Over the last two years, the Formula Regional Middle East Championship has attracted top teams and drivers from the FR level eager to get some racing under their belts over the winter. Feeder Series tells you everything you need to know about the series’ third iteration under its current name.

By Daniele Spadi and Tori Turner

Among the newest winter series populating the single-seater ladder, FR Middle East can already boast an F1 graduate. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the series’ 2023 champion, will graduate to Mercedes in F1 in 2025, while several race winners from its past identities of FR Asia and F3 Asia will join him on the F1 grid next year.

The third season of the series features a 26-car grid with a number of promising drivers either looking for their first taste of FR-level racing or warming up for their campaigns further up the junior single-seater ladder.

Promoter Top Speed now runs the championship under the revamped Formula Middle East banner, unveiled in September 2024, along with the renamed F4 Middle East Championship. The more united front on the Middle East market accompanies the series’ planned expansion beyond the UAE.

Among other rule changes, the series will introduce a behaviour warning points (BWP) system to track driving violations throughout the season. Drivers who accumulate eight BWP after a session will drop three places on the next race’s grid, drivers who accumulate 12 BWP will drop five places, and drivers who accumulate 16 BWP will drop eight places. The stewards will impose further penalties at their discretion.

The calendar

Like its 2024 edition, FR Middle East’s 2025 season is set to have five rounds in six weeks. Originally, Kuwait Motor Town was supposed to be back on the schedule for the opening two rounds after its absence last year. Those plans were understood to have fallen through in December, however, and the series ended up switching those rounds to Abu Dhabi.

The three Yas Marina events were set to be joined by round three at the Dubai Autodrome and round five at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, two other FIA Grade 1 tracks. The Dubai round is still going ahead, but the Jeddah round has been scrapped. As was announced today, the final round of the season is now set to take place at the Lusail International Circuit as Qatar becomes the third country to host a FR Middle East event in the history of the series. The calendar is thus as follows:

• Round 1: Yas Marina Circuit (17–19 January)
• Round 2: Yas Marina Circuit (22–23 January)
• Round 3: Dubai Autodrome (7–9 February)
• Round 4: Yas Marina Circuit (14–16 February)
• Round 5: Lusail International Circuit (26–28 February)

The format

The series’ format remains untouched for the 2025 season. There will be one 30-minute practice session ahead of two qualifying sessions of 15 minutes each. Drivers will then battle it out in three races of 28 minutes plus one lap each.

The starting order for races one and three will be determined by the results of qualifying one and two respectively. The grid for the second race will be set by reversing the top 10 finishers from race one.

The points for the series, however, will follow a new format. The top 12 finishers in each race will be awarded points on a 30-22-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 scale. Also new for 2025 is that the driver who sets the best lap in each qualifying session will earn two additional points.

Where to watch

All 15 races will be broadcast live on the FR Middle East Championship YouTube channel for free. Fans can also follow other sessions, such as free practice and qualifying, through RaceResults.

Teams and drivers

Two teams from last year’s championship will not participate in this FR Middle East season. Xcel Motorsport have confirmed their absence from the grid, while MP Motorsport are also missing from the entry list for the first round and are not expected to join the series later. 

R-ace GP

R-ace GP saw high levels of success last season, winning the teams’ championship and having three out of their five drivers in the top 10 of the drivers’ championship. Drivers’ champion Tuukka Taponen won a total of five races for the team, matching runner-up Taylor Barnard for the most victories in 2024. 

Even though he has lost Red Bull Junior Team backing, Enzo Deligny (#1) is set to continue his partnership with R-ace GP after campaigns in both FR Europe and F4 UAE with the team in 2024. The 16-year-old Frenchman won the penultimate race of the season in F4 UAE, ultimately finishing eighth overall in the standings despite missing the first two rounds. He then finished 12th in FR Europe and fourth in the year-end Macau Grand Prix, in which he was also the best rookie. His familiarity with the team and experience at the FR level may benefit him this season. 

Reigning Euro 4 champion Akshay Bohra (#3), 17, will join Deligny at R-ace GP. The American-Indian driver scored two wins and 124 points across the season, earning him his first junior single-seater title to date. Bohra also finished fourth in the 2024 Italian F4 standings, scoring three podiums and one win at Paul Ricard. Other notable achievements throughout his career include finishing third in the Indian F4 standings in 2023.

Last year’s Macau Grand Prix winner Ugo Ugochukwu (#7) will return to the championship this year with a different team. The American driver continues his partnership with R-ace GP after finding success with them around the prestigious Guia circuit back in November. The 17-year-old McLaren junior will step up to FIA F3 with Prema Racing for the 2025 season after competing with them in FR Europe and with Rodin Motorsport in a partial GB3 season. 

Completing R-ace GP’s lineup for 2025 is Japanese driver Jin Nakamura (#2). The 19-year-old won one race in Super Formula Lights, narrowly missing out on a top-three finish in the championship by just seven points. The #225 Kobe Toyopet Motor Sports entry he raced in the ST-2 class of Japanese endurance racing championship Super Taikyu also won the class title. 

PHM Racing

PHM Racing enters the 2025 season after securing back-to-back second-place finishes in the teams’ championship. In 2024, McLaren Formula E driver Taylor Barnard scored five wins for the team and finished second in the standings. The German outfit is back to racing under just their name in the series following their split from former title sponsor AIX. 

Preparing himself for his F3 drive with Prema in 2025, Italian Brando Badoer (#12) will return to race with PHM for his second season in the series. The 18-year-old previously scored two third-place finishes during the series’ first trip to the Dubai Autodrome in 2024 and placed 10th overall with 76 points. He then competed in FR Europe with Van Amersfoort Racing later in 2024, scoring six consecutive podiums throughout the middle of the season to finish fifth in the standings.

Everett Stack (#9) was recently confirmed to be partnering Badoer for his rookie season. The American driver is no stranger to PHM, having previously raced for the team in F4 UAE, Italian F4, Euro 4 and F4 CEZ last year. His best result of 2024 was a 10th-place finish during the fifth round of Italian F4 held at Paul Ricard.

Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

As the affiliate team of FR Europe powerhouses Prema Racing, Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited are once again expected to be at the front of the grid. The 2023 teams’ champions endured a challenging 2024 season, scoring 187 points less than title winners R-ace GP and taking victory in just two of the 15 races thanks to eventual FR Europe champion Rafael Câmara.

Jack Beeton (#45) is set to drive for Mumbai Falcons for his maiden campaign in an FR-level championship. The 17-year-old Australian showed great improvement from his first to his second year of F4, going from 23rd in Italian F4 in 2023 to second in 2024 with a win and nine additional podium finishes. The 2023 F4 South East Asia champion is also set to race with Prema in FR Europe later this season.

Emirati Rashid Al Dhaheri (#14) will join the team ahead of his FR Europe campaign with Prema this year. The 16-year-old had a busy 2024, competing in Italian F4, F4 UAE, Euro 4, and Formula Trophy UAE. His best results came in Formula Trophy UAE with second overall, helped by one win each at the Dubai Autodrome and the Yas Marina Circuit. 

Returning to the Middle East after winning F4 UAE last year, Freddie Slater (#27) will partner with Mumbai Falcons again. The 16-year-old British driver had a phenomenal 2024, winning the Italian F4 title and coming second in Euro 4. His Italian F4 title campaign saw him break the record for the most victories in the championship with 15 wins out of 21 races contributing to a 383-point tally. He is set to be a title contender with Prema in FR Europe this year. 

Another addition to Mumbai Falcons’ 2025 lineup for the first two rounds is 18-year-old Reza Seewooruthun (#8), who is set to race in GB3 this year with fellow Prema-affiliated team Argenti. The British driver came third in British F4 last year, winning two races at Thruxton and Silverstone with Hitech. He also placed third in the FIA Motorsport Games F4 Cup, representing Great Britain, and 16th in F4 UAE last winter with one second-place finish.

Many eyes will then be on Doriane Pin, who will join the team for the third and fourth rounds of the 2025 season. The 21-year-old Frenchwoman is no stranger to the Tatuus T-318, as she competed in FR Europe last year with Iron Dames but failed to score points in the 15 races she started. Her run to second in F1 Academy with three wins, five pole positions and five further podiums was enough to grant her a full season in FR Europe with Prema in 2025 alongside the continuation of her F1 Academy journey. Another as-yet-unannounced driver will replace her for the season finale.

Pinnacle Motorsport

Another team entering their second season in the championship are Ireland’s Pinnacle Motorsport, who will enter four cars for six drivers. They finished a respectable fourth place in the teams’ championship last year, with 112 of their 118 points coming from Mari Boya. The Spanish driver scored three podiums and points in all but three races.

Returning for a third season in the series is Giovanni Maschio (#99), who is set to become the first driver to have competed in every race in the series since its launch in 2023. Maschio had already joined forces with Pinnacle Motorsport for his 2024 campaign, scoring two points and finishing 21st in the drivers’ standings. The 18-year-old Italian has also competed in FR Europe with Monolite and RPM in 2023 and 2024 respectively, scoring a single point across two seasons.

Finley Green (#69) is also set to run again in 2025 after finishing 34th in his 2024 campaign with Pinnacle. The 22-year-old Briton made his single-seater comeback last year after a three-year break and also took part in several Eurocup-3 races.

Jesse Carrasquedo (#33) will likewise return for his second FR Middle East season in what is presumed to be a part-time campaign. The 17-year-old Mexican competed with R-ace GP in 2024, finishing 25th in the drivers’ championship with a best result of 11th. He also failed to score points in his four FR Europe rounds with G4 Racing before switching over to Eurocup-3 mid-year. In that series, Carrasquedo took a podium in his first race weekend in Paul Ricard and a win three races later in Aragon on his way to eighth in the standings.

Pinnacle’s four-car effort is completed by Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera (#24), though it is also not certain that he will participate in the full season. Last year, the 16-year-old made his single-seater debut in Formula Winter Series with Campos Racing, taking one podium, before joining the team for a full Spanish F4 campaign. The Mexican ended the season in fifth, helped by a win in Portimão and a further podium in the first round at Jarama. This marks Rivera’s debut in FR-level racing.

Joining Pinnacle partway through the season will be Japanese driver Hiyu Yamakoshi, who ran partial campaigns with the team in F4 UAE in 2023 and 2024. The 17-year-old took two wins in Italian F4 last year, briefly leading the standings after his second victory, but slipped back to third overall after a challenging final round. Two victories and two more podiums helped him to fourth in sister series Euro 4. He will make his FR debut in Dubai in February ahead of his FR Europe campaign with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2025.

Lastly, 16-year-old Mercedes junior Yuanpu Cui will also join the team during the season. The Chinese driver finished ninth in British F4 last year with a reverse-grid win and an additional podium and 11th in Chinese F4 after winning two of four races in his sole entry into the series. He competed in four F4 UAE rounds last year with Xcel Motorsport, taking his only two points from a ninth-place finish at Yas Marina. Cui’s main campaign is in GB3 with the Argenti by Prema team.

Saintéloc Racing

French team Saintéloc Racing return for a second season in the championship after finishing fifth last year. The team moved up to FR Middle East last year after having run in support series F4 UAE in 2023

Making a brief comeback for the 2025 season is Théophile Naël (#4), who is set to race in the first two rounds of the championship. The Frenchman finished 11th overall in the 2024 drivers’ championship, having a superb round at the Yas Marina Circuit that included his and the team’s first FR-level victory as well as a second-place finish the following day. Later in 2025, the 17-year-old will make the step up to F3 with Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing.

After competing in 2024 with Xcel Motorsport, 19-year-old Yaroslav Veselaho (#96) will compete with Saintéloc Racing. The Ukrainian driver finished 33rd overall last year, with his highest race result being 19th. He also ran in FR Europe with ART Grand Prix but only managed 35th in the standings. 

Preparing himself for his 2025 Eurocup-3 campaign with Saintéloc, Lorenzo Castillo (#10) will join the team for the first two rounds. The Mexican driver competed in Spanish F4 last year, finishing 35th overall in his rookie season. 

Evans GP

Coming back for a second consecutive season in FR Middle East is Evans GP, who finished seventh in the teams’ championship in 2024 with 22 points. Twenty-one of those points came thanks to Costa Toparis, who also claimed the team’s maiden podium in the series with a third place in round four at Abu Dhabi.

The team have announced Kai Daryanani (#88) as one of their drivers for the 2025 season. The 19-year-old Indian driver has two years of F4 experience with two full-time campaigns in both F4 UAE and British F4, improving his points tally from eight in 2023 to 93 in 2024 in the latter. The 19-year-old’s prior experience with the Australian team includes winning races in GB4 in 2023 and Australian F4 in 2024 as well as taking the Formula Trophy UAE drivers’ title last month. Daryanani got his first taste of FR racing in the 2024 Macau Grand Prix with the team, finishing the qualifying race 20th before retiring from the main event.

Australian Aaron Cameron (#5) will partner Daryanani for the 2025 season. The 24-year-old is known for racing in Australian touring cars,placing second in Supercars support series Super2 with Kelly Racing in 2024 and participating in Supercars’ endurance races with Blanchard Racing Team. While Cameron has not raced in junior single-seaters since his 2017 Australian Formula Ford entries, he won the 2021 S5000 Tasman Series, then in 2023 became only the third driver in Australian open-wheel history to win both the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and Tasman Series in the same year.

Origine Motorsport

The Chinese team outfit formerly known as R&B Racing will now run under the name Origine Motorsport for the 2025 season. The team failed to score any points during last year’s championship.

Wang Zhongwei (#22) is set to make his third appearance with the team in FR Middle East after previously competing in 2023 and 2024. The 29-year-old Chinese driver has not scored any points during his two seasons in the series. 

China’s Liu Ruiqi (#66) will also race with Origine Motorsport in 2025. The 18-year-old raced in last year’s championship with PHM, finishing 26th in the standings with no points. His return to the series comes ahead of his sophomore FR Europe campaign with Trident.

ART Grand Prix

A new addition to the grid for 2025 is ART Grand Prix, a highly experienced team in the junior single-seater scene. The French team’s drivers have won titles in F2, F3 and FR Europe this decade, and the team also has entries in F1 Academy, Italian F4 and Euro 4. 

Kanato Le (#19) will join ART ahead of his 2025 FR Europe campaign with the French team. This will be 17-year-old Le’s first full attempt at FR Middle East after he entered six races last year with R-ace GP. Out of those six races, he scored points once at the penultimate race held at the Dubai Autodrome. The best championship finish of his single-seater career so far came in British F4 in 2023, when he finished seventh overall with two wins. 

Fellow Japanese driver Taito Kato (#89) will race alongside Le ahead of his 2025 FR Europe campaign with ART. The reigning French F4 champion won five races throughout the 2024 season alongside a further seven podiums. With four pole positions and a grand total of 280 points, the 17-year-old Honda junior showed plenty of promise in his first single-seater championship. 

The only French driver in ART’s 2025 lineup is 2023 French F4 champion Evan Giltaire (#95). This will be the 18-year-old’s first season competing in the series. His victory at Hockenheim was the highlight of his rookie campaign in FR Europe last year, while at the year-end Macau Grand Prix, he qualified ninth for the team.

Akcel GP by PHM Racing

Another new addition to the 2025 grid is Akcel GP, who will partner with PHM Racing to run in the series. The partnership between the Indian and German teams will also extend to F4 Middle East. 

The first driver to form Akcel GP’s all-Indian lineup is Jaden Pariat (#50), who turns 18 later this month. The FR rookie won MRF F2000 in his home country last year with eight victories from 12 races. Pariat also took two wins and five further podiums en route to third in Indian F4 last year, which followed his debut single-seater podium in British F4 in 2023.

Aditya Kulkarni (#15) will join countryman Pariat to round out Akcel GP’s first driver lineup. Kulkarni spent his 2024 season racing in GB3 with Hillspeed, finishing 19th overall with 111 points. He had previously shown promising results throughout 2023 in his GB4 campaign with Fortec Motorsport, scoring points in every race, finishing on the podium four times and ending up fifth in the championship.

Header photo credit: Formula Regional Middle East Championship