For the 10th year in a row, Nogaro will kick off French Formula 4’s new season. Once again, the series features 32 young talents hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion, Alexandre Munoz. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the 2026 French F4 season.

By Perceval Wolff-Taffus

Over the years, French F4 has established itself as one of the most competitive national F4 series. With a centrally run structure in which all cars are prepared by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA), costs for a full season are around €200,000, much lower than other major European F4 series. Kévin Estre, Jean-Éric Vergne, Stoffel Vandoorne, Pierre Gasly, Yifei Ye and Isack Hadjar were some of the drivers unearthed by the series that launched in 1993 under the Formula Campus moniker. 

In the last few seasons, Williams-backed F3 driver Alessandro Giusti, FRegional Middle East champion Evan Giltaire and Honda-supported F3 rookie Taito Kato have all taken the French F4 drivers’ title. In 2025, Alexandre Munoz was crowned champion in his sophomore season, and he has now joined ART Grand Prix in FR Europe. Among the other drivers promoted from last year’s grid, Matteo Giaccardi will be Munoz’s teammate, Jules Roussel is also expected to step up to FR Europe, Rayan Caretti and Rafaël Pérard are joining Eurocup-3, and Rintaro Sato is going back to Japan in Super Formula Lights.

In French F4, all drivers run with the same Ligier JS F422, all prepared by the FFSA Academy. The cars are powered by 1.3-litre Renault engines prepared by Oreca. Upon taking their third victories, drivers must swap engines with another competitor, chosen at random.

One of the biggest changes to the championship is purely visual. The livery of the Ligier JS F422 cars has drastically changed, with a darker and deeper blue as the base colour of all vehicles and more liberty given to drivers to customise their cars’ sidepods.

The calendar 

The FFSA F4 calendar remains at six rounds, with a lot of similarities compared with last year’s. The only notable change is the departure of the Bugatti Circuit, which hosted the season finale last year to facilitate the GP Explorer race for influencers held one week later on the same track. It will be replaced by the traditional season-ending meeting at Paul Ricard, which has concluded seven of the last nine French F4 seasons.

• Round 1: Circuit Paul Armagnac (4–6 April)
• Round 2: Dijon-Prenois(15–17 May)
• Round 3: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (19–21 June)
• Round 4: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (31 July–2 August)
• Round 5: Circuit de Lédenon (18–20 September) 
• Round 6: Circuit Paul Ricard (9–11 October)

The format

Most weekends start on Thursday with several optional test sessions for drivers to familiarise themselves with the tracks. When drivers pay for their seasons at the start of the year, these sessions are not part of the package, and drivers have to pay for them separately. 

On Friday, one 30-minute free practice session takes place in the morning followed by a single 30-minute qualifying session in the afternoon. On Saturday morning, race one takes place, with the grid being set by the qualifying classification. The grid for race two on Saturday afternoon is set by taking the qualifying classification and reversing the top 10. For race three, held Sunday morning, the grid is set by taking the second-fastest lap of each driver in qualifying.

For the opening weekend at Nogaro, the entire schedule will be delayed by one day, with free practice and qualifying on Saturday, races one and two on Sunday, and race three on Easter Monday.

Two sets of fresh tyres are available for qualifying and all three races.

Races one and three award as many points as F1 does, with 25 points for the winner, 18 for second place, and 15 for third down to one point for the driver in 10th. For the reverse-grid race two, the points system has changed for 2026. This year, only 10 points are given to the winner, five points fewer than in 2025. There are then 8 points for second, 6 for third and so on down to 1 point for the driver in eighth. Each pole position for races one and three gives one additional point, as does the fastest lap in all three races.

Last year, there was a women’s category for female drivers, which had specific podiums at the end of each race but no separate standings. This year, the championship is launching the FFSA French Women’s F4 Championship, only open to full-time female drivers.

In terms of stewarding, drivers have one hour after the end of the session to appeal any decisions. A driver will have to pay €700 to warn the stewards about an action they did not see and €3,200 to challenge a decision stewards made. If the appeal is successful, the driver is reimbursed. 

Where to watch

Races two and three are usually streamed live on YouTube on the  FFSA TV channel. Anthony Drevet, who commentates F2 and F3 on French national television, has been appointed as the lead commentator for all French F4 rounds, alongside Maxime Pacquier.

Depending on the broadcasting schedule of the event the series is supporting, race one may also be streamed. Last year, the final two rounds were not broadcast at all, though the finale should be shown this year. Aside from the penultimate round at Lédenon, all meetings are part of the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) event package, which comes with comprehensive broadcasting. Live timing is available on its-live.net.

Drivers

There are 32 drivers set to take part in the season opener, with 30 of them being full-time drivers. All are run under the FFSA umbrella, without any teams or alliances.

Fifteen-year-old Welsh driver Skye Parker was originally due to race in French F4 this year. She took part in the collective tests in Nogaro but did not appear in the final official tests in Le Mans and subsequently disappeared from the season’s final entry list. 

Sixteen-year-old Kyler Cheezum (#4) has tested USF Juniors machinery with Jay Howard Driver Development, but the young American has decided to travel from Indiana across the Atlantic Ocean to pursue his F1 dreams. After reaching the quarter-finals of the Feed Racing shootout, he continued to participate in Feed’s winter tests to prepare for his maiden single-seater campaign.

Clara Stiebleichinger (#5) is another Feed Racing trainee. Coming from a skiing background, the Austrian driver born in 2005 received a five-day training course with the French racing school as a present for her 18th birthday. She carried on testing over the winter before making her single-seater debut in Indian F4 last year, finishing 11th with a best finish of fourth in Madras. Alongside her racing program, she is also a business student in Montpellier.

Arthur Eschalier (#7) is another Feed Racing graduate from last year. The 15-year-old Frenchman had his first full competitive season of karting only last year, finishing 18th in the FFSA-run French junior karting championship after a year and a half competing in smaller events in France and Switzerland. Coached by former F3 driver Pierre-Louis Chovet, Eschalier tested with Feed over the winter to help him surmount his steep learning curve. 

Seventeen-year-old Jimmy Hélias (#8) is one of France’s greatest talents in karting from the last few years. Fourth in the FIA Karting World Championship in the OK category in 2024, he was also ninth in the FIA Karting European Championship. As a finalist of the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout in 2023, the Normandy-born driver targeted F4 for the 2024 season initially, then for 2025, but budget proved to be an issue for him. He only did two karting races last year but eventually found a solution for this year to be able to make his French F4 debut.

Sim racer and software developer Yuval Rosen (#9) was Feed Racing’s surprise winner at the end of last year. The 19-year-old from Israel developed his own telemetry to help him learn and improve quickly while at Feed. Fast but perhaps inconsistent, Rosen will be eager to show himself for the future. This season might be his only chance to be a real-life racing driver because of his limited backing.

Fifth in the FFSA Junior Karting Championship, fourth in the National Series Karting in the Nationale category and eighth in the international FIA Academy Trophy in 2024, Lilian Soares (#10) has been a frontrunner on the French karting scene for several years. The 15-year-old Frenchman entered a few races in the KZ category last year and also did several tests with the help of the FFSA Academy.

Cuban-American driver Isabella Abreu (#11), who turns 22 today, was added to the entry list in late February this year. In 2025, she mainly competed in the Florida-based Formula FARA’s F4 and GT4 categories, fighting for the podium in her F4 entries.

Seventeen-year-old Héloïse Goldberg (#12) is returning to the series after finishing last with a best finish of 20th in 2025. Since then, the French-Swiss driver with Chinese origins participated in Chinese F4’s final round last year in Zhuhai, scoring her maiden points and also finishing as the best rookie in the final race. 

Lewis Francis (#13) will be the only Australian on the grid this year. The Melbourne-born driver relocated to Monza to compete in international karting in 2023. Since then, the 16-year-old has collected multiple top-10 finishes in the OK category, finishing eighth last year in the highly competitive Champions of the Future Euro Series as well as 24th in the FIA Karting European Championship.

Maverick McKenna (#17) could be an outside candidate for race wins for this season. The 16-year-old American-licenced driver has gained in confidence and maturity since being eliminated from the Feed Racing shootout during the semi-finals. As a guest driver for the final weekend last year in Le Mans, he was a positive surprise with two top-15 finishes, while his pace in pre-season testing showed he should be a contender for an overall top 10 or even more this year. 

Guillaume Bouzar (#19), however, might be the biggest title favourite on the grid. The 17-year-old is the highest-placed returning driver from last year, during which time he showed steady progress. With six podiums, including four in the last five races, the French-Luxembourger finished fifth overall. In collective testing, he was the fastest driver most of the time, especially in the tests at Nogaro in late February.

As a management student with zero racing experience before his debut last season, Frenchman Nicolas Pasquier (#21) was surprisingly on the pace of more experienced drivers last season. With one point collected at Spa-Francorchamps, he progressed from the rear end of the field to the midfield at the end of the year. 

Having finished eighth in the French Junior Karting Championship in 2024, Frenchwoman Angelina Proenca (#23) struggled in her rookie season in 2025, with a best race result of 13th in the opening round. The 16-year-old former Alpine Rac(H)er driver will hope to climb in the standings in her sophomore campaign.

Entering into her second French F4 season, Sofia Zanfari (#26) is still targeting a move to F1 Academy in the future. Last year, the 19-year-old from Morocco, whose older brother Suleiman Zanfari competed in junior single-seaters as recently as 2024, had a best race result of 18th, taken twice in Spa-Francorchamps.

Tom Dussol (#27) has been a point scorer in the FIA European Karting Championship in the OK category in 2024 and in KZ2 in 2025. Supported by the Winfield Racing School, the 17-year-old driver from Corsica should be fighting for points as he makes the step up from shifter karting.

Despite not testing in Nogaro or in Le Mans, Ginevra Panzeri (#28) was a last-minute entry, replacing Parker. The 17-year-old Italian scored two points in the Formula Winter Series earlier this year and is scheduled to race in F4 CEZ with PA Racing by AS Motorsport. Dual campaigns have been forbidden in the series since 2025, but when contacted by Feeder Series about this discrepancy, the championship did not issue any comment.

Matthéo Dauvergne (#29) will be one of the rookies to follow this year. A Feed Racing finalist last year, the 15-year-old from Normandy raced in both Rotax Senior and KZ2 last year to ease his transition to single-seaters. In pre-season testing, he showed himself capable of consistently fighting for points-paying positions.

Paul Gleizes (#30) will be the youngest driver in the field, having turned 15 this past weekend. He will hope to follow in the footsteps of fellow Occitan driver Munoz, though he is unlikely to reach the same heights for now in what is expected to be a year of learning. Last year, Gleizes was seventh in the French Junior Karting Championship with one win at Varennes-sur-Allier.

Five places ahead of him was Oscar Goudchaux (#42), who has one of the best karting records on the grid. The 15-year-old Frenchman, son of former Formula 3000 driver Jacques Goudchaux, was the runner-up in the FFSA Junior Karting Championship while also taking the rookie title in the IAME Series Benelux and fourth place in the IAME Warriors Final in the X30 Senior category. He concluded 2025 by finishing second in the newly launched FIA Arrive & Drive Karting World Cup in the Senior category. His pace in testing showed he should be able to be a threat for podiums.

If Bouzar is the biggest title favorite, sophomore driver Hugo Herrouin (#47) is not far behind. The 18-year-old Frenchman showed glimpses of strong performance throughout his rookie year, finishing 14th overall. His most impressive weekend was at Spa, where he fought for the podium. He was likewise strong in winter, topping the final pre-season tests at Le Mans, and will be aiming to follow the path of Enzo Peugeot, Yani Stevenheydens and Munoz, drivers who all fought for the title in their second seasons in the series. 

French F4’s 2020 and 2024 champions Ayumu Iwasa and Taito Kato both won the title after being sent to France by the Honda Racing School (HRS). This year, the Japanese manufacturer is sending Kota Tsuchihashi (#50), the latest winner of the HRS scholarship. Winner of one round of the All-Japan karting championship in his home country in the OK class in 2024, Tsuchihashi also fought for the podium at the FIA Motorsport Games, where he was representing Japan in the Karting Sprint Senior event the same year. The 18-year-old has been around the top five in testing.

Despite a very strong opening round last year in French F4, Thomas Senecloze (#53) had more difficulty carrying on this momentum and finished 15th overall. The 19-year-old Frenchman is looking to climb further up in the standings for his second season.

In December 2025, Shane Chandaria (#56) made history as he became the first Kenyan to win an FIA-certified junior single-seater series with Indian F4. The 16-year-old is now joining European single-seaters with the hope of carrying on this winning form in France. In testing, he was in the midfield but getting progressively closer to the top 10.

Eighteen-year-old Canadian-American Autumn Fisher (#57) has a gymnastics background and family in racing, with her younger brother Ty Fisher due to compete in Spanish F4 with Campos Racing. She was a late starter, beginning karting in 2024 only and primarily racing in the American-based SuperKarts! USA karting events. Last year, though, she participated in the F1 Academy rookie test in Navarra in September, finishing 16th out of 18 drivers despite missing the morning session because of mechanical issues.

Sponsored by national petrol company Orlen, Wojtek Woda (#68) had a busy 2025. Third in the Champions of the Future Academy in the budget OK-N class, the 17-year-old Polish driver was also the runner-up of the more prestigious FIA Academy Trophy in the Senior category. He made his single-seater debut in November in F4 Saudi Arabia, scoring a single point in his four starts.

Fellow F4 Saudi Arabia driver Thibaut Ramaekers (#79) is tipped as one the greatest title favorites if we look at pre-season test results in Nogaro and Le Mans. The 16-year-old Belgian driver has the most exciting karting record on the grid as the runner-up of the 2023 FIA Karting European Championship’s OK-J class, third-place finisher in the same series’ OK class in 2024, and most importantly OK karting world champion this past September at Kristianstad. Finishing fourth in Saudi Arabian F4 for his single-seater debut at the end of last year proved an underwhelming start for the talented young Wallonian. It must be noted that Saudi Arabian F4 uses fixed setups, which is not the case in French F4. That all considered, he seems much more at ease so far.

Annabelle Brian (#83) has been closely monitored by MP Motorsport over the course of several tests in the past couple of years. The 18-year-old from the Netherlands had a best race result of 11th last year in Nogaro while also finishing 13th in the F1 Academy rookie test in Navarra mid-year. She is doing a second season in French F4 ahead of a potential move to F1 Academy.

There have not been many French drivers to take three national titles in karting, but Jules Avril (#88) is one of them. After winning the 2021 Minime class crown and 2024 Nationale class crown, the 16-year-old from Gironde took the Senior title last year. Alongside his national campaign, he finished seventh in the FIA Karting Academy Trophy in the Senior category with one win, notably fighting for the title against the likes of Woda until the final event.

Jack Iliffe (#95) stepped up to single-seaters for the final two French F4 race meetings at the end of 2025. After enduring mechanical issues in both rounds, he had a best race result of 17th. The American, who turns 16 the day after the Nogaro round ends, was notably a winner of the competitive WSK Euro Series in the OK-Junior category in 2024 before taking a year off from competition in 2025.

Seventeen-year-old Sasha Beisemann (#99) made his single-seater debut in Brazilian F4 at the start of last year. The Paraguayan-licenced Monaco resident did not score any points in his only weekend at Interlagos and has not raced since, making his outing this weekend his first in racing conditions in nearly a year. 

Those 30 drivers make up the full-time competitors list, but some other drivers will do partial seasons. F1 Academy drivers and 2025 French F4 competitors Lisa Billard (#14) and Jade Jacquet (#44), both 16, will take part in at least the Nogaro weekend. Talks are also being held about having them run the Spa-Francorchamps and Magny-Cours meetings in order to prepare them for future F1 Academy races, but a decision has not been made yet. It must be noted that the two Frenchwomen participated in the French F4 collective test in Nogaro – consistently placing in the top five – but not the official one in Le Mans. 

Fourteen-year-old Frenchman Matéo Rivals could also be joining the series for the second half of the season after he turns 15. Last year’s IAME Eurocup X30 Junior runner-up and FFSA Junior Karting Championship winner has already tested F4 machinery. He started 2026 on a positive note by finishing fourth in the opening round of the IAME Euro Series in the X30 Senior class.

#	Driver
4	Kyler Cheezum
5	Clara Stiebleichinger
7	Arthur Eschalier
8	Jimmy Hélias
9	Yuval Rosen
10	Lilian Soares
11	Isabella Abreu
12	Héloïse Goldberg
13	Lewis Francis
14	Lisa Billard
17	Maverick McKenna
19	Guillaume Bouzar
21	Nicolas Pasquier
23	Angelina Proenca
26	Sofia Zanfari
27	Tom Dussol
28	Ginevra Panzeri
29	Matthéo Dauvergne
30	Paul Gleizes
42	Oscar Goudchaux
44	Jade Jacquet
47	Hugo Herrouin
50	Kota Tsuchihashi
53	Thomas Senecloze
56	Shane Chandaria
57	Autumn Fisher
68	Wojtek Woda
79	Thibaut Ramaekers
83	Annabelle Brian
88	Jules Avril
95	Jack Iliffe
99	Sasha Beisemann

Header photo credit: Elwynn Staerker