Junior single-seater racing goes all around the world this weekend, with races on five different landmasses in five different championships featuring five different cars covered in today’s preview. Here’s what to watch wherever you’re located.

By Feeder Series

The FIA Formula One World Championship has given us plenty of headlines in the past few days, from 2009 GP2 champion Nico Hülkenberg’s maiden F1 podium after 239 starts to former F3000 racer and Arden Motorsport co-founder Christian Horner’s sudden departure from Red Bull Racing after 20 years at the helm.

But this weekend, the globetrotting F1 circus takes a backseat to a worldwide assortment of open-wheel championships – IndyCar and Formula E at the professional level, and several in the junior ranks too.

Moving from west to east, Indy NXT goes first, holding its second oval race of the year Saturday in support of IndyCar’s doubleheader at the Iowa Speedway. Over in Europe, GB4 takes to Snetterton in the United Kingdom and Italian F4 to Mugello as both seven-round seasons prepare to tick over the halfway mark.

Further east, FRegional Japan goes to Suzuka with a TOM’S team that has yet to be dethroned. And as AU4 returns to The Bend for its second round under its current guise, parity reigns thus far – at least among the Gen 2 class, in which three drivers from three different teams won in the series’ opening round. The podium was identical in all three races of the Australian series’ Gen 1 class.

While not covered in detail in this report, Russia’s SMP F4 series also races at the NRing circuit outside of Nizhny Novgorod. Nordic 4 and Formula Nordic also compete this weekend in a joint round at Falkenberg, which will count towards the Nordic Championship Formula under the former series’ new points structure.

Indy NXT: Round 9, Iowa Speedway

Circuit: Iowa Speedway, 1.439 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Friday 11 July

• 13:30–14:15: Practice
• 17:30–18:00: Qualifying

Saturday 12 July

• 12:35–13:20: Race

How to follow: All sessions are streamed live on IndyCar Live. Country-specific availability is listed here. In the United States, Fox Sports 2 will show practice and qualifying and Fox Sports 1 the race. Live timing for all sessions is available on the IndyCar website.

Weather forecast: Showers and thunderstorms likely Friday afternoon and evening. Mostly sunny Saturday.

What to know: Indy NXT holds its ninth race and second oval of 2025 this weekend at the Iowa Speedway, the shortest circuit on the calendar.

Dennis Hauger leads the standings on 371 points following his fifth win of the season last time out at Mid-Ohio. The 22-year-old Norwegian comes to Iowa nearly a race win’s worth of points ahead of Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes, currently second on 324, but the Australian had the upper hand on ovals earlier this year with a stunning comeback from sixth to first late in the race at Gateway.

Andretti themselves have won the last four editions of the Iowa race, dating back to 2018. Hauger, Hughes and Salvador de Alba finished second, third and fourth respectively in the Indy NXT open test at the circuit last month behind HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson, who sits fifth in the standings but has yet to take a podium. 

Twenty cars take to the 0.894-mile oval this weekend, with three pre-scheduled changes at HMD Motorsports. Fellow 17-year-old Max Taylor will drive for HMD at the next three rounds, having been eliminated from mathematical title contention in USF Pro 2000. Ovals-only entrant Davey Hamilton Jr, meanwhile, makes his second start this year after ending a seven-year open-wheel racing hiatus at Gateway. The 28-year-old takes over the #24 car last raced by reserve driver Evagoras Papasavvas. 

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Japan: Round 3, Suzuka

Circuit: Suzuka International Racing Course, 5.807 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9)

Friday 11 July

• 10:15–11:00: Practice 1
• 15:45–16:30: Practice 2

Saturday 12 July

• 11:10–11:25: Qualifying 1
• 11:35–11:50: Qualifying 2
• 15:50–16:20: Race 1

Sunday 13 July

• 14:35–15:05: Race 2

How to follow: All races are live-streamed on the series’ official YouTube channel. Streams include a split-screen display with trackside cameras and live timing.

Weather forecast: Cloudy on Friday; sunny Saturday and Sunday. Rain is expected to fall Friday and Saturday night.

What to know: Formula Regional Japan enters its third round of the 2025 season at Suzuka with 11 drivers, four fewer than in the previous round at Fuji. 

TOM’S drivers and Toyota juniors Tokiya Suzuki and Kiyoshi Umegaki extended their advantage in dominant fashion at their manufacturer’s home race at Fuji last time out. Having maintained the team’s perfect victory record this season, they now comfortably sit at the top of the standings with 98.5 and 89 points respectively, with their closest challenger, Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya, sitting on 64.5 points.

The more level playing field Suzuka provides could interrupt this domination and help Omiya catch up in the championship battle. B-Max Racing’s Kazuhisa Urabe, as well his teammate Jia Zhanbin and compatriot Lin Chenghua of Ragno Motor Sport, could likewise benefit and get involved in the fight for podium positions. 

Four drivers who competed in the previous round at Fuji will not be returning for this weekend’s round at Suzuka. Sky Motorsports’ Wang Zhongwei is absent as he is racing in the fourth GT World Challenge Asia round at Fuji with Absolute Racing. Three masters’ class drivers are also absent: “Akita”, who finished second in the masters’ class in every race so far with his own team Abbey Racing; Eagle Sports’ Shoichiro Akamatsu; and “Yugo” with his own team, N-Speed.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Read the previous round’s report here.

Italian F4: Round 4, Mugello

Circuit: Mugello Circuit, 5.245 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Friday 11 July

• 8:30–9:10: Free practice 1
• 11:55–12:35: Free practice 2
• 16:45–17:00: Qualifying 1
• 17:10–17:25: Qualifying 2

Saturday 12 July

• 11:10–11:42: Race 1
• 18:10–18:42: Race 2

Sunday 13 July

• 10:40–11:12: Race 3

How to follow: Free practice and qualifying sessions are accessible only via live timing. The races, however, will be live-streamed on the Italian F4 YouTube and Facebook channels and the ACI Sport website.

Weather forecast: Hot and sunny Friday and Saturday. Showers possible Sunday.

What to know: Italian F4’s 2025 season has almost reached its halfway point, but there’s one more round before the summer break. This time the grid heads to Mugello, a fixture of the calendar since the championship’s inception.

Prema Racing’s Kean Nakamura-Berta has led the standings since race two at Misano, collecting 165 points, six wins, one further podium, seven pole positions and one fastest lap so far. At a 29-point distance is teammate and nearest rival Sebastian Wheldon, who has triumphed on three occasions until now and stood on the podium three more times. 

Rounding out the top three is Gabriel Gomez, with 114 points to his name. The Brazilian driver has taken one victory and five further podiums. 

Monza race three winner Chi Zhenrui, currently 10th in the standings, is the fourth and most recent race winner this season. He claimed five points finishes before triumphing last time out at Monza. 

The Mugello round of Italian F4 will see Andrea Dupé switch teams one more time, with the Frenchman joining forces with Prema Racing. He currently sits 29th in the standings with a best finish of 12th. Taking his spot at PHM Racing is Reno Francot, who competed in the championship last year with Jenzer Motorsport and finished 14th with a best result in fourth in race three at Le Castellet. Francot competed with the joint Akcel GP by PHM entry in F4 Middle East over the winter.

After making cameo appearances for Cram Motorsport and Jenzer Motorsport respectively in Monza, Andre Rodriguez and Javier Herrera will not be returning to the Italian F4 grid. US Racing’s Jan Koller, currently 30th in the standings with a best finish of 13th, is also sitting out the round. 

Report by Francesca Brusa

From the press: Gomez is the non–Prema driver this year to have won an Italian F4 race. It’s a statistic also achieved in 2023 by fellow US Racing driver Kacper Sztuka, who then made a spectacular late-season surge to win the title. Gomez caught up with us at Monza before the season’s halfway point to explain how his year has gone. Read the interview here.

You can also read the previous round’s report here.

GB4: Round 4, Snetterton

Circuit: Snetterton 300, 4.778 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Thursday 10 July

• 11:00–11:30: Test session 1
• 14:30–15:00: Test session 2
• 16:25–16:55: Test session 3

Friday 11 July

• 09:35–10:05: Test session 4
• 13:15–13:45: Test session 5
• 17:00–17:30: Test session 6

Saturday 12 July

• 11:10–11:25: Qualifying
• 15:15–15:33: Race 1

Sunday 13 July

• 10:05–10:23: Race 2
• 16:20–16:38: Race 3

How to follow: All races will be available to watch on the MSV TV YouTube channel. The stream will also be shown on the GB4 Facebook page and website. Live timing for all sessions is available through TSL Timing and the GB4 website.

Weather forecast: Warm and sunny throughout, with a gentle breeze on Sunday.

What to know: The GB4 Championship reaches the halfway point of the 2025 season this weekend when it visits the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.

Championship leader Daniel Guinchard of Hillspeed will be looking to maintain his 36-point lead in the drivers’ championship. Behind him, the Elite Motorsport trio of Alexandros Kattoulas, Isaac Phelps and Ary Bansal are separated by just six points, with each driver having taken victory at least once this season.

Despite a tough weekend at Oulton Park in the previous round, Elite have a commanding lead in the teams’ championship, with their 361 points making them as early favourites for the title. Hillspeed on 285 and Douglas Motorsport on 272 continue to battle over second.

Fortec Motorsport’s Luca Magnussen is set to miss this round. The Dane is recovering from emergency surgery due to an infected and ruptured appendix, he told Feeder Series, and is expected to return for the fifth round of the season in three weeks’ time. Graham Brunton Racing’s Mayer Deonarine is also missing this round because of funding issues but is expected to return at Silverstone for round five.

Still, a total of 24 drivers are set to race at Snetterton as two new faces join the grid. Arden Motorsport will welcome 19-year-old Briton Dudley Ruddock as their third driver for his car racing debut. Flame Airikkala, granddaughter of the late 1979 British Rally champion Pentti Airikkala, will become the third Pace Performance driver. The 18-year-old tested the previous-generation Tatuus MSV-022 last year and has recently competed in Radical Cup cars.

Report by George Sanderson

From the press: A breakthrough weekend at Oulton Park put GB4 rookie Holly Miall second among the series’ five full-time female competitors and firmly in the fight for the €50,000 award to be put towards an F1 Academy berth in 2026. Miall described the challenges of her move from Ginettas to GB4 and her aims for the rest of the year. Read her thoughts here.

You can also read the previous round’s report here.

AU4: Round 2, The Bend

Circuit: The Bend Motorsport Park West Circuit, 3.410 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9:30)

Friday 11 July

• 10:40–11:20: Practice 1
• 13:50–14:30: Practice 2

Saturday 12 July

• 9:40–10:00: Practice 3
• 10:45–11:00: Qualifying 1
• 11:05–11:20: Qualifying 2
• 14:05–14:35: Race 1

Sunday 13 July

• 10:40–11:10: Race 2
• 13:55–14:25 Race 3

How to follow: Live streams of the races are available on YouTube on both Blend Line TV’s channel with English commentary and Motorsport Television Deutschland’s channel with German commentary. Live timing will be available on NatSoft.

Weather forecast: Mostly sunny throughout the weekend, though rain is possible Friday and Sunday afternoon.

What to know: AU4 hosts its second round of 2025 at The Bend on the shorter West Circuit after running on the International Circuit last time out.

After round one, Isaac McNeill leads the Gen 2 championship on 58 points, with a win and two further podiums giving him a narrow edge over Harrison Duske on 53 points. Imogen Radburn is just two points behind after matching McNeill’s consistency in round one. Race two winner Noah Killion will aim to bounce back after spinning in race one and experiencing issues in race three. 

AGI Sport’s Jensen Marold dominated the Gen 1 class with a clean sweep of all three races, leaving him with 77 points. His teammate Koby Wilson sits second in class on 54 points, nine points ahead of Andrew Fitzpatrick.

Lawrence Katsidis leads the Masters class on 18 points. He was the only Masters driver to have finished all three races.

Kevin Fang will make his debut in the Masters class after missing round one because of injury. The entry list is otherwise identical to round one’s.

Report by Anabelle Bremner

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 Japanese Championship