F4 US starts its ninth season this weekend, showing signs of competitive decline. For the first time in its history, the championship will start with only eight drivers confirmed to be racing the season. Amidst these challenges, Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the 2024 F4 US season.

By Laura Anequini

As F4 US switched to a new car this season, participation massively dropped.  Both the costs of the championship increasing and more competition from other series within the United States were factors that drove many away. If you want to understand in more detail what happened to the once promising American championship, Feeder Series tells you all about it here. 

Last year, Patrick Woods-Toth was the champion, racing with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports. Woods-Toth had four wins and finished the season with 263.5 points. With these successes, the Canadian has now made the step-up with the team to race in Formula Regional Americas. Titus Sherlock, Alex Benavitz, Landan Matriano Lim, Cole Kleck, James Lawley, Jett Bowling, Justin Garat and Nicolás Ambiado are also the drivers that took the same path over the off-season.

The prize of the championship remains mostly unchanged from previous years: the 2024 champion will win a scholarship to join the Formula Regional Americas grid in 2025. In addition, the winner will also have their race entry fees covered by Parella Motorsports Holding and two sets of tires per event covered by Hankook Racing.

The calendar

Compared to last year, there are relatively few changes on the calendar. The 2024 season was supposed to start in April at NOLA – similarly from 2023 – alongside the Formula Regional season opener. However, delays in the delivery of the new Ligier chassis postponed the beginning of the championship, with the season now beginning on 16 May at Road America, with Mid-Ohio and New Jersey Motorsports Park being the following rounds.

The notable difference from previous years is the inclusion of a foreign round, as the championship travels to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. To finish the year, COTA will be the final round.

• Round 1: Road America, Wisconsin (16–19 May)
• Round 2: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ohio (20–23 June)
• Round 3: New Jersey Motorsports Park, New Jersey (25–28 July)
• Round 4: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ontario, Canada (29 August–1 September)
• Round 5: Circuit of the Americas, Texas (31 October–3 November)

The format

The format of the weekend remains the same. On Friday, there will be at least one practice session 45 minutes in length. Qualifying can happen either on Friday or Saturday depending on the race weekend at 30 minutes in length. 

For the first race, grid positions are determined by qualifying results, while the subsequent races’ grids are formed based on the previous race’s finishing positions. Each racecan take up to 30 minutes, and the points system allocates 25 points for first place, 18 for second, 15 for third, down to one point for the 10th position.

Where to watch

Streaming of the races are available on both the F4 US Facebook and YouTube channel as well as the SVRA YouTube channel. For races that are not livestreamed, it will be possible to follow the action via the championship’s social media.  

Teams and drivers

Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports

Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports currently participates in all the three American championships, as they are also racing in Formula Regional Americas and Ligier JS F4. In 2023, the team was the winner of both the teams’ and drivers’ championships with Patrick Woods-Toth, and they completely dominated the year. To illustrate this, at season’s end, they had 541.5 points while the runner-up team had 216.

The first of three drivers confirmed by the team was Barrett Wolfe (#13). This will be his first full season in the championship after making a brief appearance in the final round of the 2023 season with Doran Motorsports. Prior to this, the 20-year-old raced in Skip Barber Formula Race Series, finishing ninth in the standings.

Transitioning to a new team, Wolfe has been extensively testing in the Formula Regional car. Additionally, he also participated in the invitational round of FR Americas at Laguna Seca, where he finished 15th overall while driving the F4 car. With his prior experience in F4 machinery, alongside his preparation for the season, Wolfe can be considered one of the championship contenders for the year.

Australian Nicolas Stati (#15) also joins the team to race in the championship for the first time. The 15-year-old already raced in F4 UAE this year and is now also racing in F4 Australia. In the first — and so far only — round of the championship, Stati finished the three races fifth, third and second respectively. In 2023, he was a part of the F4 SEA championship, finishing ninth in the standings.

Also a part of Crosslink Kiwi’s lineup this season is Kiwi driver Alex Crosbie (#41). The 17-year-old is a two-time New Zealand Formula Ford champion and already raced this year in Formula Regional Oceania, in which he finished fifth. Competitive in most of the championships he raced, Crosbie’s stats on paper show that he could be competitive this season.

Scuderia Buell

Tenth in the teams’ championship in 2023, Scuderia Buell returns to F4 US with a shortened line-up, as only Pablo Benites Jr (#44) is confirmed to be racing with them this season.

Benites is among the drivers who raced only in the final round of the 2023 season. This year, the Argentinian already participated in Formula Fara and was also announced to race in round one of Ligier JS F4, in which he had a best finish of sixth during race one.

Atlantic Racing Team

Atlantic Racing made their comeback to F4 US last year. Their driver, James Lawley, did not race the full season and finished the year in 23^rd while the team finished 12^th in the teams’ championship with only 10 points. For this year, the team will field Daniel Quimby (#24). 

Quimby – who was too young to race the full F4 US season last year – only raced in the last round of the championship with Doran Motorsports, achieving a best finish of seventh in race two. In addition, he also raced in the KA2 SP Tools Australian Kart Championship, in which he took two victories. 

Due to the postponement of the championship, Quimby joined the first round of Ligier JS F4 with a Gen1 car. A series representative clarified to Feeder Series that this was because there weren’t enough Gen2 cars for a points race, and Quimby would switch later on. Quimby finished race one in seventh place but fell to 11^th due to a penalty for causing a collision. In race two, he finished fifth. 

MLT Motorsports

Although new to the championship, MLT Motorsports currently races in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and IMSA Prototype Challenge in the LMP3 category. As they enter F4 US, the team will feature Lincoln Day (#54) as their driver. 

The 17-year-old raced in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series last year, finishing 15th in the standings with 224 points. He has also raced in SIM racing and tested with MLT Motorsports last year. With a driver and team that are new to the championship, it will therefore be interesting to see how they tackle this season together.

Team Roberts Racing

Also joining F4 US is Team Roberts Racing, whose lineup will consist of Connor Roberts (#46). As a family team, the combination already worked together in previous championships. 

Together, Roberts and his team won the South Atlantic Road Racing Championship in 2022 and in 2023 in the SRF3 class. Last year, the 19-year-old also raced in the last round of USF Juniors with DC Autosport. In his series debut, Roberts finished inside the top 10 at race three. As he quickly adapts to a new racing environment, Connor will be one to keep our eyes on as now a full season driver this year at F4 US.

US NG Racing

Lastly, the newest addition to the F4 US grid on the teams’ side is US NG Racing. Though they will not partake in the opening round in Road America, they plan to race the full season afterwards – although, they have yet to confirm a driver.

Editor’s note, 16 May, 03:16 CEST: A previous version of this article stated that Felipe da Silva Corsi would partake in the opening round with US NG Racing. But, US NG Racing does not plan to race in the opening round, nor do they have a confirmed driver for the season. 

Header photo credit: Gavin Baker