Oscar Pedersen sits atop the Chinese F4 standings with three wins and 189 points. Following the third round at Ningbo, Feeder Series spoke to him about how he got into racing, why he decided to participate in Chinese F4 and his highlights so far. 

By Kaylene Lau

Unlike many of his other competitors, Pedersen has never raced at any of the Chinese circuits until he started competing in Chinese F4 at the beginning of the year. Despite this, he has performed impressively. 

Pedersen will now be preparing for the fourth round of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit – his second time racing at the facility. He first raced at the circuit earlier this year in the opening round, when the round ran during the same weekend as the F1 Chinese Grand Prix. 

Pedersen is now at the top of the championship after Ningbo, 31 points ahead of Liu Kaishun in second place. 

Early beginnings

Pedersen has been interested in cars ever since he was young and also credits his father for sparking his interest in motorsports. 

“I had been interested in machines and engine services since I was a small kid. And then my father did some go karting and motocross for fun, and that kind of sparked my interest,” he said.

“He had a friend, and we were at his house, and he gave his phone to my father with a phone call. And that it was a call for the sale of a go-kart. And then, yeah, we had a go-kart like a week after.” 

Pedersen began karting when he was eight years old and has seen significant success in karting, winning bronze at the World Karting Championships in the OK class back in 2022. Additionally, he is also a two-time Swedish karting champion in the OK class. 

Why Chinese F4?

Pedersen – who is from Sweden – flies to China every race week to participate. Despite it being so far away from home, Pedersen said that “it helps open up a lot of the doors for a lot of different opportunities.”

“I also had a good connection with the team that kind of pushed it forward,” he added. “The team [Venom Motorsport] contacted my old karting team boss [Joakim Ward], and then they kind of had a connection, and they asked for a driver? And yeah, I was recommended.” 

His experience thus far

Coming into the championship, Pedersen said, “The goal was to win. But I knew it was going to be tough, especially going into Shanghai because I had zero time in the car. And with the team, it was a completely new team. But the goal is always to win.” 

“At the moment, I take it step by step. But now the goal is to win the championship.” 

One of his highlights from his Chinese F4 experience so far is the first round in Shanghai, where Chinese F4 ran on the same weekend as the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. 

“I think in Shanghai, it must be the podium on the F1 Grand Prix. I think it was P2, the first race. We started back in P5, P6. And then we climbed up, and it was a pretty good race,” he said. 

“And then also my first win in the championship, in Chengdu, race one I believe it was.” 

The most recent round at Ningbo was a difficult weekend, according to Pedersen. 

“Yeah, it was honestly a pretty difficult race weekend. The test phase we had before, it was raining. Very difficult weather, and we hadn’t been able to make the setup of the car perfect. [It] wasn’t really comfortable going into the first qualifyings.” 

Despite struggling with the weather and the setup of the car, Pedersen still achieved great results at Ningbo, winning race one and placing second in the other three races. 

“We still managed P1 and P2 in the qualifying, so it was pretty good. And the races as well, were also pretty good. But we struggled a bit with the setup as well, we didn’t have the time to prepare. And the weather was also changing constantly, so it was difficult with the tyres and the strategy on how to approach the weekend.” 

Coming to a completely different country to race in, especially one with a language barrier, presents challenges. However, Pedersen has been tackling these challenges head-on.

“The first two races, there were a lot of things to work on. But now it’s getting better. I have a mechanic and engineer that’s not from China. So it’s easier with the language and the cultures. But the rest of the mechanics and a lot of people in the team are Chinese, they don’t speak English, or they have very poor English. So it’s been difficult in that way.”

Differences from Formula Nordic

Having participated in Formula Nordic last season, Pedersen notes major differences between Formula Nordic and Chinese F4. 

“Yeah, it’s a big difference coming out,” he said. “The official FIA Chinese F4 Championship is much more professional, and it’s more people working in a team – and I guess everything is more professional, more strategical.” 

“We have more drivers in the team, we have more tyres that we need to use and more different strategies we can use for the race. Also last year, I didn’t have a full engineer, [or] mechanic. So now, we have an engineer that I’m able to work with much better and make strategies.” 

“It was more basic, more friendly for beginners,” Pedersen says, speaking on Formula Nordic. “And this [Chinese F4] is [a] more professional level.” 

Looking ahead

As the fourth round of the Chinese F4 championship approaches, Pedersen is looking to capitalise on what he’s learned during his first outing at the circuit back in April.

“Yeah, I think we’re going to start off much better with both the setup, but also my driving. I know the reference points and I’ve been there before, so it will be much easier to start off the week and then go from there.” 

Pedersen has some ideas in mind of where he wants to take his career following the conclusion of the Chinese F4 season. 

“I have some ideas, obviously. But it’s not like official or anything,” he said. 

“Yeah, we kind of take it as it is, to try to win the championship. And then we’ll see what doors open up and what possibilities we have for the next season.”

Header photo credit: Cherry Fan