Formula Regional Middle East, F4 Middle East and the Formula Winter Series continue their 2025 seasons this weekend. Find out what’s at stake in each, when they’re racing and how to watch.

By Feeder Series

Junior single-seater action is on the lighter side this weekend, with only three series holding championship events. The Formula Winter Series returns to the site of its 2024 track-limits imbroglio in Valencia, where all 38 participating drivers were disqualified from qualifying. FR Middle East and F4 Middle East hold their fourth rounds of five at the Yas Marina Circuit, which also hosted the series’ first and second rounds.

While it’s unlikely that their champions will be crowned come Sunday, two of their graduates could win titles in the Asian Le Mans Series’ season-ending 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi, which the Formula Middle East package supports this weekend.

FR Middle East alumnus Valerio Rinicella is part of the #25 Algarve Pro Racing line-up that leads the LMP2 standings, while F4 UAE graduate Matteo Quintarelli is the only full-season driver in the LMP3-leading #35 AF Corse by Ultimate car. Both drivers are contesting their first endurance racing campaigns.

Additionally, on Thursday afternoon at NOLA Motorsports Park in the United States, 15-year-old Leonardo Escorpioni won the two-round, six-race YACademy Winter Series, which uses USF Juniors machinery. The Brazilian driver, who raced in Ligier JS F4 and USF Juniors last year, took his sole win of the campaign in the final race. Evan Cooley, Ty Fisher and João Vergara rounded out the top four in the points.

Formula Winter Series: Round 2, Valencia

Circuit: Circuit Ricardo Tormo, 4.005 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Thursday 13 February

• 9:35–10:35: Collective Test 1
• 12:50–13:50: Collective Test 2
• 16:00–17:00: Collective Test 3

Friday 14 February

• 9:25–10:15: Collective Test 4
• 12:10–13:00: Collective Test 5
• 14:50–15:35: Collective Test 6

Saturday 15 February

• 11:00–11:15: Qualifying 1
• 11:20–11:35: Qualifying 2
• 14:35–15:05: Race 1

Sunday 16 February

• 11:10–11:40: Race 2
• 15:35–16:05: Race 3

How to follow: Live Timing is available on RaceResults. All races will be broadcast in English on the Alpha Live and Winter Series YouTube channels. Additionally, Motorsport Television Deutschland and Parc Fermé TV broadcast the races with German and Italian commentary respectively.

Weather forecast: Sunny on Thursday and Friday; partly cloudy on Saturday and Sunday.

What to know: FWS enters its second round of the season at Valencia following the first taste of the duel between frontrunners US Racing and Hitech at Portimão. US’ Gabriel Gomez comfortably leads the drivers’ standings with 69 points, 33 more than his closest rivals, Hitech’s Leo Robinson and US’ Edu Robinson, have. 

There are a number of driver changes this weekend. Of those planned ahead of the season, Jan Koller will replace Luka Sammalisto at US Racing, Chloe Chambers will replace Rafaela Ferreira at Campos Racing and David Walther will replace Kirill Kutskov at Maffi Racing. 

Guy Albag will also return to AKM instead of Georgy Zhuravskiy after missing the first round because of his sister’s release from Hamas hostageship.

While Van Amersfoort couldn’t bring its planned fourth car to Portimao since they had no driver signed for the season, Gino Trappa will drive for the team in Valencia. The Argentine is not expected to become a regular driver for the team as he races for Drivex in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship and Spanish F4.

Additionally, Brazilian karting graduate Ricardo Miranda Baptista will make his single-seater debut at Valencia, replacing Aiva Anagnostiadis at Cram Motorsport. He previously tested the Tatuus F4-T421 used in FWS with TMG Racing in Goiânia, albeit on Hankook tyres. Anagnostiadis was initially announced to be contesting the first two rounds of FWS, but on Thursday, a representative for Anagnostiadis told Feeder Series that there were no plans for her to run in Valencia.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

From the press: Hitech GP and US Racing’s rivalry came to the fore on track in FWS’ 2025 season opener, but there were plenty of other talking points in Portimão. We spoke to the series’ protagonists throughout the weekend and rounded up the stories you may have missed. Read our notes from the paddock here.

You can also read the report from the previous round here.

FRegional Middle East: Round 4, Yas Marina

Circuit: Yas Marina Grand Prix Circuit, 5.281 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+4)

Thursday 13 February

• 12:15–13:15: Test 1
• 16:30–17:30: Test 2

Friday 14 February

• 9:25–9:55: Free Practice
• 14:45–15:00: Qualifying 1
• 15:05–15:20: Qualifying 2

Saturday 15 February

• 9:30–10:05: Race 1, 28 minutes + 1 lap

Sunday 16 February

• 9:30–10:05: Race 2, 28 minutes + 1 lap
• 13:10–13:45: Race 3, 28 minutes + 1 lap

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing on RaceResults. All three races will be broadcast on the championship’s official YouTube channel.

Weather forecast: Mostly sunny all weekend.

What to know: After a round away at the Dubai Autodrome, FR Middle East returns to Yas Marina once more for the penultimate round of the 2025 championship. Evan Giltaire now leads the standings by 39 points over Freddie Slater, with Brando Badoer trailing by a further 12 points. With only 94 points on offer after this weekend, Slater and Badoer must reduce their gaps to Giltaire to keep their title hopes realistically alive.

Despite being just one point away from third in the championship standings, Théophile Naël is not on this round’s entry list. It is not clear if the Frenchman, who will be in Barcelona next week for F3’s pre-season test, will return for the final round. Also missing is teammate Jakob Bergmeister, who made his series debut with Saintéloc at the previous round but did not score points. 

Filling one of the vacant seats at Saintéloc Racing is F3 race winner Nikita Bedrin. The 19-year-old’s plans for the rest of 2025 are still unclear. Italy’s Matteo De Palo will also join the series with Australian team Evans GP. The 17-year-old previously took part in the first two rounds of last year’s championship with Saintéloc and is set to compete in FR Europe this season with Trident.

Report by Tori Turner

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 Middle East: Round 4, Yas Marina

Circuit: Yas Marina Grand Prix Circuit, 5.281 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+4)

Friday 14 February

• 8:15–9:15: Test 1
• 13:35–14:35: Test 2
• 18:45–19:15: Free Practice

Saturday 15 February

• 8:30–8:45: Qualifying 1
• 8:50–9:05: Qualifying 2
• 12:55–13:30: Race 1, 28 minutes + 1 lap

Sunday 16 February

• 10:35–11:10: Race 2, 28 minutes + 1 lap
• 14:15–14:50: Race 3, 28 minutes + 1 lap

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing on RaceResults. All three races will be broadcast on the championship’s official YouTube channel.

Weather forecast: Mostly sunny all weekend.

What to know: F4 Middle East holds its penultimate round this weekend on the Yas Marina Circuit’s Grand Prix layout, which played host to the season opener four weeks ago.

With six races left, R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri holds a commanding 55-point lead in the drivers’ standings after finishing first, second and third last time out in Dubai. Mumbai Falcons driver Kean Nakamura-Berta notched three podiums in Dubai to sit second on 176 points. Alex Powell took the other two wins in Dubai, and he is tied with Tomass Štolcermanis on 135 points but classified ahead on account of having two victories to the Latvian’s one.

The entry list is the same as the last round’s save for the absence of Georgy Zhuravskiy. The 18-year-old United Arab Emirates resident competed for Pinnacle Motorsport in Dubai, taking a best finish of 16th. It was his sole entry in the series this season.

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

All times and forecasts listed above are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, follow each series’ websites or social media pages.

Header photo credit: Formula Regional Middle East Championship