After eight seasons of running as the F4 UAE Championship, the longest-running F4-level winter series in junior single-seaters has expanded and rebranded for 2025 to the F4 Middle East Championship. Feeder Series tells you everything you need to know about this year’s championship and the global talent pool it features. 

By Calla Kra-Caskey

Last year, Mumbai Falcons driver Freddie Slater entered the championship as the heavy favourite. Although he did emerge victorious, he only sealed victory in the final race. The series has a little less star power this year, but from the six familiar faces to around a dozen drivers fresh from karting, there will be plenty to watch for.

The rebrand includes a new name which aligns it more closely with older brother series FRegional Middle East. It also includes a round in Qatar – with previously announced rounds in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia having been canceled.

There are also some major rules changes, including championship points to the top twelve and behavior warning points (BWP) that mimic Formula 1’s penalty points system. Accumulating BWP through driving violations leads to various grid drops: five places for 12 BWP, eight places for 16 BWP, and other penalties at the discretion of the stewards. 

The calendar

This year’s calendar is slightly unusual. The second and fifth rounds will take place mid-week, running from Tuesday to Thursday rather than Friday to Sunday.

As part of its expansion, the series was originally meant to race across three countries. The first two rounds, originally announced for Kuwait, were rescheduled to Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit. Only the final round will be run outside of the UAE, as the originally announced season finale venue of Jeddah was moved to Qatar. 

F4 Middle East primarily supports Formula Regional Middle East. The two series will run alongside the Asian Le Mans Series and Renault Clio Cup Middle East, and the first round will also feature on the same weekend as the 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi and the Gulf Radical Cup.

• Round 1: Yas Marina Circuit GP layout (17–19 January)
• Round 2: Yas Marina Circuit Corkscrew layout (21–23 January)
• Round 3: Dubai Autodrome (7–9 February) 
• Round 4: Yas Marina Circuit GP layout (14–16 February) 
• Round 5: Lusail International Circuit (26–28 February)

The format

The weekend schedule remains the same as last year’s. Friday features two hour-long test sessions, with an additional 30-minute practice on Saturday morning. Later on Saturday, there are two 15-minute qualifying sessions, which set the grid for races one and three. The grid for the second race is formed by reversing the top 10 finishers of the first race. All three races are 28 minutes plus one lap. 

Updated for this year is the points system. Points will be awarded to the top 12 finishers of each race rather than the top 10. They decrease from 30 points for the victor to one for the 12th-place finisher. The series will award two points for pole position and none for fastest lap. 

Where to watch

This year, certain qualifying sessions and all races are set to be streamed on the series’ YouTube channel and Facebook page. Live timing is available for all sessions on RaceResults.

Teams and drivers

As new winter championships such as Formula Winter Series and the Spanish F4 Winter Series have developed, the lineup of teams has shifted. Hitech has departed the championship for FWS, while Saintéloc Racing is leaving F4 Middle East but still competing in FR Middle East.

Winfield Racing School previously announced that they would enter a team into the championship, but the French outfit are not on the entry list for round one.

Mumbai Falcons by Prema Racing

Last year, Mumbai Falcons took the teams’ championship by more than 100 points, while drivers Freddie Slater and Kean Nakamura-Berta took the driver and rookie titles respectively. As one of the few teams with returning talent, the Prema satellite outfit look like the championship favourite yet again. 

Returning to the fold and leading the charge is Kean Nakamura-Berta (#51). Last year, the 17-year-old took the championship fight to the final round, ultimately finishing as runner-up and rookie champion. Since then, he raced for Prema in Italian F4 and Euro 4, finishing sixth and third in the respective championships with one victory in each. A proven winner with plenty of F4 experience under his belt, Nakamura-Berta is the favourite for this year’s championship. 

Joining him is F4 newcomer Chi Zhenrui (#28). After having tested with Prema in F4 UAE last year, Chi stepped into single-seater competition for Formula Trophy UAE, in which he finished fifth with two podiums. The 16-year-old will use his F4 Middle East campaign to prepare for Italian F4 and the renamed E4, which he will also enter with Prema. 

Like Chi, Salim Hanna (#88) also participated in Formula Trophy UAE after graduating from karts. In the three-round series, the 15-year-old Colombian finished seventh in the standings with a best result of fourth. 

Rounding out the lineup is 16-year-old Arjun Chheda (#7). In 2024, the Indian driver finished 24th in French F4 with a best result of 15th. He also participated in one round of Indian F4, in which he had a best result of fourth. 

Prema Racing 

Along with the Mumbai Falcons entries, Prema will be running three cars under their own name as well. Prema were runner-up in last year’s teams’ championship, and as in most series they enter, Prema are one of the teams to beat. 

Latvian driver Tomass Štolcermanis (#33) returns to the series after finishing 18th in a two-round 2024 entry with one podium. The 17-year-old then continued with Prema in the Italian F4 and Euro 4 Championships and finished ninth and fifth respectively, racking up three total podiums. Štolcermanis’ experience should help him contend for his first single-seater victory and perhaps even the title. 

Ukrainian rookie Oleksandr Bondarev (#27) sets out on his first full season in cars after competing in the final two rounds of the Italian F4 Championship with Prema. In senior karting earlier in 2024, he won the WSK Champions Cup and was runner-up in the WSK Super Master Series with Prema. The 15-year-old Williams junior is set to return to Italian F4 in 2025 as he seeks to improve on his best race result of 11th.

Rounding out the Prema lineup is Andretti-backed American Sebastian Wheldon (#98). Before taking victory in his first race in Formula Trophy UAE in December, Wheldon won the 2023 Skip Barber Formula Race Series and placed third in the 2024 USF Juniors championship. With his immediate results in Abu Dhabi last month, Wheldon, who turns 16 next month, is one to watch in F4 Middle East. 

Yas Heat Racing Academy

Yas Heat Racing Academy returns for their third year in the championship after improving to third last year. The team, supported by Xcel Motorsport, will run the same lineup as they did in the Formula Trophy UAE championship last month.

Adam Al Azhari (#12), the 15-year-old brother of 2024 F4 UAE title contender Keanu Al Azhari, finished 12th with a best result of fifth in Formula Trophy UAE last month. Prior to that campaign, the Emirati driver had taken a best result of 10th in a partial season of Spanish F4, his first in cars. 

August Raber (#47) finished one place ahead of Al Azhari in Formula Trophy with a best result of third. Raber, also 15, also competed in British F4 last year, finishing 21st overall after missing eight races, with several of those absences being due to a hand injury.

Akcel GP by PHM Racing 

Last year, part-season entrant Nikita Bedrin, also an F3 race winner, led PHM Racing to fifth in the teams’ standings. This year, UAE-based Akcel GP has partnered with PHM for a joint entry in the series, with the German team providing technical support. Akcel were originally set to enter two cars for this season but announced a third this week.

That car will be driven by 22-year-old Emirati Hamda Al Qubaisi (#8), who is by far the most experienced driver in the championship this year with 173 F4 races under her belt. In 2024, she finished fifth in F1 Academy with three podiums. Al Qubaisi has raced in three full seasons of F4 UAE, finishing fourth with three victories in both 2020 and 2021 as well as 20th in 2023. Her experience around the Yas Marina Circuit and Dubai Autodrome should provide her with a leg up on the competition. 

Joining Al Qubaisi at Akcel is Dutch driver Reno Francot (#11). The 17-year-old also has plenty of F4 experience under his belt. In 2023 he was runner-up in F4 CEZ, taking three victories, and in 2024 he finished 14th with a best result of fourth in Italian F4 while racing for Jenzer Motorsport. He also made an appearance for Evans GP at the F4 UAE Trophy event in support of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, taking two podiums.

Rookie David Cosma Cristofor (#13) completes the team on his single-seater debut. The 15-year-old Romanian driver, who has previously tested with PHM, placed 28th in the WSK Champions Cup OK class last year. 

R-ace GP

In 2024, R-ace GP finished sixth in the teams’ championship. This year they’ll aim to improve on that with a more experienced lineup. 

Mercedes junior Alex Powell (#41) is one of six drivers competing in at least their second season of the series. Racing for Prema in 2024, the 17-year-old Jamaican-American was sixth overall with one victory and was runner-up in the rookie championship. He continued with the Italian team for Italian F4, finishing fifth overall and taking the rookies’ title, and for Euro 4, in which he finished ninth. Powell has been testing with R-ace GP since November, and his experience makes him a strong contender for the F4 Middle East crown. 

One of the youngest drivers in the field, 15-year-old Emily Cotty (#42) will gear up for her first full season in cars. In 2024 she competed in karting as well as one round of the British F4 Championship, finishing 19th and 18th in the two races. She competed in two rounds of Formula Trophy UAE with a best result of 15th. 

Oleksandr Savinkov (#52) will join R-ace for his second year at the F4 level. In 2024, the 16-year-old placed 42nd in Italian F4, with a best result of 17th. He finished 37th with a best result of 17th in the Formula Winter Series.

Savinkov’s AKM Motorsport teammate Emanuele Olivieri (#68) did two rounds of the Formula Winter Series and scored two points en route to 28th. The 16-year-old Italian then finished 17th in Italian F4 with a best result of sixth. He will also move to R-ace for the winter. 

Xcel Motorsport 

UAE-based Xcel Motorsport will run three cars this year as they aim to improve upon their 2024 ninth-place finish. Most of their lineup will continue from Formula Trophy UAE. 

Fu Yuhao (#63) returns for his second year in the series. In 2024, the Chinese driver finished 37th with a best result of 19th. This year he also participated in British F4, finishing 18th with a best result of 10th, and Chinese F4, finishing fourth with two victories. In Formula Trophy, Fu finished 20th with a best result of 13th. 

Joining Fu is rookie Cole Hewetson (#29), who is preparing for a British F4 campaign later this year. In 2024 he participated in several karting series, chiefly the Champions of the Future Academy Program, in which he finished 24th in the OK-N Senior standings after half a season. The South African took 15th place in Formula Trophy UAE with a best result of sixth in Abu Dhabi. 

Also included in the entry list for Xcel is Abdullah Ayman Kamel (#99). Kamel, the 2024 IAME Series Saudi Arabia champion in the senior class, is competing in single-seaters for the first time. He previously tested with the Winfield Racing School. 

Pinnacle Motorsport

Irish team Pinnacle Motorsport return to the series after scoring just two points in 2024. In the first round, the team with Filipino roots will run three Asian drivers, and they are expected to announce a fourth later on. 

Chinese driver Wang Yuzhe (#15) leads the team after having competed for them in Formula Trophy UAE, finishing 22nd with a best result of 14th. Also last year, Wang came fifth overall in Chinese F4 with a best result of fourth. 

Karting graduate Kyuho Lee (#16) will get his first taste of F4 machinery with Pinnacle. The 16-year-old Korean rookie won the inaugural OK-N World Cup in September. 

Joining them and also stepping up from karting is 16-year-old Yuta Suzuki (#58). In addition to battling with F2 race winner Nobuharu Matsushita for the GPR Karting Series shifter class title, Suzuki also competed in several rounds of the entry-level Super FJ series in his home country. In the Super FJ final at Motegi, he finished fourth among 50 entrants.

QMMF

The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation is returning to an F4 championship for the first time since the inaugural season of F4 UAE in 2016–17. The team, whose entries will be operated by Xcel Motorsport, field an all-Qatari, all-rookie lineup.

Brothers Taha Hassiba (#20), 16, and Tamim Hassiba (#18), 15, are both stepping up to cars from karts. The Qatar Motorsports Academy members spent time in 2024 testing F4 cars alongside their karting programmes. 

They will be joined by Bader Al Sulaiti (#95). The 2023 Qatar Karting Championship winner, Al Sulaiti competed in the FIA Motorsport Games this fall, representing Qatar. 

Evans GP

Australian entry Evans GP will complete the 2025 team lineup. The team have experience of running these circuits in Formula Trophy UAE last month and FR Middle East Championship last year, and four of five drivers have solid F4-level experience. 

Seth Gilmore (#24), who turns 17 next week, raced in the first two rounds of Formula Trophy UAE and withdrew from the third because of illness, finishing 19th in the series with a best result of 12th. Prior to that, the Australian driver placed fourth in his domestic F4 series with two podiums. 

Tiago Rodrigues (#3), 17, raced with Evans in the Macau Grand Prix’s FR World Cup. He failed to finish that race, but his one round of Australian F4 prior yielded a victory. Also in 2024, Rodrigues finished 22nd in F4 UAE for Xcel Motorsport with a best result of eighth, and his experience should help him fight at the sharp end of the pack during his second season in the series.

Rodrigues will find a challenger in Martin Molnár (#2). The 16-year-old Hungarian finished eighth overall with five podiums in British F4 last year and took the rookie championship. He will look to use F4 Middle East to gain momentum before he returns to the United Kingdom for a sophomore campaign. 

Farah Al Yousef (#4) will make her F4 debut in the series ahead of a rumoured appearance as F1 Academy’s wild card at the Jeddah round in April. In December, the 22-year-old Saudi Arabian driver represented her country in qualifying for the Formula Woman Nations Cup, which will take place in Dubai in May in Radical SR3 sports cars.

Completing Evans’ lineup, though not participating in the first round, is Chinese driver Jia Zhanbin. Last year, Jia competed in Formula Trophy UAE for Champ Motorsport, finishing 21st with a best result of 13th. He also competed in Chinese F4, placing sixth overall with a best result of fifth. 

Header photo credit: F4 UAE Championship