After a five-year absence, Australian F4 makes its grand return in 2024, with the championship set to begin this week at The Bend. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the 2024 Australian F4 season. 

By Kaylene Lau

Five years separated from Luis Leeds’ title victory over Lochie Hughes and Ryan Suhle, the Australian F4 Championship finally returns for the first time since 2019. Since then, many changes have been made to the series – ranging from organisational to specifications.

Top Speed, a Shanghai-based company, was announced to become the new organisers and promoters of the series. Top Speed also promotes F4 UAE and F4 SEA. This season, the championship will switch to the Tatuus F4-T421 chassis, using Abarth engines. Previously, the championship used the Mygale M14-F4. 

Australian F4 have also announced that the top five in the championship standings after round three will be automatically selected to take part in the Ferrari Driver Academy selection camp, which takes place at Sepang from 17–19 September.

Most teams have yet to announce their full line-up, and driver line-ups are subject to change as the championship progresses. 

The calendar

There will be five rounds on the calendar in 2024. The Bend is set to make two appearances on the calendar, including hosting the opening round. The closing round is set to take place at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia – the circuit that previously hosted F1’s Malaysian Grand Prix. 

• Round 1: The Bend Motorsport Park (4–5 May)
• Round 2: The Bend Motorsport Park (8–9 June)
• Round 3: Queensland Speedway (13–14 July)
• Round 4: Sydney Motorsport Park (3–4 August)
• Round 5: Sepang International Circuit (7–8 September)

The format

With 15 races set to take place, three races will take place during each round. 

Two pre-event tests will take place on Friday, running for an hour each. There will be one free practice session and two qualifying sessions. Free practice sessions will take place on Saturday, running for 30 minutes. Both qualifying sessions take place on Saturday, running for 15 minutes each. Each race runs for 25 minutes plus one lap. Race one will take place on Saturday, while races two and three will take place on Sunday.

As for how the grids are set, the first qualifying session sets the grid for race one. For race two, the grid will be set based on the results of race one. The grid for race three is set from the results of the second qualifying session.

Following the FIA points format for the top 10 drivers, points are allocated to the top 10 finishers. The winner will be awarded 25 points, while the second-place finisher will be awarded 18 all the way down to one point for 10th.

Where to watch

You can watch live streams of the races on Australian F4’s YouTube and Facebook pages. The races will also be streamed on Blend Line TV. Live timing is available on Speedhive.

Teams and drivers

AGI Sport

Having competed in the series since its inception, AGI Sport returns to Australian F4 for the 2024 season. The team’s drivers have won the drivers’ championship three times, most recently with Luis Leeds in 2019. AGI will be excited to return to the championship in 2024 and replicate their successes from their previous years racing in the series. 

The first driver to be announced, James Piszcyk (#93) joins AGI for the 2024 Australian F4 season. Piszczyk previously competed in British F4, winning one race en route to fifth overall in the championship. 

Fifteen-year-old Nicolas Stati (#15) is set to make his Australian F4 debut in 2024. Stati raced in the F4 SEA Championship in 2023, placing ninth in the championship standings with a victory to his name. Stati also competed in F4 UAE this year. 

Partnering Pisczyk and Stati at AGI is Seth Gilmore (#24), who will be making his Australian F4 debut this season. Gilmore has seen successes in endurance racing, taking the second step on the podium in his class at the Bathurst 6 Hour earlier this year. 

Formula Race Academy

AGI Sport also have a spinoff team entered into the series under the name Formula Race Academy.

Joanne Ciconte (#89) joins Formula Race Academy for the 2024 season. This will mark Ciconte’s first full season in a single-seater, having only made select starts in Australian Formula Open earlier this year.

Competing in the master’s class for Formula Race Academy, Mark Wilson (#7) makes his Australian F4 debut this season. Wilson raced in the New South Wales Formula Race Car series in 2023, taking 53 points and placing fifth overall at the end of the season. 

Also competing in the master’s class of Australian F4 this season for Formula Race Academy is Nathan Gotch (#66). Gotch last raced in 2022, competing in Australian F3. Gotch has seen successes in the New South Wales Formula Race Car series, winning the championship in 2022. 

Nicholas Filipetto (#77) joins Formula Race Academy for the 2024 Australian F4 season, and will be competing in the master’s class of the championship. Filipetto most recently raced in 2023, competing in the TA2 Muscle Car series.

Jam Motorsport

Jam Motorsport will be making their debut in Australian F4 this season. In addition to Australian F4, Jam will be participating in the Australian Prototype Series this season. 

Sebastien Amadio (#22) joins Jam for the 2024 season. Amadio previously raced at the Adelaide 500, with his highest place finish out of the three races being seventh. This is Amadio’s first season in Australian F4.

Blake Purdie (#48) is set to make his Australian F4 debut this season with Jam. Purdie has been racing in S5000 Australia for the past three years, taking one win across his career in the championship.

John-Paul Drake (#1) will be competing in the master’s class of Australian F4 for Jam this season. Drake is a two-time Australian Prototype Series champion in the AP1 series, taking six wins and a total of 300 points in 2023. In addition to racing, Drake is also famous for running the supermarket chain Drakes Supermarkets and his YouTube channel, JP Drake.

Competing in the master’s class of Australian F4 this season for Jam is Mark Rosser (#81). Rosser raced in GT World Challenge Australia this season. He previously raced in the Australian Prototype Series and S5000 Australia.

M2 Competition/Tim Macrow Racing

In February, M2 Competition and Tim Macrow Racing had announced a partnership to compete in the Australian F4 Championship, under the name of Formula Race Academy. M2 has seen successes in other formula racing series such as Formula Regional Oceania, with their driver Roman Bilinski taking the championship title earlier in the year. Tim Macrow Racing has previously competed in Australian F3 and currently competes in Australian Formula Open and the Radical Australia Cup. 

In March, the merged outfit announced that Ciconte would be competing for them. There was no further news from the project since, and the team confirmed to Feeder Series on Saturday morning that they would not be participating in the opening round at The Bend.

Editor’s note, 4 May 2024, 4:27 CEST: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Formula Race Academy was operated by M2 Competition and Tim Macrow Racing’s joint entry. AGI Sport operates Formula Race Academy; the joint M2–TMR entry will not appear at The Bend. The article has been updated accordingly.

Editor’s note, 5 May 2024, 12:36 CEST: This article was updated to clarify the format for setting the grid for race two.

Header photo credit: Speed Shots Photography