Almost a month after their last race in Melbourne, F2 and F3 return to the track in Bahrain, while all three USF Pro Championships series head to New Orleans and F4 CEZ begins in Spielberg. Here’s what to watch for and how to catch all the action. 

By Feeder Series

F1 is in the midst of a tripleheader across Asia, with its second stop taking the premier category to the Persian Gulf. Support series F2 and F3 will join the fray this weekend in support of the Bahrain Grand Prix almost a month after their season openers in Australia.

It won’t be their first visits to Bahrain this year, however. While the venue normally holds pre-season testing for F2 and F3, this year it hosted three days of in-season testing for the two series at the end of March.

FRegional Europe also held two test days in Barcelona earlier this week, with defending FR Middle East champion Evan Giltaire of ART Grand Prix setting the best time overall. News also broke Monday that the 2025 season would be the final one of the championship’s collaboration with Alpine, which gave rise to the FRECA acronym that has been the series’ colloquial name since 2021.

Across the pond, as IndyCar heads to California for the Long Beach Grand Prix, USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 return for their second rounds of 2025 at NOLA. They are joined by USF Juniors for one of three weekends this year featuring the complete USF Pro Championships package. F4 CEZ, like USF Juniors, also holds its season opener this weekend, with the Czech series heading to the Red Bull Ring for the first of two rounds there.

Formula 2: Round 2, Bahrain

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit, 5.412 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+3)

Friday 11 April

• 12:05–12:50: Practice
• 16:55–17:25: Qualifying

Saturday 12 April

• 17:15–18:05: Sprint race, 23 laps (45 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday 13 April

• 14:25–15:30: Feature race, 32 laps (60 minutes + 1 lap)

How to follow: All sessions will be live-streamed on F1 TV, but fans can also follow them live via the series’ live timing service. Local viewing information can be found here.

Weather forecast: Dry and sunny all weekend; highs of 35°C

What to know: Formula 2 aims to complete its first feature race of 2025 as it heads to Bahrain for its second round. With the Melbourne feature interrupted because of rain, the sprint race podium trio of Joshua Dürksen, Leonardo Fornaroli and Luke Browning also compose the top three in the championship. 

Gabriele Minì and Victor Martins, who qualified first and second in Australia, paced the field in F2’s midseason test in Bahrain in late March. Jak Crawford, Amaury Cordeel, Alex Dunne and Max Esterson all missed the final day of testing after their teams were found to have added additional sensors to their cars at the pre-season test in Barcelona. 

Others to watch include Pepe Martí, who finished on the podium in both Bahrain races last year. Meanwhile, Browning and Dino Beganovic will participate in F1’s first free practice session for Williams and Ferrari respectively between F2’s practice and qualifying on Friday. 

Report by Calla Kra-Caskey

From the studio: After leaving Melbourne as the F2 championship leader, Dürksen hopped on the Feeder Series Podcast to talk about his start to the season, the growth in support he’s received from Paraguay and his delicacies of choice from back home. Listen to the episode on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and read the accompanying article here.

You can also read our takeaways from the previous round here.

Formula 3: Round 2, Bahrain

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit, 5.412 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+3)

Friday 11 April

• 10:55–11:40: Practice
• 16:00–16:30: Qualifying

Saturday 12 April

• 13:15–14:00: Sprint race, 19 laps (40 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday 13 April

• 12:55–13:45: Feature race, 22 laps (45 minutes + 1 lap) 

How to follow: All sessions will be live-streamed on F1 TV, but fans can also follow them live via the series’ live timing service. Local viewing information can be found here.

Weather forecast: Dry and sunny all weekend; highs of 35°C

What to know: Formula 3 heads to Sakhir for the second round of the championship and what is set to be the first fully dry weekend of the 2025 season. The 30-car grid arrives two weeks after joining F2 for three days of in-season testing at the venue. 

Championship leader and Melbourne feature race winner Rafael Câmara went fastest on the final day of the test ahead of Tim Tramnitz. The German comes to Bahrain having finished third in last year’s feature race, while also returning to the circuit is last year’s second-place finisher in the sprint race, Laurens van Hoepen.

Freddie Slater is set to make his F3 debut with AIX Racing, replacing Nikita Bedrin, who raced for the team in Melbourne. It is uncertain if the 16-year-old reigning Italian F4 champion will race in further rounds with the team because of his commitments in FRegional Europe with Prema Racing and GB3 with Hillspeed this season. 

Report by Tori Turner

From the press: China’s Gerrard Xie, one of the 18 rookies in the field this weekend, comes to F3 off the back of two seasons in GB3, which also has a new car for this year. The Hitech driver spoke to Feeder Series about his adaptation to the series and the Dallara F3 2025. Read the interview here.

You can also read our takeaways from the previous round here.

F4 CEZ: Round 1, Red Bull Ring

Circuit: Red Bull Ring, 4.318 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Friday 11 April

• 8:50–9:10: Testing
• 10:30–10:50: Testing
• 12:50–13:10: Testing
• 14:30–14:50: Testing
• 15:45–16:15: Free Testing

Saturday 12 April

• 11:10–11:30: Qualifying
• 16:05–16:30: Race 1, 25 minutes

Sunday 13 April

• 9:30–9:55: Race 2, 25 minutes
• 13:45–14:10: Race 3, 25 minutes

How to follow: Every race will be streamed live on the YouTube channel of the ESET Cup Series, which oversees several championships that run concurrently with F4 CEZ.

Weather forecast: Cloudy all weekend.

What to know: The Czechia-based F4 CEZ Championship returns for its third season, starting at the venue that had the most drivers last season. This weekend’s Spielberg round will feature 22 drivers, including six F4 rookies. 

Last year’s teams’ champions, Jenzer Motorsport, bring seven drivers, including Max Karhan, who finished third last season behind champion Oscar Wurz and Kirill Kutskov. Karhan’s teammates include Formula Winter Series podium finisher Bart Harrison, only competing in this round, and Brazilian F4 race winner Gino Trappa, who also races in Spanish F4.

Among the series newcomers, Mathilda Paatz and Kiara Henni will both compete for their family teams for their sophomores years in F4, while Benett Gáspár leads former World Touring Car Championship team Zengő Motorsport’s one-car operation for their maiden season in single-seaters. Get to know the rest of the grid by reading our season guide.

Report by Marco Albertini

USF Pro 2000: Round 2, NOLA Motorsports Park

Circuit: NOLA Motorsports Park, 4.300 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Thursday 10 April

• 10:00–10:45: Test 1
• 14:30–15:15: Test 2

Friday 11 April

• 10:55–11:25: Practice
• 15:05–15:35: Qualifying 1

Saturday 12 April

• 10:45–11:15: Qualifying 2
• 15:30–16:15: Race 1

Sunday 13 April

• 12:35–13:20: Race 2
• 16:30–17:15: Race 3

How to follow: Qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast on the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel. Live timing is also available via the USF Pro 2000 website and via the USF Pro Championships app.

Weather forecast: Sunny all weekend.

What to know: USF Pro 2000 is the headline series of the NOLA Motorsports Park weekend, and reigning USF2000 champion Max Garcia leads the standings with a 13-point margin over Mac Clark.

Garcia, who turned 16 last month, finished second in the first race at St Petersburg before winning the second by 2.16 seconds over Clark. He had done so by passing race one winner Alessandro de Tullio on the second safety car restart.

“I just saw a hole, and I knew it was there and I knew I had the car and I knew I had the skill to get it stopped on the inside,” Garcia told Feeder Series, “so I just went for it and it worked out.”

De Tullio crashed later in the race after falling down the order but remains third in the championship, 20 points behind Garcia.

Three drivers from the opening round will not return this weekend, though none of the drivers had committed to a full season. De Tullio’s Turn 3 Motorsport teammates Titus Sherlock and Elliot Cox were both confirmed for only St Petersburg, and both suffered heavy crashes – the former barrel-rolling in race one, the latter splitting his chassis in two at Turn 2 in race two. They were 20th and 21st respectively in the standings.

Jay Howard Driver Development’s Tanner DeFabis, who is completing a partial season this year, will also miss this round to save budget. That leaves Frankie Mossman as the sole JHDD entry on the 19-car grid.

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF2000: Round 2, NOLA Motorsports Park

Circuit: NOLA Motorsports Park, 4.300 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Thursday 10 April

• 9:00–9:45: Test 1
• 13:30–14:15: Test 2

Friday 11 April

• 10:10–10:40: Practice
• 14:20–14:50: Qualifying 1

Saturday 12 April

• 10:05–10:35: Qualifying 2
• 14:30–15:15: Race 1

Sunday 13 April

• 10:20–11:05: Race 2
• 15:30–16:15: Race 3

How to follow: Qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast on the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel. Live timing is also available via the USF2000 website and via the USF Pro Championships app.

Weather forecast: Sunny all weekend.

What to know: USF2000’s second round of 2024 also takes place at NOLA with an unchanged 19-car entry. The NOLA round is one of three triple-headers this year and is one of just two events not held on the IndyCar Series support package.

Liam McNeilly has thus far been the driver to beat after taking both wins at St Petersburg largely unchallenged. McNeilly’s 64-point haul puts him two off the theoretical maximum of 66 and 13 ahead of closest rival Jack Jeffers, one of his rivals in USF Juniors last year.

McNeilly also comes to NOLA with pedigree at the circuit, having taken his first American open-wheel victory there last year on his debut USF Juniors weekend. He will be looking to extend his winning streak to six, having last finished off the top step of the podium eight months ago at the penultimate USF Juniors round in Road America.

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF Juniors: Round 1, NOLA Motorsports Park

Circuit: NOLA Motorsports Park, 4.300 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Thursday 10 April

• 8:00–8:45: Test 1
• 12:30–13:15: Test 2

Friday 11 April

• 9:25–9:55: Practice
• 12:50–13:20: Qualifying 1

Saturday 12 April

• 8:40–9:10: Qualifying 2
• 12:35–13:15: Race 1

Sunday 13 April

• 8:45–9:25: Race 2
• 13:35–14:15: Race 3

How to follow: Qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast on the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel. Live timing is also available via the USF Juniors website and via the USF Pro Championships app.

Weather forecast: Sunny all weekend.

What to know: USF Juniors, the entry-level series on the USF Pro Championships package, holds its season opener this weekend alongside senior series USF Pro 2000 and USF2000, with 22 drivers set to take to the track at NOLA Motorsports Park.

All teams who competed on a full-time basis last year return for 2025, with Pole Position Motorsports and Connor Aspley joining the grid.

Of the 14 rookies on the grid, names with particular pedigree are reigning Skip Barber Formula Race Series champion Oliver Wheldon and 2025 YACademy Winter Series Ty Fisher, both 14 years old.

The returnee with the best championship finish in 2024 is eighth-placed João Vergara, who switches from Exclusive Autosport to VRD Racing. One position behind him last year was Leonardo Escorpioni, who continues for another season with Zanella Racing after winning the YACademy Winter Series. Get to know the full grid with our 2025 season guide here.

Report by Michael McClure

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: Dutch Photo Agency