The Formula Regional Middle East Trophy and UAE4 Series brought their seasons to a close on Friday before the Formula Winter Series crossed its halfway point on a compressed Sunday with one qualifying and three shortened races. Feeder Series reviews the action.

By Feeder Series

If last week was about rain, this week was about interruption. Both FR Middle East and the Formula Winter Series had their qualifying sessions and races compressed to one day from an originally scheduled two as a result of issues beyond their control. Engine issues for new cars in the former series necessitated a delay to await new parts shipped from Italy to Qatar, while heavy wind in Valencia cancelled all track activities on Saturday across the Winter Series package.

UAE4, the only series that did not have a major mid-weekend schedule change, instead had a number of red flags during its three races, with the three in the second race of the weekend leading to an unexpected twist in the title fight. Read on to find out what happened.

There was an additional unexpected appearance of junior single-seater machinery in the Indian Racing League, which used the F4 cars from fellow Racing Promotions Private Limited series Indian F4 for its round at the new street circuit adjacent to the Manohar International Airport in Goa. Two-time and defending champion Raoul Hyman won the first and third race, the latter alongside former W Series competitor Fabienne Wohlwend, while two-time F4 SEA race winner Alister Yoong took victory in race two.

1. FRegional Middle East: Nakamura-Berta steals title with double win in shortened Lusail round
2. UAE4: Bondarev seals title at Lusail on Consani’s best weekend
3. Formula Winter Series: Van Langendonck extends lead as wind delays compress Valencia round

FRegional Middle East: Nakamura-Berta steals title with double win in shortened Lusail round

In a surprising turn of events, Kean Nakamura-Berta secured the 2026 FRegional Middle East title in style. The Briton, who has played the role of the chaser throughout the entire season, overcame a 24-point deficit to Rashid Al Dhaheri to take home the drivers’ crown while also clinching the rookie title.

The final race weekend of the season got off to a faulty start, however, as issues with the engine of the new Tatuus T-326 forced the organisers to pause running after Thursday morning’s free practice session and heavily revise the schedule. The remainder of the Thursday programme was delayed until Friday so that new parts could arrive from Europe. A second free practice session was added, while the number of races was reduced from three to two as the reverse-grid race was scrapped.

Nakamura-Berta made the difference on Friday morning by setting the fastest time in both qualifying sessions. He therefore started on pole for race one, fending off fast-starting teammate Sebastian Wheldon to keep the lead after Turn 1. The race was immediately neutralised after Rodin Motorsport’s Maxim Rehm retired with right suspension damage, though that didn’t hinder Nakamura-Berta’s progress. Both he and Wheldon broke away from Jan Przyrowski, who had jumped into third in the opening lap and relegated Alex Powell from second to fourth.

With no changes to the top 10 in the second half of the race, Nakamura-Berta took his first win at the FR level as Wheldon and Przyrowski completed the podium. Then–championship leader Al Dhaheri took sixth, with the gap between him and Nakamura-Berta dropping to just seven points.

The final race of the weekend therefore became decisive for the title fight. The Mumbai Falcons driver started from pole under the floodlights, once again keeping the lead after the opening corner, while Al Dhaheri tried to climb up to order from eighth on the grid, though he settled for seventh after the opening lap. Behind Nakamura-Berta, a three-way fight for second saw Wheldon get the better of Powell and Kabir Anurag, who sat third and fourth respectively.

Multiple incidents inside the first four minutes forced the stewards to bring out the red flag.  Alceu Feldmann Neto spun at Turn 15 on the second lap just after former championship contender Alexander Abkhazava crashed with Enea Frey at Turn 7.

Racing resumed 14 minutes later behind the safety car, leaving Nakamura-Berta with 20 minutes to get things done from the lead. The Williams junior kept his nerves to lead home Wheldon for a second consecutive Mumbai Falcons 1-2, with Powell rounding out the podium.

As Al Dhaheri only managed seventh, Nakamura-Berta became the 2026 FR Middle East Trophy winner as well, clinching the title by just 12 points. The Briton thus took his third title in the past five months after having clinched both the Italian F4 and the E4 crowns in 2025. Al Dhaheri had to settle for second after dominating the first half of the season, while Abkhazava held on to third overall despite a scoreless season finale marred by being excluded from qualifying for being unable to supply enough fuel.

Nakamura-Berta was also the rookie champion, with Maximilian Popov and Przyrowski – who finished seventh and sixth in the overall standings respectively – behind him. Thanks to a standout final round of the season, Mumbai Falcons completed the comeback in the teams’ standings to steal the title from R-ace’s hands by 29 points.

Report by Daniele Spadi

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 1:48.461	Alex Powell, +0.169s	Sebastian Wheldon, +0.332s
Qualifying 2	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 1:48.057	Sebastian Wheldon, +0.153s	Alex Powell, +0.321s
Race 1 (15 laps)	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 31:13.592	Sebastian Wheldon, +1.827s	Jan Przyrowski, +5.448s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 44:00.126	Sebastian Wheldon, +0.765s	Alex Powell, +1.918
Race 3	Cancelled

Editor’s note: Race two used the usual format of race three. The reverse-grid race was scrapped.

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 151	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited, 222	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 195
P2	Rashid Al Dhaheri, 139	R-ace GP, 193	Maksimilian Popov, 119
P3	Alexander Abkhazava, 95	MP Motorsport, 139	Alex Powell, 105
P4	Alex Powell, 76	ART Grand Prix, 111	Kabir Anurag, 101
P5	Sebastian Wheldon, 71	RPM, 98	Jan Przyrowski, 100
P6	Jan Przyrowski, 71	Pinnacle Motorsport, 76	Sebastian Wheldon, 92
P7	Maksimilian Popov, 70	Trident, 74	Salim Hanna, 85
P8	Alex Ninovic, 66	Rodin Motorsport, 68	Miguel Costa, 60
P9	Kabir Anurag, 62	G4 Racing, 21	Artem Severiukhin, 50
P10	Salim Hanna, 54	CL Motorsport, 20	Emanuele Olivieri, 47

Read the previous round’s report here.

UAE4: Bondarev seals title at Lusail on Consani’s best weekend

Oleksandr Bondarev and Andy Consani’s rivalry has been the main narrative in UAE4 this year, with their dominant periods emerging largely in that order. Ironically, the final round was Consani’s best and Bondarev’s worst, with the Ukrainian failing to secure a win or extend his championship lead. Still, Bondarev did exactly what he needed to do to win the title in the final round.

Heading into the weekend with a 24-point advantage, Bondarev started strong, leading a test session and free practice. But Consani, second in the standings, controlled qualifying, taking both pole positions while Bondarev qualified second and fourth. 

Lining up alongside Bondarev for race one, Consani maintained his lead at the start, but not without having to fend off Bondarev’s attempted overtake around Turn 1. Behind them, several drivers, including fifth-place starter Adam Al Azhari, stalled, while Platon Kostin stopped in the gravel at Turn 1 to prompt a safety car.

With David Cosma Cristofor also stranded, the race was red-flagged on lap four.

Green-flag racing restarted on lap six, but before long, Sun Anzhe collided with Zakaria Doleh, prompting the latter’s retirement and another safety car on lap eight. After Doleh’s car was recovered, there was just enough time for a last-lap shootout. Consani controlled the restart, finishing ahead of Bondarev and Alp Aksoy, who took his first podium. With his fourth-place result, Kenzo Craigie was eliminated from the title fight. 

Consani’s victory cut his gap to Bondarev to 17 points, but race two spelled doom for his title chances. Polesitter Joseph Smith had a poor start, dropping to third behind Niccolò Maccagnani and Tomass Štolcermanis – the eventual podium order.

Consani had a terrible start as well, dropping from his starting position of 12th to 25th as Bondarev made it up to 10th. The Williams junior continued his upward trajectory, passing Aksoy and Scott Kin Lindblom later on lap one and Craigie at the end of lap two to slot into seventh. Consani, too, attempted to fight through the field, but as he battled with Al Azhari for 16th on lap five, the pair collided, and both had to retire. 

The collision prompted a safety car and later the race’s first red flag. Proceedings restarted on lap eight, but there was limited action before Lucas Pasquinetti and Bader Al Sulaiti collided on lap nine, causing a second red flag. 

After changing tyres, Bondarev appeared to get the restart he needed to seal the title, passing Christian Costoya and Elia Weiss to slot into fifth. But a collision between Cosma Cristofor and Kingsley Zheng caused the race to end under red flags and voided the final lap, meaning Bondarev was classified seventh, 23 points ahead of Consani. 

Consani got a good start for the title decider, keeping first place from Cosma Cristofor and Costoya, while Bondarev maintained fourth position. Later on lap one, Craigie collided with Štolcermanis, sending the latter into the wall and causing a safety car.

The top three again held position on the lap three restart, but at Turn 7, Lindblom overtook Bondarev for fourth after the Ukrainian went wide. Another safety car was called on lap eight after Kostin found the gravel, while Craigie stopped on track with unrelated issues. 

The season ended with four laps of green-flag racing. Consani finished first from Cosma Cristofor and Costoya, but with a fifth-place finish, Bondarev took the title. Consani and Craigie’s combined efforts were enough for R-ace GP to take the teams’ title, while Craigie was the season’s top rookie.

Report by Calla Kra-Caskey

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Andy Consani, 1:55.393	Oleksandr Bondarev, +0.176s	Alp Aksoy, +0.426s
Qualifying 2	Andy Consani, 1:54.921	David Cosma Cristofor, +0.208s	Christian Costoya, +0.378
Race 1 (11 laps)	Andy Consani, 45:09.622	Oleksandr Bondarev, +0.736s	Alp Aksoy, +1.503s
Race 2 (10 laps)	Niccolò Maccagnani, 37:01.397	Tomass Štolcermanis, +1.913s	Joseph Smith, +3.794s
Race 3 (14 laps)	Andy Consani, 30:58.767	David Cosma Cristofor, +2.741s	Christian Costoya, +3.183s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Oleksandr Bondarev, 191	R-ace GP, 301	Kenzo Craigie, 216
P2	Andy Consani, 183	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited, 261	Christian Costoya, 195
P3	Kenzo Craigie, 118	Prema Racing, 183	Alp Aksoy, 176
P4	Niccolò Maccagnani, 98	Hitech, 93	Iacopo Martinese, 159
P5	David Cosma Cristofor, 97	PHM Racing, 64	Jarrett Clark, 116
P6	Christian Costoya, 86	Xcel Motorsport, 40	Dominik Šimek, 70
P7	Scott Lindblom, 71	Yas Heat Racing, 33	Florentin Hattemer, 66
P8	Alp Aksoy, 70	QMMF by Hitech, 29	Kingsley Zheng, 62
P9	Iacopo Martinese, 46	Pinnacle Motorsport, 24	Jaber Al Sabah, 46
P10	Emily Cotty, 37	Evans GP, 7	Bernardo Bernoldi, 33

Read the previous round’s report here.

Formula Winter Series: Van Langendonck extends lead as wind delays compress Valencia round

The Formula Winter Series kicked off its Spanish leg at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo this weekend. With limited overtaking in the races, qualifying was once again critical at the venue where all 38 drivers were disqualified from a qualifying session two seasons ago. 

And again, things didn’t go flawlessly. A government warning for strong winds on Friday afternoon meant all of Saturday’s activities were cancelled or postponed to Sunday. In FWS, one 15-minute qualifying session was held instead of two and the length of the races reduced to 20 minutes plus one lap.

Qualifying ended without interruptions even though US Racing’s Ary Bansal lost his rear wing mid-session. Rodin’s Dries Van Langendonck took pole ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Aleksander Ruta and Mathilda Racing’s Jensen Burnett, contesting his first-ever single-seater qualifying session. 

Van Langendonck held his lead at the start of race one ahead of Rocco Coronel, who rocketed up from seventh, and his teammate Ruta. Burnett, from third, stalled in his first-ever F4 start and dropped to the rear. 

A safety car was called later that lap with Zoe Florescu stranded in the gravel at Turn 4. The race resumed on lap three with Thomas Bearman attacking his teammate Ruta for third, and though the Briton got his nose ahead at Turn 2, Ruta kept his line entering Turn 4 and stayed ahead on the inside. Bearman then collided with US’ Ludovico Busso at Turn 11 the same lap and dropped out of the points. 

No more position changes happened up front as Van Langendonck took his fourth win of the season ahead of Coronel and Ruta. 

Van Langendonck got a much slower start in race two and dropped to third behind Ruta and Lima upon arriving at Turn 1. At Turn 2, while fighting for fourth, Bearman locked up and collided with Coronel, who retired that lap. The Briton received a five-second time penalty for the incident.

A safety car was called on the third lap for Vittorio Orsini’s stranded car from a separate incident. The race resumed with just over 10 minutes to go and Ruta kept his lead, but Van Langendonck attacked Lima for second. The pair touched and Van Langendonck got ahead briefly, but Bearman passed both to gain second. Lima then hounded Van Langendonck and passed him for third at Turn 2 on lap 11.

After 13 laps, Ruta took his first-ever F4 win ahead of Bearman and Lima on track. Initially, Lima inherited second thanks to Bearman’s penalty, but he too received a five-second penalty for track limits, meaning Bearman was reinstated to second and Van Langendonck promoted to third.

With the grid formed using the fastest laps of race two’s provisional results, US’ Arjen Kräling started from pole ahead of Bearman and Ruta. The Polish driver had a better launch than Bearman and passed him for second before Turn 1 as Kräling kept first.

A safety car was called at the end of lap one with Andre Rodriguez stranded in the gravel at Turn 8. 

The race continued on lap four and proceeded rather uneventfully until the next safety car intervention, called on lap nine following a collision between Chiara Bättig and Levi Arn at Turn 12. 

The race resumed two laps later without further position changes at the front, and Kräling took his maiden F4 win ahead of Ruta and Bearman.

Van Langendonck extended his championship advantage to 61 points, with Bansal on 94 and Ruta on 92 now his closest challengers. Among the teams, US hold an 11-point lead over Rodin and Van Amersfoort, tied on 215.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Dries Van Langendonck, 1:34.817	Aleksander Ruta, +0.154s	Jensen Burnett, +0.275s
Qualifying 2	Cancelled
Race 1 (13 laps)	Dries Van Langendonck, 22:37.470	Rocco Coronel, +0.511s	Aleksander Ruta, +0.890s
Race 2 (13 laps)	Aleksander Ruta, 22:26.498	Thomas Bearman, +5.978s	Dries Van Langendonck, +6.988s
Race 3 (12 laps)	Arjen Kräling, 21:50.876	Aleksander Ruta, +0.685s	Thomas Bearman, +1.595s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Dries Van Langendonck, 155	US Racing, 226	Dries Van Langendonck, 180
P2	Ary Bansal, 94	Rodin Motorsport, 215	Rocco Coronel, 112
P3	Aleksander Ruta, 92	Van Amersfoort Racing, 215	Samuel Ifrid, 100
P4	Thomas Bearman, 78	Jenzer Motorsport, 43	Alfie Slater, 82
P5	Oleksandr Savinkov, 71	Campos Racing, 30	Ethan Lennon, 77
P6	Rocco Coronel, 70	Cram Motorsport, 25	Roman Kamyab, 76
P7	Ludovico Busso, 49	Mathilda Racing, 23	Levi Arn, 54
P8	Alfie Slater, 48	AKM Motorsport, 19	Oscar Repetto, 49
P9	Ethan Lennon, 47	Renauer Motorsport, 4	Felipe Reijs, 47
P10	Arjen Kräling, 36	AS Motorsport, 2	Max Kammerlander, 26

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: Connor Botha