Two of the three Spain-based winter series come to a close this weekend as Super Formula Lights and F4 NACAM’s 2025 seasons begin.

By Feeder Series

Two more junior single-seater titles will be decided this weekend as winter series racing nears its conclusion. The F4-spec Formula Winter Series and Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship race on Spanish soil in Barcelona and Navarra respectively, with a number of driver changes in each.

While Gabriel Gomez holds a commanding 67-point lead in the former with 82 still on offer, Eurocup-4’s title battle is far closer, with only five points separating Griffin Core by Campos teammates Thomas Strauven and Jan Przyrowski. Rain is expected to fall at both venues over the weekend.

The Super Formula package also holds its first event of 2025 this weekend at Suzuka, and it will mark four drivers’ graduations to professional-level single-seater race seats in Japan. Competing for the full season are Super Formula Lights champion Syun Koide at B-Max Racing, 2024 F2 driver and Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan at Kondō Racing and 2020 F3 driver and Toyota Racing Series champion Igor Fraga at Nakajima Racing.

Oliver Rasmussen, who raced in F3 in 2021 and 2022, was set to make his debut at Nakajima Racing, but an accident in free practice one has ruled him out for the rest of the weekend. Seita Nonaka – last year’s third-place finisher in Super Formula Lights – will replace him.

Read on to find out what’s new this weekend and how you can catch the action taking place in Spain, Japan and Mexico.

1. Super Formula Lights: Round 1, Suzuka
2. Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship: Round 3, Navarra
3. Formula Winter Series: Round 4, Barcelona
4. F4 NACAM: Round 1, Puebla

Super Formula Lights: Round 1, Suzuka

Circuit: Suzuka International Racing Course, 5.807 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9)

Thursday 6 March

• 10:00–12:00: Practice 1
• 14:30–16:30: Practice 2

Friday 7 March

• 9:05–10:35: Practice 3
• 13:45–15:15: Practice 4

Saturday 8 March

• 8:30–8:40: Qualifying 1
• 8:50–9:00: Qualifying 2
• 12:30–13:10: Race 1

Sunday 9 March

• 8:20–8:50: Race 2
• 12:50–13:20: Race 3

How to follow: All races will be live streamed on the series’ official YouTube channel. Live timing will be available at sfl.racelive.jp.

Weather forecast: Clouds but no rain expected. . Temperatures are not likely to exceed 13°C all weekend.

What to know: Super Formula Lights enters its sixth season in 2025 with 14 drivers attending the first race, a record for the series since its rebrand in 2020. A mix of international and domestic FR-level and F4-level champions will race in Super Formula’s direct feeder series this year. 

Of note is that Esteban Masson, who was announced to race for TOM’S this season, is still recovering from an injury he picked up in SFL’s 2024 post-season test. He was replaced at B-Max Racing by Seita Nonaka, who was then called up to Super Formula mid-weekend following Oliver Rasmussen’s withdrawal due to an accident. Three-time master class champion Nobuhiro Imada will also miss the round because of injury and will be replaced by Tosei Moriyama, a race winner in Japanese F4 and Japan’s representative in the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games F4 Cup.

The full line-up, along with the calendar and format, can be found in our 2025 season guide.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship: Round 3, Navarra

Circuit: Circuito de Navarra, 4.313 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Friday 7 March

• 9:00–11:00: Official test 1
• 13:10–14:40: Official test 2

Saturday 8 March

• 10:00–10:20: Qualifying 1
• 12:30–13:05: Race 1
• 15:20–15:45: Sprint

Sunday 9 March

• 9:00–9:20: Qualifying 2
• 12:55–13:30: Race 2

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing on Al Kamel Systems. All races will be streamed on the Spanish Winter Championship YouTube channel.

Weather forecast: Clouds and rain showers expected throughout Friday and Saturday with occasional rain possible on Sunday.

What to know: The recently revamped Circuito de Navarra will play host to the conclusion of a tight battle for the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship crown between Campos teammates Thomas Strauven and Jan Przyrowski. With 98 points, Strauven leads his Polish rival by five points. 

Vivek Kanthan sits third in the standings on 67 points after scoring two podiums at the last round in Portimão, whilst top-placed MP Motorsport driver René Lammers on 50 points will hope to salvage a top-three championship finish after scoring only 10 points last time out.

The circuit underwent major redevelopment throughout last year. Among other general updates, the second sector was notably extended to include new corners, including a banked hairpin at Turn 11. Some of Eurocup-4’s teams and drivers, including both Campos teams and several Drivex cars, tested the new Navarra layout in January.

Because of F1 Academy’s test this weekend in Shanghai, none of the female drivers who competed previously will be racing at Navarra. Lia Block and Aurelia Nobels’s absences mean ART Grand Prix will not have a presence at Navarra, nor will Rodin Motorsport field Emma Felbermayr. 

Whilst this is also the case for Cram Motorsport’s Aiva Anagnostiadis, who will compete in F1 Academy with Hitech, her teammate Aleksandar Bogunovič is likewise not racing with the team in Navarra, leaving them with no entered drivers. The Slovenian driver instead moves over to GRS Team, who will debut in Eurocup-4 after previously only running a sole entry in Eurocup-3. 

Report by Seb Tirado

Read the previous round’s report here.

Formula Winter Series: Round 4, Barcelona

Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.657 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Thursday 6 March

• 9:00–9:45: Collective test 1
• 12:10–12:50: Collective test 2
• 16:05–16:45: Collective test 3

Friday 7 March

• 9:00–9:40: Collective test 4
• 12:10–12:50: Collective test 5
• 16:05–16:45: Collective test 6

Saturday 8 March

• 10:30–10:45: Qualifying 1
• 10:50–11:05: Qualifying 2
• 14:05–14:35: Race 1

Sunday 9 March

• 9:15–9:45: Race 2
• 15:50–16:20: 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: Mixed weather with temporary rain showers possible Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures are not expected to exceed 15°C.

What to know: FWS enters its season finale at Barcelona this weekend with three drivers still in mathematical contention for the drivers’ title. US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez leads the standings with 182 points, having taken three wins and finished on the podium in every other race, while Hitech GP’s Fionn McLaughlin sits second with 115 points after picking up three wins and one further podium finish. His teammate Leo Robinson is third with 106 points, one win and four podium finishes.

The season concludes in Barcelona, the same venue where it concluded last year as the championship fight between eventual victor Griffin Peebles and Andrés Cárdenas went down to the wire.

The field will consist of 28 cars this weekend, several of them with new occupants. As was planned since the start of the season, Campos Racing will not enter the final round as their trio of drivers – Alisha Palmowski, Chloe Chambers and Rafaela Ferreira – are all taking part in F1 Academy’s test in Shanghai. Hitech’s Nina Gademan and Jenzer’s Alba Hurup Larsen will likewise miss the round for the same reason.

In Gademan’s place, Hitech will field 15-year-old Emily Cotty, who most recently raced with R-ace GP in F4 Middle East, while Jenzer fields Mexican karting graduate Javier Herrera, 16.

Gino Trappa of Van Amersfoort Racing will miss the round to fulfil his Eurocup-4 obligations this weekend with Drivex. His seat will be taken over by Aleksander Ruta, who makes the switch over from Cram Motorsport. Fellow Italian team AKM will field experienced F4 driver Davide Larini alongside Ginevra Panzeri as Marcus Sæter does not return.

After running only four cars last time out, US Racing returns with six cars this weekend as Jan Koller and Luka Sammlisto return, while AS Motorsport will run only two with Sebastian Bach’s absence.

Another change planned pre-season comes at Maffi Racing, where Kirill Kutskov replaces David Walther for the final round. Finally, Viola Formula Racing make their debut in the final FWS round with one car, driven by single-seater debutant Ludovico Busso, 15.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 NACAM: Round 1, Puebla

Circuit: Autódromo Internacional Miguel E. Abed, 3.363 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC–6)

Saturday 8 March

• 8:00–8:30: Practice 1
• 10:00–10:20: Practice 2
• 12:40–13:00: Qualifying 
• 15:55–16:25: Race 1

Sunday 9 March

• 9:00–9:40: Race 2
• 11:20–12:00: Race 3

How to follow:  The races will be streamed on Notiauto Racing YouTube channel. Results will also be posted on the championship’s social media pages.

Weather forecast: Sunny all weekend.

What to know: This weekend’s F4 NACAM round is the first of six scheduled for the series’ 2025 season. Initially, the 2024 season was set to extend into 2025, but it was truncated after three rounds. As a result, the 2025 grid remains largely unchanged, and five of the eight confirmed drivers on the entry list have already raced last year.

Only three teams are participating: Ram Racing, RRK Racing, and Alessandros Racing. Although Alessandros Racing won last year’s teams’ championship, Ram Racing enters this season with the most experienced line-up with three returning drivers. 

Zaky Ibrahim, is the highest-placed returning driver, having finished third in last season’s standings and second in the winter test.  Among the rookies, Ivanna Richards comes with particular pedigree; she won three national karting titles and took a podium in her first race in single-seaters during the last round of F4 NACAM in 2023.

To find out more about how this season is shaping up, check out our season guide, to be released this evening.

Report by Laura Anequini

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: Daniel Bürgin