December)

The format

The format of the weekend has slightly changed from previous seasons. The format for free practice and qualifying sessions remains the same. On Friday, there are two 40-minute practice sessions followed by a 20-minute qualifying session. 

The grid formation also follows the previous established formats. Race one’s grid is determined by each driver’s second-fastest lap set during qualifying. For race two, the top eight of the race one’s result are reversed, while race three’s grid is based on the qualifying results from Friday.

The changes made primarily affect the race durations. This season, races one and three extend to 30 minutes plus one lap – a five-minute increase from their duration in 2023. Additionally, race two now lasts 20 minutes plus one lap with an extra two minutes compared to the previous year.

Despite these alterations, the points systems remain unchanged. Races one and three adhere to the same scoring system as F1, while race two offers 15 points for the winner, 12 for second place, 10 for third place, 8 for fourth, 6 for fifth, 4 for sixth, 2 for seventh and 1 for eighth. Furthermore, drivers earn one point for setting the fastest lap during the race and two points for pole position.

Where to watch

This season will be broadcasted on the Brazilian F4 Youtube channel, Portal High Speed Channel and Parc Fermé TV Channel. In addition, Bandsports will also air the championship, however, access to the channel is restricted to local viewers and requires a subscription.

Teams and drivers

Cavaleiro Sports

Winner of the teams’ championship and home of last year’s champion Vinícius Tessaro, 2023 was a season to remember for Cavaleiro Sports. The team finished their second season in Brazilian F4 with 492 points and with wins by both Tessaro and Lucca Zucchini (#9) – the latter staying with the team for this year.

Zucchini finished 2023 in seventh place with 107 points and a win in race two of the last round. The 18-year-old continues his journey with Cavaleiro Sports for his third and final season in the championship, as drivers are currently limited to three seasons in the Brazilian F4. With 36 races under his belt, Zucchini’s experience places him as one of the contenders for this year’s title.

Following him, Cavaleiro Sports’ drivers include rookies Rogério Grotta (#7), Ethan Nobels (#12) and João Pedro Souza (#27). Grotta is a 22-year-old driver from the centre-west of Brazil whose career is quite new compared to others. He started racing in karting in 2020 and made his single seaters debut last year by racing in Formula Delta. Although a rookie, Grotta made quite an impression during his 2023  season by winning the opening round in Interlagos, claiming 16 podiums and finishing the championship in third place.

On the other hand, João Pedro Souza is making his single seaters debut this year. The driver is the current winner of two notables national karting championships, particularly the South Brazilian and the Paulista championships. Additionally, Souza continues to compete in karting in the KZ category while also partaking in the official tests of Brazilian F4 to better adapt to the car. 

Lastly, Ethan Nobels joins the team as the youngest driver on the grid this year. A two-time second-place winner of the national karting championship Copa São Paulo Light, he is the younger brother of Ferrari Junior and current F1 Academy driver Aurelia Nobels. Ethan had a successful season in 2023, finishing third in Formula Delta and second in its rookie championship. His championship success last year makes Nobels a promising driver for this Brazilian F4 season, especially when we consider how rookie winners of Formula Delta, such Pedro Clerot and Matheus Comparatto, performed when they competed in the championship.

TMG Racing

TMG Racing had a great season in 2023, taking two of their drivers to the season finale in contention for the title. Ultimately, they finished third and fourth respectively, and the team finished the year with 450 points. For this season, TMG comes with a new team principal: Filippi Forti, who was the team track engineer, assumes the role – aiming for innovation and better results for TMG. 

For this year, the team has a partially renewed grid with Rafaela Ferreira (#18) returning for her second season in the championship and Ciro Sobral (#71) joining as a rookie. Ferreira was one of the two girls on the grid last year, and her season was filled with highs and lows. The championship was her single-seaters debut, and although she had to retire in two races, she finished the season with a tremendous achievement by becoming the first female driver to stand on the podium of a Brazilian F4 race. Ferreira finished the season in 13^th place, claiming 40 points.

Sobral joins TMG for his first year in single seaters. The 16-year-old is the first driver from the Northeast region of Brazil to join Brazilian F4 and has previously competed in different national karting championships, such as the Maranhense, Paulista and Brazilian, the latter of which he finished fourth overall. Sobral has been testing with different cars to prepare for the season, and as the first driver from his region of Brazil, he certainly carries the hopes and aspirations of many on his shoulders. Whether he can translate his karting success into the single-seater arena remains to be seen, but his journey will be one to watch.

For Guilherme Favarete (#30), although not in his first year in single seaters, will also make his debut in Formula 4 with TMG. The 15-year-old from the centre-west of Brazil raced in Formula Delta last season and finished the championship in fifth place. He was last year’s winner of the Copa do Brasil karting championship and 2022’s the national karting champion in the junior category. Additionally, he secured the state championship and the Copa São Paulo Light title on 2019. With a history of success in karting, it will be interesting to see how he does in the championship as he embarks on a new chapter in his career.

Returning to TMG Racing for only the season opener after a title-contending season is Álvaro Cho (#21). Last season, he only picked up one win, but he entered the final round in title contention by sheer consistency throughout the season. Though he only plans to be on the grid for one round, expect him to take headlines in Velocitta.

Oakberry Bassani Racing

Although finishing last in the teams’ championship, Bassani finished the year with 405 points and eight wins, the same as Cavaleiro. Last season, Matheus Ferreira, despite competing in only one round, clinched victories in both races one and three of the F1 support weekend. 

However, the standout performer for the team was Matheus Comparatto (#118). The 16-year-old had an outstanding year, propelling him to secure second in the championship as well as the rookie title. Comparatto will continue with the team this year, and based on his strong performance in 2023, he is a prime contender for this season’s championship.

Furthermore, joining the team this year is Cecília Rabelo (#98), who moves from Cavaleiro to do her second season in the championship. Rabelo’s first season in single-seaters was marked by adversity, as she had a shoulder injury during the first weekend which forced her to sit out on the subsequent two rounds. Despite this setback, she concluded the year with 16 points, achieving a significant milestone by securing pole positions for races one and three of the F1 support weekend, making her the first woman to achieve such a feat.

Lastly, the Argentinian Gino Trappa (#48) joins the team’s lineup this year, becoming the first foreigner to compete in a full season in the championship. Trappa, who started karting at age 13, is now making the transition to single-seaters after participating in the collective test at Velocitta in October of 2023. The now 15-year- old will have a lot to adapt to this year, but Trappa’s potential to surprise and challenge the competition adds an intriguing dynamic to the upcoming season.

Header photo credit: Marcelo Machado de Melo / Vicar