Aside from a tempestuous Formula 1 grand prix weekend in Belgium, Indy NXT, British F4, F4 CEZ and USF Juniors provided drama of their own over the past few days. Read on to find out what went down.

By Feeder Series

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was the headline racing event this weekend, especially after a soggy Sunday wreaked havoc on F1, F2 and F3. You can read our takeaways from F3 later today and our takeaways from F2 tomorrow.

Outside of the F1 support package, the highest-level junior single-seater series racing this weekend was Indy NXT, which held its final doubleheader of the season at Laguna Seca. There, Caio Collet took two wins as title contenders and teammate Dennis hauger and Lochie Hughes came together in dramatic fashion in race two.

Also in the United States but at Road America, Liam Loiacono became the first driver since Liam McNeilly – also a Jay Howard Driver Development driver – to win all three races in a USF Juniors round.

At the F4 level, Fionn McLaughlin and Gino Trappa extended their points leads in British F4’s Zandvoort round and F4 CEZ’s Most round respectively. British F4 was joined this weekend by the Ginetta Junior Championship, in which Red Bull junior Rocco Coronel took two wins on home soil to maintain a commanding lead in the championship.

Also of note, 2024 F2 graduate Taylor Barnard concluded his rookie Formula E season as the top rookie in the standings in fourth as his McLaren outfit contested their final race weekend in the all-electric series at the London E-Prix.

1. Indy NXT: Collet wins both races to close on points lead as Hauger, Hughes crash
2. British F4: McLaughlin extends championship lead as Molnár and Al Azhari tangle 
3. F4 CEZ: Herrera takes maiden win as Trappa extends points lead
4. USF Juniors: Loiacono’s Road America sweep sets up final-round showdown with Escorpioni

Indy NXT: Collet wins both races to close on points lead as Hauger, Hughes crash

Caio Collet kicked his Indy NXT title charge into gear with two wins at Laguna Seca that put him 42 points off championship leader Dennis Hauger with three races remaining.

Collet topped qualifying Saturday morning with a 1:13.2566 in group two. His best lap was 0.0709 seconds faster than that of Hauger, who crashed in practice two but bounced back to lead group one.

Collet got a strong getaway in race one as third-place starter Josh Pierson dove to Hauger’s inside into Turn 1 but failed to complete the move. Moments later, a collision between Jordan Missig and Salvador de Alba entering Turn 4 brought out a full-course yellow. Their races ended, while Juan Manuel Correa, James Roe and Max Taylor all pitted and fell off the lead lap.

The next restart was much quieter, and Collet held off Hauger and Pierson before extending his advantage to two seconds after five laps

Collet led comfortably for the next 15 laps, but Andretti Global’s Hauger still had pace and push-to-pass time in reserve. He slashed the gap to half a second with five laps to go and kept the pressure on Collet all the way to the flag. The pair crossed the line nose to tail after Hauger surged forward exiting the final corner.

HMD teammate Pierson took his maiden Indy NXT podium in his third season in the series, leading home Myles Rowe, Callum Hedge and Lochie Hughes.

Fog in Monterey Sunday morning delayed race two by five hours, meaning Indy NXT drivers raced after IndyCar’s main event. Having set the best second-fastest lap in qualifying as well, Collet again led at the start of race two, while Pierson repeated his lunge on Hauger at Turn 2 and this time succeeded.

Entering Turn 3, Bryce Aron hit the rear of Liam Sceats, bounced into the air, and knocked Sceats’ car into the path of Tommy Smith after landing. The incident eliminated Aron from the race and prompted a six-lap caution period.

After the restart, Collet stretched out a one-second gap over Pierson as Hedge, Taylor and Rowe engaged in a spirited battle for fifth. The New Zealander kept the position as Rowe barged past Taylor at Turn 2 on lap nine.

The next caution period came at the race’s midpoint on lap 18, when Sceats went off at Turn 6 and buried his car in the tyres. The restart at the end of lap 22 was aborted after a stack-up entering the final corner led to damage for several cars, with Missig needing to be restarted and Correa retiring a few corners later.

Drivers made it through most of sector one on the restart on lap 27 before the next full-course caution came out – this one for perhaps the season’s most consequential incident. 

Hauger tried to pass Hughes for third down the inside of Turn 2, but the teammates and title rivals tangled and slid into the gravel.

For Hauger, who retired, the contact proved costly – and ultimately unnecessary. Hughes had only gone ahead by overtaking before the official restart, an infringement which would have netted him a penalty regardless. The Australian fell three laps down and finished 15th.

The final restart came with five laps to go, and Collet cruised to victory by 3.2249s as Pierson, Hedge, Taylor and Sebastian Murray completed the top five. The recovering Rowe, who had spun and fallen to ninth just as Hauger and Hughes collided, hit De Alba at Turn 5 on the restart. They finished eighth and ninth respectively as the final two cars on the lead lap.

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying, Group 1	Dennis Hauger, 1:13.3275	Myles Rowe, +0.3148s	Lochie Hughes, +0.4278s
Qualifying, Group 2	Caio Collet, 1:13.2566	Josh Pierson, +0.1797s	Callum Hedge, +0.2644s
Race 1 (35 laps)	Caio Collet, 46:59.1542	Dennis Hauger, +0.2092s	Josh Pierson, +4.6191s
Race 2 (35 laps)	Caio Collet, 54:47.6574	Josh Pierson, +3.2249s	Callum Hedge, +6.0948s

Standings	Drivers	Rookies
P1	Dennis Hauger, 470	Dennis Hauger, 470
P2	Caio Collet, 428	Lochie Hughes, 381
P3	Lochie Hughes, 381	Sebastian Murray, 183
P4	Myles Rowe, 343	Liam Sceats, 162
P5	Josh Pierson, 318	Tommy Smith, 159
P6	Salvador de Alba, 291	Hailie Deegan, 156
P7	Callum Hedge, 282	Juan Manuel Correa, 154
P8	Jack William Miller, 221	Evagoras Papasavvas, 117
P9	Niels Koolen, 216	Max Taylor, 103
P10	Jordan Missig, 208	Nikita Johnson, 55

Read the previous round’s report here.

British F4: McLaughlin extends championship lead as Molnár and Al Azhari tangle 

Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin extended his lead in the British F4 standings to 28.5 points over Martin Molnár at the Circuit Zandvoort.

Leading a record-equalling 27-car field, McLaughlin topped qualifying by just 0.074 seconds ahead of title rival Molnár. Second-fastest times placed the Irishman on the second row for race one, but a slow start for polesitter Henry Joslyn helped him slot into second behind Molnár’s Virtuosi car. 

McLaughlin clung to the back of Molnár throughout, but the circuit’s tight nature and the leading pair’s evenly matched pace prevented the Red Bull junior from finding any real overtaking opportunity. Molnár took victory, and with it a 0.5-point lead in the drivers’ championship, as Joslyn came home third after 12 laps. 

In race two, Ella Lloyd got a strong start from the third row and moved up to third. Contact between Esmee Kosterman and Xavier Avramides, however, sent the Hitech driver barrel rolling and brought out a red flag. 

With the original grid used for the restart, Lloyd held position in fifth, though damage for Chase Fernandez ahead helped her move up to fourth. Thomas Bearman also sustained front wing damage while battling Al Azhari for second, allowing Lloyd to breeze past at Turn 1 on lap four. Al Azhari then drifted wide at the exit of Turn 12 on lap nine, promoting the McLaren junior to second. 

All the while, polesitter Ary Bansal pushed ahead, crossing the line 3.285s ahead of Lloyd to take his maiden win in British F4. Lloyd was then awarded a five-second penalty for a false start on the original grid, demoting her behind teammate Al Azhari. McLaughlin and Molnár took the chequered flag seventh and eighth, tipping the championship in the Hitech driver’s favour.

With a rapid launch in race three, McLaughlin covered off Molnár into Turn 1, building a 0.676s gap by the end of lap one before an accident involving Chris Dittmann Racing teammates Charlie Edge and Alba Larsen at Turn 3 brought out the red flag. 

A good exit out of the final corner on the rolling restart gave Molnár half a chance to look down McLaughlin’s inside though Tarzanbocht, but he backed out and Al Azhari closed in 

Molnár then locked up into Turn 1 on the next lap, and having narrowly avoided contact, Al Azhari positioned his Rodin for the high line as the pair headed into Turn 3. A snap on the rear end for Molnár, however, sent him up the banking and into the path of Al Azhari, knocking him into the barrier and bringing out the safety car. Jimmy Piszcyk and Ethan Jeff-Hall inherited second and third as Molnár retired with damage to his front-right suspension. 

The safety car pitted at the end of lap four but returned again two laps later. At the final restart with two and a half minutes left, Jeff-Hall ran just 0.25s behind Piszcyk, but he did not get to challenge him for second. Before a racing lap could be completed, Emma Felbermayr had stopped on the exit of Turn 12, bringing out the red flag for a second time with a minute and a half left.

The race was not resumed, with McLaughlin taking a full 26 points having set the fastest lap as well. 

Report by Gavin Guthrie

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Fionn McLaughlin, 1:37.073	Martin Molnár, +0.074s	Henry Joslyn, +0.205s
Race 1 (12 laps)	Martin Molnár, 20:48.980	Fionn McLaughlin, +1.127s	Henry Joslyn, +1.768s
Race 2 (11 laps)	Ary Bansal, 18:15.712	Adam Al Azhari, +7.400s	Ella Lloyd, +8.285s
Race 3 (6 laps)	Fionn McLaughlin, 12:01.924	Jimmy Piszcyk, +0.808s	Ethan Jeff-Hall, +1.737s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies	Challenge Cup
P1	Fionn McLaughlin, 221.5	Hitech, 332.5	Fionn McLaughlin, 332	Tommy Harfield, 259.5
P2	Martin Molnár, 193	Rodin Motorsport, 280	Thomas Bearman, 202.5	Ella Lloyd, 193.5
P3	Jimmy Piszcyk, 175	Virtuosi Racing, 220	Xavier Avramides, 144	Charlie Edge, 162
P4	Henry Joslyn, 137	Argenti Motorsport, 216	Henry Mercier, 143.5	Alba Larsen, 149
P5	August Raber, 122	Fortec Motorsport, 174	Theo Palmer, 143	Ary Bansal, 120
P6	Tommy Harfield, 117	Chris Dittmann Racing, 99	Cole Hewetson, 140	Salim Hanna, 65
P7	Adam Al Azhari, 100	JHR Developments, 96.5	Alba Larsen, 111	Thomas Ingram Hill, 44
P8	Ethan Jeff-Hall, 99	Xcel Motorsport, 91.5	Charlie Edge, 92	Harri Reynolds, 39
P9	Thomas Bearman, 93.5		Salim Hanna, 53	Arjen Kräling, 24
P10	Leo Robinson, 82		Arjen Kräling, 34	Nina Gademan, 20

Read the previous championship round’s report here and the report on the non-championship round at Silverstone here.

F4 CEZ: Herrera takes maiden win as Trappa extends points lead

Javier Herrera took his first win of the F4 CEZ season in race three at Autodrom Most as teammate Gino Trappa won the first two races to increase his points lead to 54 over Max Karhan.

Trappa was the driver to beat at the start of the weekend, taking pole and holding off Nicolás Cortés off the line in race one as David Walther, Teodor Borenstein and Mathilda Paatz collided at Turn 11. The red flag came out after the field completed a lap behind the safety car.

The race returned to green-flag conditions 18 minutes later, with Herrera taking fourth from Hady Mimassi at Turn 1 as Trappa spearheaded a Jenzer 1-2-3-4. Behind them, František Němec was overtaken by Simon Schranz for sixth on lap five just before the safety car was deployed for the stricken car of Kiara Henni, which was in the gravel at the penultimate corner.

Even with a restart with two laps to go, the positions up front stayed the same. Trappa won ahead of Cortés and Karhan as Herrera and Mimassi rounded out the top five.

Trappa started on pole for race two and held the lead as Herrera and Mimassi collided at Turn 1, leaving the latter with a broken front wing. Benett Gáspár broke his rear-left suspension after going wide before the final corner on lap two and stopped on track shortly after.

On lap five, Walther overtook Němec for sixth at Turn 6 as the Czech driver fell into the clutches of David Gorčica. Němec then ran wide at the exit of the final corner, enabling both Gorčica and Paatz to overtake him. As Němec eventually fell to 11th, Trappa led a Jenzer 1-2-3-4 across the line, with Cortés and Karhan rounding out the podium, Herrera finishing fourth and Walther taking fifth.

Němec started on pole for race three and kept the lead as Gáspár alongside him stalled. A crash between Walther and the two Janik Motorsport cars then brought out the safety car. Seven minutes later, the race restarted, and Herrera went from third to first by overtaking Schranz and Němec in the first sector. The Mexican driver began to pull away as Němec fell to sixth in the two laps following the restart.

Herrera built up a three-second lead over Karhan in the following laps until a crash for Michalina Sabaj at the final corner on lap 11 brought out the safety car, which then turned into a red flag. With the race not resuming, Herrera took his maiden win in single-seaters ahead of Karhan and Schranz, while Mimassi and points leader Trappa took fourth and fifth.

Trappa now leads by 54 points over Karhan, who is a further 70 ahead of Walther. With his win in race three, Herrera jumped to fifth in points, six behind teammate Cortés.

Jenzer Motorsport secured the teams’ title with a 303-point advantage over Renauer Motorsport, who overtook Maffi Racing for second this weekend and sit 13 points ahead of the Swiss outfit.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Gino Trappa, 1:33.565	Nicolás Cortés, +0.181s	Max Karhan, +0.238s
Race 1 (12 laps)	Gino Trappa, 25:33.737	Nicolás Cortés, +1.457s	Max Karhan, +2.119s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Gino Trappa, 25:10.583	Nicolás Cortés, +7.961s	Max Karhan, +9.047s
Race 3 (11 laps)	Javier Herrera, 20:03.362	Max Karhan, +0.963s	Simon Schranz, +2.276s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Gino Trappa, 237	Jenzer Motorsport, 476
P2	Max Karhan, 183	Renauer Motorsport, 173
P3	David Walther, 113	Maffi Racing, 160
P4	Nicolás Cortés, 99	Mathilda Racing, 60
P5	Javier Herrera, 93	Real Racing, 37
P6	Hady-Noah Mimassi, 73	Zengő Motorsport, 23
P7	Bart Harrison, 65	F4 CEZ Academy, 20
P8	Simon Schranz, 64	Janik Motorsport, 20
P9	Mathilda Paatz, 60	AS Motorsport, 17
P10	William Karlsson, 42	Henni Performance, 0

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF Juniors: Loiacono’s Road America sweep sets up final-round showdown with Escorpioni

Liam Loiacono won all three races of the penultimate USF Juniors round at Road America to jump from fifth to second in points, 14 behind Leonardo Escorpioni, with one round left.

Loiacono set the pace in a mixed-up qualifying session ahead of Brenden Cooley and held him off at the start of race one.

The stricken cars of Michael Suco and Emma Scarbrough then brought out the safety car on lap four.

At the first restart on lap seven, Ty Fisher lost his front wing at Turn 3 on lap six. Loiacono held off Rodrigo Gonzalez in a last-lap shootout to take his third win of the season. Cooley took his first podium as Escorpioni, who started only 17th, finished fourth.

Loiacono led the field again in race two and held off Cooley to maintain the lead into Turn 1. Fisher behind sought a way past Cooley but clipped the Exclusive Autosport driver and lost his front wing again at Turn 5. As he went wide exiting Turn 10, Thomas Nordquist and Kaylee Countryman collided at Turn 8, bringing out the safety car.

On the restart three laps later, Vergara and Cooley collided at Turn 1 while battling for the lead on Loiacono’s outside. They managed to continue, but Scarbrough and Hudson Potter’s crash two corners later brought out the race’s second safety car.

The race resumed with two laps remaining. Escorpioni took the lead at Turn 1 from Loiacono, but both were overtaken by Patricio Gonzalez at Turn 6 as they went wide and touched wheels at the exit of Turn 5. 

Gonzalez was then overtaken by both at the final corner and fell to third as they began the final lap. Loiacono reclaimed the lead around the outside of Turn 1 and took his third win in a row ahead of Escorpioni and Gonzalez, who took his first podium of the season. JT Hoskins and Connor Aspley behind took their maiden top-five finishes in the series.

Loiacono led the field from pole again in race three. João Vergara retired on lap three with an issue, but the race remained caution-free until Suco hit the wall at the final corner on lap four.

The race resumed on lap eight, with Loiacono maintaining the lead. A four-way battle for second ended in a collision between Fisher and Wheldon a lap later at Turn 5, causing the latter to spin and drop to last.

Out front, Loiacono ended the weekend with his fifth win from six races ahead of Escorpioni and Fisher. The Canadian, however, was later penalised for his collision with Wheldon, meaning third place went to Patricio Gonzalez, who came out on top in a three-way photo finish with Aatola and Cooley.

With one round left, Escorpioni leads the drivers’ standings by 14 points over Loiacono. Vergara remains third but has fallen to 73 points off the lead. In the teams’ championship, Zanella Racing sit on 366 points, 77 ahead of VRD Racing and 113 ahead of DEForce Racing.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Liam Loiacono, 2:15.9906	Brenden Cooley, +0.6061s	Vilho Aatola, +0.6747s
Race 1 (10 laps)	Liam Loiacono, 29:59.1330	Rodrigo Gonzalez, +0.2103s	Brenden Cooley, +0.6174s
Race 2 (10 laps)	Liam Loiacono, 31:15.7850	Leonardo Escorpioni, +0.3956s	Patricio Gonzalez, +1.4563s
Race 3 (10 laps)	Liam Loiacono, 26:14.3773	Leonardo Escorpioni, +2.2250s	Patricio Gonzalez, +4.7119s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Leonardo Escorpioni, 310	Zanella Racing, 366	Liam Loiacono, 296
P2	Liam Loiacono, 296	VRD Racing, 289	Oliver Wheldon, 224
P3	João Vergara, 237	DEForce Racing, 253	Ty Fisher, 221
P4	Oliver Wheldon, 224	Jay Howard Driver Development, 235	Vilho Aatola, 200
P5	Ty Fisher, 221	Pole Position Motorsports, 82	Brenden Cooley, 129
P6	Vilho Aatola, 200	Exclusive Autosport, 75	Connor Aspley, 100
P7	Rodrigo Gonzalez, 179	InterMS, 52	Matan Achituv, 77
P8	Patricio Gonzalez, 162		Emma Scarbrough, 73
P9	Diego Guiot, 157		Kaylee Countryman, 71
P10	Brenden Cooley, 129		Karel Staut, 61

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: Josh Hernandez / Penske Entertainment