After more than two months away, junior single-seater racing returns to the European continent with the opening round of the Formula Winter Series, while FR Oceania, FR Middle East and UAE4 continue their seasons.

By Feeder Series

Another week, another series returns. With the three wintertime series following the FIA Regional Trophy format now well underway, a fourth championship joins the fray, this one expanding in length rather than shrinking.

This weekend, the Formula Winter Series holds its first round of five at Estoril, being the first junior single-seater championship in almost two and a half years to compete at the former home of the Portuguese Grand Prix. Fellow F4-spec series UAE4 races once more at Yas Marina on the same package as FR Middle East, while FR Oceania holds its third round of four at Teretonga Park, the southernmost racetrack in the world.

This weekend also marks the final round of two other single-seater championships. India’s MRF F2000 championship enters its season finale at Madras with onetime Indian F4 drivers Arjun Chheda and Ishaan Madesh locked in battle for the title. Russia’s SMP F4 Winter Series, meanwhile, will conclude its season at Sirius Autodrom, the former home of F1’s Russian Grand Prix, with Vladimir Verkholantsev leading from Egor Stepanov-Kim.

The other major racing event taking place this weekend is the 24 Hours of Daytona, more commonly known as the Rolex 24. A number of current and recently active junior single-seater drivers will be taking part in the flagship American sports car race. Check back tomorrow morning to find out more about them.

FRegional Oceania: Round 3, Teretonga 

Circuit: Teretonga Park, 2.620 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+13)

Thursday 22 January

• 13:00–13:30: Test session 1 
• 15:45–16:15: Test session 2

Friday 23 January

• 9:20–9:50: Free practice 1
• 13:00–13:30: Free practice 2
• 15:50–16:20: Free practice 3

Saturday 24 January

• 9:54–10:09: Qualifying 1
• 13:01–13:24: Race 1 (25 laps) 
• 16:06–16:29: Race 2 (25 laps) 

Sunday 25 January

• 9:55–10:10: Qualifying 2
• 12:46–13:09: Race 3 (25 laps) 
• 16:26–16:54: Race 4 (30 laps)

How to follow: Sessions will be streamed on Sky Sport New Zealand and on the Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ YouTube channel. Live timing is available on Speedhive. 

Weather forecast: Rain expected throughout the weekend. 

What to know: M2 Competition’s Ugo Ugochukwu heads into the second half of the FR Oceania season with a 33-point lead over Hitech’s Kanato Le. 

Last weekend at Taupō, Supercars driver Ryan Wood took his first victories in single-seaters, winning the first and the fourth race, thereby earning the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. TJ Speed with HMD Motorsports’ James Wharton also took his first win in the series last weekend in Saturday’s reverse-grid race, with Zack Scoular making it four wins out of four for Antipodean drivers with victory in race three. 

Behind Ugochukwu, Le will be looking to score more points this weekend, with Louis Sharp and Jin Nakamura trailing him by two and eight points respectively. Wood, who sits in fifth, should also not be counted out, especially after his performances from last weekend. 

Wharton will not race in Teretonga this weekend because of F3 private testing duties, putting the grid at 18 cars. 

Report by Kaylene Lau

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Middle East: Round 2, Abu Dhabi

Circuit: Yas Marina Circuit (Corkscrew Circuit), 4.572 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+4)

Friday 16 January

• 10:10–11:10: Test session 1
• 12:30–13:30: Test session 2
• 15:40–16:40: Free practice

Saturday 17 January

• 9:55–10:10: Qualifying 1
• 10:20–10:35: Qualifying 2
• 14:55–15:30: Race 1

Sunday 18 January

• 11:05–11:40: Race 2
• 15:30–16:05: Race 3

How to follow: Qualifying sessions and races will be live-streamed with English commentary on the series’ official YouTube channel, while test sessions and free practice can be followed through RaceResults.

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy all weekend.

What to know: The FRegional Middle East Trophy stays in Abu Dhabi for round two as the Yas Marina Circuit will be the theatre of the second race weekend of the season just days after hosting the season opener.

Home favourite Rashid Al Dhaheri leads the championship with 53 points, having clinched his maiden FR-level victory in race three of the opening weekend on top of two further top-five finishes in the other two races. Behind the R-ace GP driver are the other two winners from the season opener, Christian Ho and Alexander Abkhazava, who trail him by 9 and 20 points respectively.

A total of seven drivers stood on the podium in round one. Among them were top rookie Maximilian Popov, reigning GB3 champion Alex Ninovic and former Mercedes junior Alex Powell. Kean Nakamura-Berta also impressed with two top-five finishes, though he is still looking for his first FR-level podium.

Thirty-one drivers are on the provisional entry list, one fewer than in round one. Michael Belov announced Thursday that he had departed CL Motorsport, with whom he was set to contest the full season. Belov smashed into Reza Seewooruthun’s stalled car at the start of race two last weekend and subsequently missed out on race three.

Report by Daniele Spadi

Read the previous round’s report here.

TAGS:

UAE4: Round 2, Abu Dhabi

Circuit: Yas Marina Circuit (Corkscrew layout), 4.572 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+4)

Friday 16 January

• 9:00–10:00: Test session 1
• 11:20–12:20: Test session 2
• 14:30–15:30: Free practice

Saturday 17 January

• 9:00–9:15: Qualifying 1
• 9:25–9:40: Qualifying 2
• 13:30–14:05: Race 1

Sunday 18 January

• 9:45–10:20: Race 2
• 14:15–14:50: Race 3

How to follow: Qualifying sessions and races will be live-streamed with English commentary on the series’ official YouTube channel, while test sessions and free practice can be followed through RaceResults.

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy all weekend.

What to know: Heading into the second round of UAE4, Mumbai Falcons’ Oleksandr Bondarev leads R-ace GP’s Andy Consani by just two points. The drivers will swap the Yas Marina Circuit’s Grand Prix layout for the Corkscrew layout in their second and final trip to the venue this season. 

Though they aren’t leading the drivers’ standings, R-ace seems to be the team to beat, with Kenzo Craigie and Emily Cotty third and fourth overall with a podium apiece. Meanwhile, Mumbai Falcons driver Niccolò Maccagnani, a Ferrari junior, is fifth in the standings having won the reverse-grid race, meaning four of the top five belong to F1 junior programmes. 

Round one was a chaotic affair, with a total of seven safety cars across the three races – the latter two of which ended with red flags after late incidents. 

Ben Anh Nguyễn of Evans GP will miss rounds two and three of the series before returning for round four in Qatar. He will be replaced by 16-year-old Dutchman Kasper Schormans (#40), who competed with the team in Formula Trophy in December. Vladimir Verkholantsev will leave Pinnacle Motorsport for round two to wrap up the SMP F4 Winter Series, which he’s currently leading, while 15-year-old Chinese driver Sun Anzhe (#25) joins the squad for his single-seater debut. Fifteen-year-old American Cash Felber (#21) will join X-GP, which now has a two-driver line-up for the second round. 

Report by Calla Kra-Caskey

Read the previous round’s report here.

Formula Winter Series: Round 1, Estoril 

Circuit: Circuito do Estoril, 4.182 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+0)

Thursday 22 January

• 9:00–9:45: Collective test 1
• 11:25–12:10: Collective test 2
• 14:45–15:30: Collective test 3

Friday 23 January

• 9:00–9:40: Collective test 4
• 11:20–12:00: Collective test 5
• 14:35–15:20: Collective test 6

Saturday 24 January

• 10:20–10:35: Qualifying 1
• 10:40–10:55: Qualifying 2
• 14:10–14:40: Race 1

Sunday 25 January

• 10:20–10:50: Race 2
• 14:45–15:15: Race 3

How to follow: Races will be live streamed on the Winter Series Youtube channel, while live timing is available at RaceResults.

Weather forecast: Light rain is expected on Friday and Saturday. Partly sunny on Sunday.

What to know: Formula Winter Series kicks off its fourth season at the Circuito do Estoril in what will mark the first time the series has visited the Portuguese track. The addition of Estoril will bring the calendar to five rounds, the most the series has ever held.

Mathilda Racing join as a new team and Rodin Motorsport return for their first season since 2024, whilst the other eight outfits on the grid are all returnees from last season.

A total of 31 drivers are expected in round one, with several notable names gracing the entry list. Red Bull junior and Ginetta Junior champion Rocco Coronel will join Van Amersfoort Racing, while McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck at Rodin. AU4 champion Noah Killion will also join the grid after having claimed a total of eight wins in the Gen2 category, lining up alongside GB4 champion Ary Bansal at US Racing. To get the lowdown on all the drivers and teams competing, read our season guide. 

Report by Grayson Wallace

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: Connor Botha