After two tumultuous years fraught with operational challenges, the Formula  4 Central European Zone Championship is finally set to proceed as planned this season, aiming to make headlines purely on the sporting front. The line-up of participants is promising, setting the stage for an exciting season.

By Paul Wehler and Michael McClure

The second season of F4 CEZ, and the first full season since the name change from ACCR Czech Formula last May, commences this weekend at Balaton Park in Hungary, bringing with it several changes. There will be not only many new faces on the grid but also rule adjustments. For instance, starting this season, there will be three races per weekend instead of two as in previous years.

Moreover, the series announced that starting in 2024, there will be separate standings for women, who enter the series for the first time, as well as the Rookie Rocket Cup for anyone over the age of 40 or more than 102 percent off the winner’s pace.

The series will continue to make use of the second-generation Tatuus F4-T421 chassis as well as Pirelli tyres. These factors bring it in line with several other F4 series worldwide and with the remainder of the FIA’s ladder to F1.

The calendar

Six race weekends are scheduled for this year. The series kicks off, as it did last year, in Hungary, albeit at Balaton Park rather than the Hungaroring. The biggest change in the calendar is the season finale. While last year it also took place at Balaton Park, this year it will be at the Salzburgring, the second event in Austria alongside the May round at the Red Bull Ring.

Round 1: Balaton Park (27–28 April)

Round 2: Red Bull Ring (18–19 May)

Round 3: Slovakia Ring (8–9 June)

Round 4: Autodrom Most (3–4 August)

Round 5: Brno Circuit (7–8 September)

Round 6: Salzburgring (21–22 September)

The format

The format will see some changes this season, with three races held per weekend instead of two as at most venues in 2023. Each weekend will include a 50-minute test session followed by a 30-minute official practice session.

The qualifying session, 20 minutes long, will determine the starting order for the first race. The starting grid for race two will be based on the results of race one. The new third race will reverse the order of the top four to eight finishers in race one for the starting order, with the exact number of drivers reversed to be determined by a lottery after race one. All three races are 25 minutes long.

The points distribution mirrors that of Formula 1, with the winner receiving 25 points, the second-placed driver 18 points, and the third-placed driver 15 points.

Where to watch

Race summaries can be viewed on television in some countries via Eurosport. Those wishing to watch every race live can do so on the official YouTube channel of the ESET Cup Series, which oversees several championships that run concurrently with F4 CEZ. Live timing for round one is provided on Chronomoto.

Teams and drivers

Jenzer Motorsport

Though Jenzer dominated last season, the cards will be reshuffled this season.

At the season opener, the Swiss team will field five drivers. Defending champion Ethan Ischer (#21) will make a cameo appearance at Balaton Park ahead of his Italian F4 campaign with the team.

Italian-licenced Chinese driver Shimo Zhang (#24) returns to Jenzer for another year. Zhang had been racing in international karting in 2023 and stepped up to single-seaters at the end of last year, racing in the season finales of F4 CEZ and Italian F4 and the opening round of F4 SEA last October.

However, the most notable name might be Oscar Wurz (#25), the youngest son of former F1 driver Alex Wurz. The 16-year-old spent the winter in F4 Saudi Arabia, finishing sixth with four podiums. He did, however, take two wins at the series’ non-championship round in December.  

Andrija Kostić (#26) from Serbia also joins Jenzer for his first single-seater races. Kostić, who turned 15 last month, began karting just two years ago. He will also compete in Italian F4 this year with Van Amersfoort Racing.

Reutrning to Jenzer for 2024 is 16-year-old Czech driver Max Karhan (#144), who entered the final three rounds of 2023. He finished the season seventh in the standings but did not take a podium.

Two other drivers are set to join the team later this year, beginning with the Red Bull Ring round. Swiss driver Enea Frey raced for Jenzer in the Formula Winter Series and will continue in Italian F4.

Matúš Ryba will primarily race in Spanish F4 this year with Drivex, though he will appear at the Red Bull Ring after reaching the minimum age of 15 next weekend. The Slovakian youngster has already surprised by topping a 58-car pre-season test at Paul Ricard last month featuring Italian and Spanish F4 drivers.

Gender Racing Team

The third-best team from last season, Gender Racing Team (pronounced with a hard G), is expected to compete with only one driver at the team’s home race.

French driver Jonathan Correrella (#74) will lead the one-man team at the season opener. He spent last season racing in the Formule Renault Cup on the Trophée Tourisme Endurance package, winning both the overall and rookie titles.

SAPE Motorsport

Czech team SAPE Motorsport will field not one but two drivers this year. Rookies Marek Mičík (#77) and Michelle Jandová (#123) form an exciting all-Czech duo at the season opener. Mičík and Jandová placed second and third respectively in the F4 CEZ Academy assessment organised last month. Neither has prior single-seater experience.

PHM Racing

PHM appeared to have ambitious plans for this year, but the German team’s cars will not be seen at the season opener – just as was the case last year. In 2023, PHM’s drivers only entered the round at the Red Bull Ring.

The team has a pool of five rookies registered, all of whom could compete later this season. The five drivers, who also compose the team’s Italian F4 line-up, are Italian-licenced Russian Maksimilian Popov (#3), American Everett Stack (#9), Italian Davide Larini (#16), Serbian Andrej Petrović (#49), and Australian Kamal Mrad (#70). All of them raced for the team in F4 UAE over the winter except for Petrović, who competed in rival series F4 Saudi and finished second with four victories and 10 aditionial podiums.

Renauer Motorsport

Single-seater and sportscar team Renauer Motorsport, which took part in the first two races of 2023, will be competing at the season opener with 2023 Romanian Radical Cup champion Luca Savu (#9). The 16-year-old Romanian driver also raced in French F4 last year, scoring points in the opening round but failing to do so again and finishing 20th.

American-Hungarian Preston Lambert had been announced for Renauer in January, but he did not feature on the entry list for Balaton Park. Lambert will race for Rodin Motorsport in Spanish F4 this year, and whether he or another driver will join the Austrian team later in the season remains unclear.

JMT Racing

Also fielding only one driver at Balaton Park is JMT Racing. Miroslav Mikeš (#6) of the Czech Republic achieved sixth place in the standings last year with SAPE Motorsport, though he never stood on the podium.

Janík Motorsport Team

One of three new teams is the Czech Janík Motorsport Team, which will run under the Junior Orlen Team banner for sponsorship purposes. Pole Franciszek Hałatnik (#19) occupies the sole cockpit and will run in the colours of oil giant Orlen, the onetime sponsor of Robert Kubica, Poland’s only F1 driver.

Maffi Racing

Also new this season is Swiss team Maffi Racing, which has raced in Italian F4 for the past two years. The team expressed its desire to field a female driver every year, but that had not happened – until this season.

Reigning CIK-FIA OK class karting world champion Kirill Kutskov (#31) will pilot one of the team’s cars in the championship under a neutral licence. The 15-year-old Russian-born driver raced this past winter in F4 Saudi, finishing third with a victory and seven further podiums.

Joining him is 20-year-old Kornelia Olkucka (#119), who will get her first taste of single-seaters this weekend. The psychology student and aspiring sports psychologist has spent the past few years competing in Polish karting series and represented Poland in the FIA Motorsport Games’ karting endurance category.

Swiss-Panamanian driver Nathanaël Berreby (#122) is also expected to get race time this season. He has been affiliated with Maffi since last year and raced for the team in the Formula Winter Series this past winter, though he did not score any points.

AS Motorsport

Slovenia’s AS Motorsport team is another new team joining the series, adding F4 CEZ to its roster after having competed in Italian F4 for the past six years.

Polish driver Michalina Sabaj (#61) secured a seat with the team, becoming the third woman on the grid. The 20-year-old has previously competed in karting and will also race in the Italian Sport Prototypes Championship beginning in June.

Header photo credit: F4 CEZ