F2 and F1 Academy joined F1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix support package this weekend, but what else happened in the world of junior single-seaters? We review Chinese F4 and French F4’s season openers.

By Feeder Series

F1 Academy took Chinese F4’s previously confirmed place on the Chinese Grand Prix support bill last month, delaying the domestic series’ season opener to April. In the four races at Ningbo, Zhang Shimo, who formerly raced with Jenzer in Italian F4, dominated proceedings. French F4’s own rain-hit contest over the Coupes de Pâques event at Nogaro ended on Easter Monday with a clear dominator in Alexandre Munoz, who won two of the weekend’s three races.

Several drivers from Super Formula Lights also made waves in professional series this weekend. Rikuto Kobayashi, last year’s SFL runner-up, took over from Seita Nonaka as Oliver Rasmussen’s replacement at Team Impul, while Nonaka himself took his first career Super Formula points with eighth in race two in place of Kamui Kobayashi at KCMG. The 38-year-old was racing in the World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Imola, in which a third Toyota SFL driver in Esteban Masson starred by taking his first podium in the LMGT3 class.

Formula FARA’s season opener at Sebring took place this weekend as well, and spring shootout winner Kai Johnson was the driver to beat. The VRD Racing driver took pole position and the first two race wins, with Victor Couto of Gonella Racing triumphing in race three.

Read our F2 review here, and keep an eye out for our F1 Academy review late this evening.

1. French F4: Munoz dominates season opener in Nogaro
2. Chinese F4: Zhang dominates on series debut in Ningbo 

French F4: Munoz dominates season opener in Nogaro

French F4 sophomore Alexandre Munoz won two of French F4’s three races at Nogaro to take a 20-point lead in the drivers’ standings over fellow returnee Jules Roussel.

Guillaume Bouzar topped the sunny test day on Friday, but five red flags disrupted the wet 30-minute qualifying session. The track dried towards the end, and the final four minutes were incident-free. Despite heavy traffic, Mercedes junior Andy Consani went fastest by 0.160 seconds over Munoz, who clinched pole for race three.

Race one took place Sunday morning under cloudy skies but dry conditions. Paul Roques and Hugo Herrouin collided at the start, causing the first of three safety car periods. Consani kept the lead at the start over Munoz, with Rafaël Pérard overtaking Matteo Giaccardi and later passing Roussel for third. Munoz finally passed Consani on lap seven before an incident involving Bouzar and Niccolo Pirrì caused another safety car period.

On the next restart, Pérard continued rising, overtaking Consani and putting pressure on Munoz. The battle between the two Frenchmen, however, was stopped by another safety car after Lisa Billard and Rintaro Sato collided while disputing 12th. The race finished behind the safety car, with Munoz clinching his second F4 win as Pérard and Consani took podiums in their first single-seater races. 

Rain struck the reverse-grid race Sunday afternoon, which began under safety car conditions. At the green flag on lap two, Arthur Dorison, who started third, passed Billard before taking first at Turn 14 with a superb around-the-outside overtake on Pablo Riccobono Bello, who slid into the grass.

Another incident involving Léandre Carvalho and Paul Roques brought out the safety car once again. The deployment caught out Billard, who slid off track, and Pirrì, who slid into the back of Roméo Leurs in third, and the red flag soon flew.

Dorison kept the lead when the race resumed 13 minutes later and eventually clinched his maiden single-seater victory despite pressure from Pérard and Roussel. The latter had overtaken the former, and Pérard lost two spots to Giaccardi and Munoz after making a mistake at Turn 5  on the penultimate lap. Coming from 24th, Consani enlivened the race with a superb drive to 10th.

In a dry third race on Easter Monday, drama started before the start as Dorison, due to start sixth, pitted on the formation lap with a mechanical failure. At the start, Munoz led Roussel, while from 13th on the grid, Louis Iglesias climbed to eighth by the red flag on lap three caused by an opening-lap collision at Turn 5 between Montego Maassen and Shen Zhelin.

At the restart, Pérard and Leurs collided while disputing fourth, while Iglesias also overtook Consani, Bouzar and Thomas Senecloze in subsequent laps to rise to third. Offs for several drivers brought out another safety car with 11:40 remaining, and the race was cut a lap short because of the tight timetable. In the resulting one-lap shootout, Munoz held off Roussel for another victory as Iglesias completed the podium.

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Andy Consani, 1:47.082	Alexandre Munoz, +0.160s	Jules Roussel, +0.301s
Qualifying (2nd fastest lap)	Alexandre Munoz, 1:47.685	Jules Roussel, +1.050s	Thomas Senecloze, +1.057s
Race 1 (17 laps)	Alexandre Munoz, 31:50.236	Rafaël Pérard, +0.794s	Andy Consani, +1.419s
Race 2 (14 laps)	Arthur Dorison, 40:23.917	Jules Roussel, +0.318s	Matteo Giaccardi, +1.973s
Race 3 (15 laps)	Alexandre Munoz, 33:44.186	Jules Roussel, +0.718s	Louis Iglesias, +1.829s

Standings	Drivers
P1	Alexandre Munoz, 60
P2	Jules Roussel, 40
P3	Arthur Dorison, 27
P4	Rafaël Pérard, 24
P5	Louis Iglesias, 19
P6	Matteo Giaccardi, 18
P7	Andy Consani, 16
P8	Malo Bolliet, 13
P9	Guillaume Bouzar, 12
P10	Thomas Senecloze, 12

Report by Perceval Wolff-Taffus

Chinese F4: Zhang dominates on series debut in Ningbo 

Geeke’s Zhang Shimo was in a league of his own in Chinese F4’s season opener, winning all four races on track – though a penalty after the second race dropped him to 11th. Zhang took pole in both qualifying sessions, finishing 0.161s ahead of second-placed Dai Yuhao in the first and a staggering 1.004s ahead of Dai in the second. 

In race one on Saturday, Zhang had a slow start, setting Dai and Chan up to challenge him for the lead.  three-way battle heading into Turn 1, Dai overtook Zhang in a three-way battle heading into Turn 1, but by the end of lap one, Zhang had retaken the position as Chen Sicong also passed Kimi Chan for third. Zhang maintained the lead until the end and won by 11 seconds over  Dai, while Chen rounded out the podium. 

Venom’s Midnight Hurricane started from reverse-grid pole in race two, but Wang Yi took the lead at the start from second on the grid as Midnight Hurricane struggled off the line and dropped to fifth by the end of lap one. Zhang, who started 10th, had already climbed to sixth.

Halfway into the race, Zhang, now fourth, challenged Liu Zexuan for third. As he  overtook Liu, Zhang outbraked himself and made contact with the rear of second-placed Ho, spinning his car. Ho finished the race in 15th. 

Zhang overtook Wang two laps later and eventually took the chequered flag first, but he received a 10-second penalty for the incident with Ho. This meant Liu, who passed Wang on the final lap, inherited the win having last raced in Chinese F4 in 2021.

Zhang got a good launch in race three and maintained the lead until the end despite two safety car interruptions. A collision between Viktor Turkin and Andy Law brought out the first, while the retrieval of Li Zebing’s damaged car necessitated the second with 14 minutes remaining. Behind Zhang, Chan made the podium in his first weekend in single-seaters as Dai completed the top three.

Midnight Hurricane once again started on reverse-grid pole for race four but quickly lost the lead as Liu got past at the start. Ho also rose to second as Zhang made up five places in four laps 

Seven laps into the race, Liu faced pressure from both Ho and Zhang for the lead. Ho made an attempt around the outside at Turn 9, but he could not get it done. Liu then locked up at Turn 10, and this time, Ho took the lead via a move on the inside. Zhang also overtook Liu at Turn 15 that lap and began chasing Ho. 

They staged a tough battle for the lead, but Zhang ultimately triumphed after overtaking Ho at Turn 10 two laps later. Zhang maintained the lead and took his third win of the weekend ahead of Ho as former leader Liu rounded out the podium. Zhang leads the standings with 75 points, followed by Chan with 53 and Liu with 52.  

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Zhang Shimo, 1:46.535	Dai Yuhao, +0.161	Kimi Chan, +0.242
Qualifying 2	Zhang Shimo, 1:45.903	Dai Yuhao, +1.004	Chen Sicong, +1.125
Race 1 (17 laps)	Zhang Shimo, 32:00.691	Dai Yuhao, +11.423	Chen Sicong, +13.964
Race 2 (16 laps)	Liu Zexuan, 33:34.515	Wang Yi, +0.706	Kimi Chan, +1.019
Race 3 (13 laps)	Zhang Shimo, 29:04.171	Kimi Chan, +3.595	Dai Yuhao, +6.491
Race 4 (18 laps)	Zhang Shimo, 32:22.560	Ethan Ho, +6.443	Liu Zexuan, +12.951

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Zhang Shimo, 75	Black Blade Racing, 89
P2	Kimi Chan, 53	Geeke Racing, 79
P3	Liu Zexuan, 52	Champ Motorsport, 74
P4	Dai Yuhao, 43	Venom Motorsport, 55
P5	Chen Sicong, 37	ONE Motorsports, 49
P6	Wang Yuzhe, 34	Team KRC, 30
P7	Ethan Ho, 30	Apollo RFN Racing Team by Blackjack, 24
P8	Andrei Dubynin, 24	Apollo RFN Racing Team by ART, 2
P9	Wang Yi, 21	Venom Pole Motorsport, 1
P10	Midnight Hurricane, 21	Black Blade GP, 1

Report by Kaylene Lau

Header photo credit: Elwynn Staerker