2024 must be a confirmation year for Indian F4 as it enters its second season this weekend at Madras. The grid will be expanding to 16 expected drivers and once again, multiple-race winners in Europe are making the trip to India, including a former FIA F3 driver. Here’s everything you need to know about Indian F4 this year.

By Perceval Wolff

Last year, Indian F4 was dominated by GB4 runner-up Cooper Webster with eight wins in fifteen races. All of last season’s races were held at the Madras International Circuit despite plans to race on other tracks, including the Hyderabad Street Circuit and the new Chennai Formula Racing Circuit.

The series will use the same centrally run format, inspired by French F4 having FFSA Academy manage all the cars. Like last year, MP Motorsport will manage the 16 cars, and the drivers will be divided into eight teams. Each team and livery will represent different Indian cities, such as Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

As last year, the championship will use the Mygale M21-F4 chassis, powered by Alpine-Oreca engines.

Alongside the overall championship, there will also be a rookie category for drivers who have raced in less than three rounds of single-seater racing.

The calendar

Indian F4 is set to go to several tracks this season, with the season opener at Madras. After a first delay last year, the ambitious Chennai Formula Racing Circuit is set to host the second round of the season, for the first night street race in the country. Kari Motor Speedway will host the third round, with the two final rounds still to be confirmed.

All rounds will be supporting the Indian Racing League, a single-seater series using Wolf GB08 Thunder cars, with established drivers such as Neel Jani and Álvaro Parente and recent feeder series stars such as Nikhil Bohra and Fabienne Wohlwend.

• Round 1 – Madras International Circuit (24-25 August)
• Round 2 – Chennai Formula Racing Circuit (31 August-1 September)
• Round 3 – Kari Motor Speedway (14-15 September)
• Round 4 – TBC
• Round 5 – TBC

The format

Weekends will take place from Saturday to Sunday. A 25-minute free practice session will open each round, before two ten-minute qualifying sessions. Each of these qualifying sessions will award two additional points for pole position. Then, three 25-minutes + 1 lap races will take place. On Saturday afternoon, race 1 will take place using the results of qualifying 1, and will use the standard FIA points system with 25 points for the winner and one point for tenth.

On Sunday, race 2’s grid will be determined by taking the results of race 1 with the top 6 reversed. This race will award less points with only ten points for the winner and one to the driver in tenth. Race 3 will use the order of qualifying 2 and will use the standard points system.

Moreover, the fastest lap in races gives one more point.

Where to watch

Indian F4 is yet to confirm its broadcaster outside of India for the 2024 season. Contacted by Feeder Series, organisers stated the series will broadcast all the track action on Saturday and Sunday for free on the Internet.

Teams and drivers

With the launch of the F4 Global Shootout Program earlier this year, several drivers and the eventual winner managed to secure a spot on this year’s grid.

Goa Aces JA Racing

The first driver announced for 2024 was 16-year-old Australian Giancarlo Artho. He was one of the 24 drivers selected in the 2023 Ferrari Driver Academy Asia-Pacific selections, but didn’t manage to qualify for the final. However, he has since bounced back superbly by winning the F4 Global Shootout Program, earning him a free seat for his official single-seater debut.

Just turning 17, Aiva Anagnostiadis was the first female driver announced. The young Aussie has been part of Alpine’s Rac(H)er program since 2023. A former Australian female karting champion, she moved to the United Kingdom at the start of the year and tested for Argenti Motorsport in British F4. She is eyeing a future move to F1 Academy.

Speed Demons Delhi

Coming with zero international karting experience and zero running in single-seaters, Zakariya Mohammed earned 25% of the FGSP scholarship by finishing P3. He will be hoping to progress even more in the next couple of weeks.

There should be a lot of attention around 15-year-old Danish driver Alba Hurup Larsen, who won the final edition of the FIA Girls on Track supported by the Ferrari Driver Academy. Whilst not officially part of the academy, Kevin Magnussen’s protégée is still in contact with them, and this Indian F4 experience could well be in preparation for a move to F1 Academy next year.

Chennai Turbo Riders

17-year-old Jayden Hamilton has already been racing all season long in Australian Formula Open in a Mygale M14-F4, where he should eventually finish runner-up in the F4 category behind championship leader Isaac McNeill in a faster Tatuus F4-T014. He participated to the FGSP in May, finishing fourth out of the ten participants.

Isaac Demellweek is a New South Wales champion in karting. He has featured in several international finals in Europe this year, especially in the low-cost OK-N category in the Champions of the Future Academy where he is yet to score a point in the championship standings.

Hyderabad Blackbirds

16-year-old Shriya Lohia was the first Indian driver announced for this season. She made a one-off appearance last year whereby finishing the two races she competed in, she became the only female point-scorer of the championship.

Her teammate is undoubtedly one of the biggest title favorites. Coming from South Africa, 17-year-old Aqil Alibhai is already an established name in the United Kingdom. Following multiple podiums in Ginetta Junior in 2022, he moved into single-seaters in British F4 with Virtuosi Racing, finishing eight overall with one reverse-grid win.

Rarh Bengal Tigers

Ruhaan Alva is one of India’s biggest talents for several years. The 17-year-old went through the FDA Asia-Pacific selections two years ago, and raced in GB4 last season, scoring one podium on his way to P10 overall, despite missing the final two rounds. Teaming up with Wohlwend last year in the Indian Racing League, he became the youngest winner in the history of the series.

Unlike his teammate, Tarun Muthiaiah has only ever raced in his native India. This year, he has been racing in MRF Formula 2000, the replacement series for the international MRF Challenge. Only Indian drivers now take part to this series, and the championship struggles to have visibility abroad, especially compared to Indian F4. Muthiaiah finished third out of five drivers.

Bangalore Speedsters

Despite many part-time campaigns, 17-year-old Jaden Pariat has one of the more interesting motorsport records. He moved into single-seaters in 2022, collected a maiden podium in British F4 with Argenti in 2023, and has been racing in MRF Formula 2000 this year, taking the title with eight wins in twelve races.

His teammate Abhay Mohan has the same kind of profile, with multiple successes in karting and a national title in 2022. He moved into single-seaters this year but has only raced in India in MRF Formula 1600 – a step below Formula 2000 – where he took the title.

Godspeed Kochi

A surprise name competing this year is 18-year-old Hugh Barter who is making a surprise comeback to single-seaters. The Australian-Japanese driver was highly regarded as one of the brightest feeder series stars, finishing runner-up in French and Spanish F4 in 2022 and going to FIA F3 with Campos in 2023. Managed by All Road and Nicolas Todt, he had to miss the season finale due to delays of payment and hadn’t found a seat for 2024. Could this move to Indian F4 be the first on his way back to the top?

Ahmedabad Apex Racers

Veer Sheth is a 17-year-old driver from India. After collecting podiums in karting in India and the United Arab Emirates, he stepped up to single-seaters last year, taking third overall in MRF Formula 1600.

Header photo credit: Motorsport Australia