In his second full year in Chinese F4, Kaishun Liu is fighting for the championship title once again. Liu currently sits second in the championship with three wins and 225 points. Following the fourth round in Shanghai, Feeder Series spoke to him about the race weekend in Shanghai, the Chinese racing scene, the differences in GT racing and single-seaters and his plans for the future. 

By Kaylene Lau

After finishing second in the championship last season, Kaishun Liu returned to the Chinese F4 championship this year and again finds himself in the championship fight, sitting in second place with one round to go and only 22 points behind current championship leader Oscar Pedersen. 

Liu’s most recent win in the series came from the last race in Shanghai just last weekend, where he won with a 52-second margin to second place. 

The round in Shanghai from his perspective

Liu struggled with brake balance issues in the practice sessions and qualifying, but said the team was able to fix it before the races. Despite the issues, Liu managed to qualify fourth in qualifying session one and third in qualifying session two. 

“We got things fixed on Saturday, and got the pace back on Sunday,” he said. “And we won race four.” 

Race four was a highlight for Liu. “I think especially because it was raining and everybody put on wets, and then I’m the first one to come into the pits to change [the tyres]. And then we were seven seconds faster a lap, and won by 52 seconds.” he said. 

Liu talked more about the strategy behind changing from wet tyres to slicks, stating that it was his decision – and it paid off. 

“We were taking a group photo before the formation lap, and then the team changed to wets because it was raining a bit. And then I was kind of like, ‘Why [did] you change to wets?’ The team said everyone changed to wets, and they weren’t willing to take the risk, I think.”

“And so I just asked them: ‘So if there is no safety car during the race, how?’ Because I know it’s a safety car start, and the safety car would be in for two laps. So I just asked the team if I can come in the first lap to change to slicks if I feel the grip, and then they said yes and I did.” 

“Luckily, we rejoined behind the safety car just before the start, and the team changed the tyre really fast.”

In addition to his win in race four, Liu also made it to the podium twice that weekend, with second-placed finishes in race two and three. 

Thoughts on the season

Much like last year, Liu is in contention for the championship title. He believes that he’s more prepared this time around and has been doing more testing. 

“We’re planning to do more testing next week, and then just hope to get double pole,” he said. Liu will be doing testing at Zhuhai International Circuit, which is the same circuit where the final round of the season will be held. 

Throughout the season, one moment he considered as a highlight came from race four in the second round at Chengdu, where he crashed with a teammate. 

“Yeah, I still won, but my teammate [Huang Xizheng] was catching me pretty fast. In the last lap, he hit me in the rear, and we both spun, and [I] almost [got] stuck in the gravel, but managed to get out. He was stuck in the gravel.”

Chinese F4 versus other F4 championships

Chinese F4 is the only single-seater racing series in China. On the benefits of racing in the series, Liu said that “it’s not as competitive, so it’s really easy to claim a title.” 

He also said that an additional benefit of the series was that it allows drivers to get a lot more mileage in the car. 

“If it’s not a very busy weekend, we can start testing Tuesday, Wednesday, I think. And then there’s four races, and five sets of new tyres, so we have a lot more new tyres, and we can do a lot more mileage in the car compared to other F4 [series].” 

“You can take it more like a prep season, if you’re trying to get into single-seaters. Because in my point of view, yes, indeed, you can do a lot more mileage, lots more driving.”

“But there’s one thing – because we have so many new tyres, people would not learn how to manage the tyres.” 

Comparing Chinese F4 to series such as F4 UAE and championships in Europe, Liu noted differences in environment and professionalism. Liu previously raced in F4 UAE earlier this year. 

“I think [F4] UAE is more similar to Europe, because the teams and the environment is different than China,” he said. “It is a lot more professional in [F4] UAE, and Italian [F4], because in China, the teams, the team manager or the people in the team, they’re not like graduates [of engineering] or motorsport.” 

“You can’t learn stuff that you can learn in [F4] UAE and Italian [F4], I think, because they don’t even know. So the benefit in Chinese F4 racing is just more. You can drive a lot more.” 

Liu says that, for young Chinese drivers who want to reach their single-seater goals, they will have to consider racing outside of China. 

“People do come back to have, like one or two races just to show the public. I think maximum, just do one season, and then you have to go out to Italy, or the UK, because it’s a lot more competitive out there.” 

Liu also notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has and could further influence the development of the series, noting that more drivers from outside of China could be inclined to join the series. 

Prior to the pandemic, a few drivers from outside of China have participated in the series and have won the championship title – the most recent being Conrad Clark from New Zealand in 2019. Other drivers from abroad to have won the title include Julio Acosta, Bruno Carneiro and Jordan Dempsey.

“After COVID, I think there will be a lot more foreign drivers coming into Chinese F4. This year we have two, we have Alex Sawer and Oscar Pedersen,” Liu said.

“I think for next year, we might see more, because after COVID, the teams are more willing to hire engineers from outside [of China] and mechanics. The level, I think it’s improving.” 

How GT racing influences single-seater performance

Liu has also been racing in GT cars this year – most recently competing in the 992 Endurance Cup at Spa. He has also participated in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. 

He initially thought that his stints in GT racing would have helped him when he returned to racing in single-seaters, but Liu quickly realised it was very different. 

“Now, I think it’s not really helping [in] single-seaters because it’s really different. I thought it would help, because I thought the driving style might be more similar. The minute I got back into single-seaters after driving the car that has ABS and traction, no.” 

“It’s because in single-seaters, you have to work yourself to find the grip and to break on the limit, because single-seaters don’t have the traction and ABS.” 

Liu says that he needed to adjust back to racing in formula cars when driving in the previous round in Shanghai because it was so different from GT racing. Liu also said that he lost confidence with braking. 

“I didn’t switch back the mode to formula racing because I was driving so much GT. I was like, ‘The car is weird,’ but in their mind, they think the car is good, but they think it’s just I don’t know how to drive single-seaters anymore.” 

“Because the car doesn’t have ABS, so I don’t have confidence when I was braking. So in the high-speed corners, I just brake less. So I hit the brake pedal really soft, but the brake efficiency doesn’t come below.” 

Plans for the future

Liu is still deciding whether he wants to completely transition to GT racing starting from next year or do another year in single-seaters. 

“I’m still considering [it], because I’ve got a lot of offers in GT, like PCCME – the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East – and some of the endurance [races] in January.” 

“So I’m really considering what’s my next move, because last week, I said I would end formula racing this year, because I felt like I’m too old to keep going [in] formula racing, and I think GT suits me more.”

Liu isn’t ruling out a return to formula racing next year, though, stating that he is still contemplating the possibility.  

“I can do GT whenever I want, but in formula, I think it’s now or never. So, I think we’ll do one more year in formula.” 

Header photo credit: Kai – @unknow_user_photograph