The Formula Regional European Championship enters a fresh era in 2026, with a brand-new car for the drivers and teams to grapple with as well as a new three-race format on selected weekends. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the upcoming 2026 FR Europe season.
By Archie Harper
After five seasons of a technical partnership with Alpine, FR Europe will drop the French brand both as engine supplier and series title sponsor. In addition, the championship will also move on from the Tatuus F3 T-318 car used since its inception in 2019. Instead, FR Europe will use the second-generation Tatuus FR car, the T-326, paired with new Autotecnica Motori engines, developed in collaboration with TOM’S from the Toyota G16E unit. It is the first three-cylinder engine in FR history.
Last year’s champion Freddie Slater won the title ahead of Italian Matteo De Palo, with a margin of 36 points separating them at season’s end. The pair are racing as teammates in F3 this year with Trident, with champion Slater having already taken a podium in the opening feature race in Melbourne. Last season’s top two are among a group of nine graduates from the series to F3 in 2026.
For the first time, the series will receive full FIA licensing, placing it alongside F3 and F2 as fully FIA-licensed series on the feeder series ladder.
The calendar
Just like the technical specifications, the calendar has been overhauled for 2026. As was announced in early December, the series will reduce the number of rounds from 10 to eight this year, with Misano and Barcelona being dropped from the schedule. Format changes mean there will continue to be 20 races per season.
- Round 1: Red Bull Ring (24–26 April)
- Round 2: Circuit Zandvoort (22–24 May)
- Round 3: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (29–31 May)
- Round 4: Autodromo Nazionale Monza (19–21 June)
- Round 5: Hungaroring (3–5 July)
- Round 6: Circuit Paul Ricard (17–19 July)
- Round 7: Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (4–6 September)
- Round 8: Hockenheimring (11–13 September)
The format
The series’ race format will also undergo a shake-up in 2026. This year, FR Europe will introduce three-race weekends to pair with the traditional two-race weekends. The season will involve four rounds of each type, with the three-race weekends occurring at the season opener in Austria as well as the Spa, Monza and Imola rounds later in the year.
The familiar two-race weekends will continue to use the standard FIA points system for both races, awarding 25 points to the winner down to one for 10th place. In the three-race weekends, two of the races will also follow that format, but between them will be a reverse-grid race, for which the grid is set by reversing the top 12 from qualifying one. In that race, 10 points will be awarded to the winner, with the rest of the top 10 receiving points descending by one.
Unlike last year, when only the two highest-finishing cars per round were eligible, the series’ teams’ championship will include the total points of all three cars. The title of best rookie will simply be awarded to the rookie driver who ends the season with the most points.
Also new for this year will be an extra two points for pole position and an extra point for achieving the fastest lap in each race. The fastest lap point will be awarded to the driver who sets the fastest lap within the top 10.
Aside from the new points system, weekends will continue with two free practice sessions on Friday for two-race weekends and one free practice session also on Friday for three-race weekends.
A two-group qualifying session will then take place before each of the regular-grid races. These qualifying sessions will be divided by even- and odd-numbered cars at the opening weekend, before being determined by even- and odd-numbered championship positions for the rest of the season. The faster group’s drivers will occupy the odd-numbered grid positions,while the slower group’s drivers will take the even-numbered slots. Each weekend, a ballot will be held to determine the order in which each group will run, with the order then reversed for the second qualifying session.
The reverse-grid race will have no extra qualifying session, and it will take place on Saturday evening after the first race. The second qualifying session will be held on Sunday morning to determine the grid for race three. Each race will last 30 minutes plus one lap.
Where to watch
Fans of the series will find every round streamed on FR Europe’s official YouTube channel. Other options for viewing are also listed on the FR Europe website. Live timing will also be accessible, but its location will vary from one event to the next.
Teams and drivers
After three seasons, French team Saintéloc Racing will wave goodbye to competition in the series. The same can be said for Akcel GP, who will not continue their programme after completing only five rounds in 2025.
In their place, MP Motorsport will resume racing in the series after sitting out 2025. An entirely new entry to the grid, but not unfamiliar to feeder series racing, will be Rodin Motorsport. The New Zealand outfit based in Farnham, England, will debut in FR Europe having won the GB3 and British F4 teams’ titles in 2025 and taken many race victories across F2, F3 and F1 Academy.
R-ace GP
Since FR Europe merged with Formula Renault Eurocup ahead of the 2021 season, R-ace GP have been either teams’ champions or runners-up. Last year marked one of two championship-winning years for the French team, who took five wins, five pole positions and 16 total podiums throughout the season. The outfit founded in 2011 by Thibaut de Mérindol and Cyril Comte are yet to take a drivers’ championship in FR Europe despite their teams’ championship success.
The highest-placed returning driver from last season Rashid Al Dhaheri (#71) will move from Prema Racing to R-ace GP for his second season in the series. The Emirati driver claimed three podiums in his first season as a member of the Mercedes Junior Team and finished eighth in the championship. In 2025, Al Dhaheri competed in the main race of the Macau Grand Prix for the second time and was classified 20th after retiring on the penultimate lap because of contact with Jin Nakamura, then an R-ace driver himself. Over the winter, the 18-year-old raced in the FR Middle East Trophy, finishing as the runner-up in the championship with three race wins and a further podium to his name.
Joining R-ace GP for his first season in FR Europe will be Yuki Sano (#12), who raced last year in Super Formula Lights and endurance series Super Taikyu as a member of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge programme. The Japanese driver finished as runner-up in Super Formula Lights, taking four wins, two pole positions and eight more podiums throughout the campaign. The 19-year-old also finished third overall in the ST-Z class of Super Taikyu with two podiums. Most recently, Sano finished ninth in his first Macau Grand Prix main race in November before securing a best race result of fourth in FR Middle East this past winter en route to 13th overall in the standings.
R-ace GP’s only rookie will be Emanuele Olivieri (#73), who steps up from F4 competition. The Italian raced with R-ace GP for his sophomore campaign in Italian F4, in which he finished seventh, off the back of a stellar F4 Middle East season in the winter of 2025. The 17-year-old won the championship 58 points clear of second place, achieving six race wins and failing to appear on the podium in only two races, one of which he ended with a retirement. Olivieri also finished second in the main race of the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau in November after dominating the event’s qualifying race.
Prema Racing
The winningest team in FR Europe history, Prema Racing lost out on the FR Europe teams’ championship for only the second time last year by a margin of just 21 points. Despite not winning the teams’ title, the Italian outfit won their sixth drivers’ championship in seven seasons with Freddie Slater, who took to the top step eight times throughout the season with four more podiums to his name.
For the fourth time in FR Europe, the reigning Italian F4 champion will step up for their rookie season with Prema. A new member of the Williams Driver Academy for 2026, Kean Nakamura-Berta (#51) took nine wins and 17 total podiums – a series record – on his way to championship glory in Italian F4 last year. The 18-year-old Japanese-Slovak driver, who races under a British licence, is also the reigning E4 champion and FR Middle East champion. He won the latter title just over two months ago, avenging the disappointment of the accident and subsequent engine issues that felled his 2025 F4 World Cup attack.
Also stepping up from Italian F4 will be Colombian Salim Hanna (#88). The Barranquilla-born driver will continue with Prema for his rookie season in FR Europe following a fourth-place championship finish in Italian F4 last year. Hanna likewise competed in E4 in 2025, scoring his best result with a podium in the final race of the season at Monza to end the season seventh in the standings. The 16-year-old also contested round four of British F4 at Thruxton in 2025, winning race three on his debut weekend in the series, and won both races of the non-championship round at the British Grand Prix. Over the winter, he won one race and finished 10th in the standings in FR Middle East.
Completing Prema’s line-up of Italian F4 teammate graduates will be Tomass Štolcermanis (#60). The Latvian rookie experienced a fragmented 2025 sophomore year in F4 beginning with a maiden single-seater victory in the F4 Middle East Championship during the winter. The 18-year-old went on to contest just six races in Italian F4, securing a podium in the first race at Vallelunga, before racing in only the second round of E4 with AKM Motorsport. Štolcermanis’ full rookie season in FR Europe with Prema follows his appearance as a guest driver for RPM in the final round of last season at Monza, where he finished ninth in race two.
Van Amersfoort Racing
Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing head into 2026 having scored their most points as a team in FR Europe since 2020. Founded in 1975 by Frits van Amersfoort, the Zeewolde-based squad have finished third in the FR Europe teams’ championship four times total and three times consecutively since 2023.
Last season’s runaway rookie champion Dion Gowda (#55) will remain with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2026. In his rookie season, the Indian, who races under a British license, twice scored a best finish of fifth and ended the season 12th overall, seven places ahead of the next-best rookie. The 18-year-old competed in FR Middle East this winter, finishing 24th overall and scoring just a single point.
Frenchman Andrea Dupé (#7) will race with Van Amersfoort in his second year of single-seater competition. Graduating from karts in 2025, the 17-year-old raced in the Formula Winter Series, Italian F4 and E4 last year. Dupé’s best results were in Italian F4, in which he raced with PHM and Prema. With the Italian team, Dupé scored two sixth-place finishes at the final round in Misano, ending the season 22nd overall with 20 points. Over the winter, the French driver achieved a best of 10th place and one point in FR Middle East, coming 23rd in the drivers’ standings.
Moving across from Eurocup-3 in 2026 will be Francisco Macedo (#11). The Portuguese driver joins the championship having finished 14th overall in Eurocup-3 in 2025, with a podium in the sprint race at Le Castellet signifying his best finish in the series. The 18-year-old ended the FR Middle East season this winter in 18th, having scored a best result of seventh at the opening round.
ART Grand Prix
The teams’ championship runners-up in 2021, ART Grand Prix have improved year on year since their eighth-place championship finish in 2023. The French outfit achieved seven podiums, two poles and a win last season, scoring their biggest points haul since 2022. Originally founded in 1996 by Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur and Nicolas Todt, the son of former Ferrari team principal and FIA president Jean Todt, the team have won one drivers’ championship thanks to Grégoire Saucy, who won the title in the squad’s inaugural campaign in 2021.
The team will field 2025 French F4 champion Alexandre Munoz (#95) for his rookie season in 2026. The French driver won the title in his second year, claiming four poles, five wins and a further four podiums en route to victory. The 16-year-old made his single-seater debut in the series in 2024, finishing 17th with one win at the final round of the year. Munoz made his first appearance in Macau at the F4 World Cup last year, though a fuel compression issue ended his race early.
Alpine Academy driver Kabir Anurag (#19) will move to FR Europe with ART in 2026 after two and a half seasons racing in Italian F4. After a mid-season debut with R-ace GP in 2023, the Singaporean moved to US Racing for the final two rounds and remained with the squad in the Italian series for the next two years, scoring a personal best race result of fifth last year. The 18-year-old also raced in E4 last season and took two podiums on his way to sixth in the championship, while he contested the final two rounds of the GB3 season before finishing ninth in the FR Middle East standings this winter.
ART’s driver line-up will be completed by Monégasque driver Mattéo Giaccardi (#27). The driver newest to single-seater racing, 19-year-old Giaccardi graduated from karts in 2025 with a French F4 campaign. Finishing 11th in the drivers’ standings as a rookie, the Monégasque scored two podiums before achieving a win at the final round in Le Mans. Over the winter, Giaccardi took part in FR Middle East, scoring a best result of 13th in the final race.
Trident
Founded by Maurizio Salvadori in 2006 to compete in the GP2 Series, Italian squad Trident made their first venture into FR Europe in 2022. Last season marked Trident’s best result in the series by some margin. The team secured 305 points overall and fifth in the teams’ standings, while Matteo De Palo’s second-place championship finish was the team’s strongest drivers’ championship result since their entry four years ago.
Russian-Grenadian driver Maximilian Popov (#33) will race with Trident for his first season in the series. Competing with an Italian license last year, the 17-year-old took five podiums and 143 points on his way to sixth in the championship in Italian F4. Popov also finished eighth in E4 in 2025, with one podium to his name. Though he has raced intermittently in many series – including F4 UAE, F4 CEZ and Eurocup-3 – since his single-seater debut in 2024, the 2025 Italian F4 season was his most successful campaign to date. Racing in FR Middle East this winter, Popov built on his Italian campaign to claim two podiums and finish seventh in the standings.
Andrija Kostić (#47), another Italian F4 graduate, will race with Trident as he steps up to FR Europe in 2026. Across two seasons in Italian F4, the Serbian driver achieved a best result of fifth at round three in Monza in 2025. The 17-year-old scored four points in the recent FR Middle East season, and while he led a reverse-grid race at Yas Marina, he is still waiting to take his first podium or win since his single-seater debut in 2024.
Rounding out the Italian outfit’s line-up in 2026 will be Kai Daryanani (#87). Hong Kong–born Indian driver Daryanani enters the series with an eclectic mix of championship entries under his belt. The 21-year-old has put on his gloves to race in 13 different series since his single-seater debut in 2023. One highlight of Daryanani’s career so far is his 2024 Formula Trophy UAE title victory, which he achieved by finishing the season on 102 points to clinch the title. Last season, Daryanani drove primarily in GB3 with JHR Developments, finishing 11th in the championship having attained two podiums in the season, though he did contest the majority of the Eurocup-3 season and scored a best result of eighth in the series, with 13 points by the end of the campaign. Preparing for this year, the Indian driver finished 33rd overall in FR Middle East over the winter.
CL Motorsport
Italian-based Chinese team CL Motorsport were founded in 2022 by Jack and David Li. After three years of preparation, the squad made their debut in FR Europe last season with a two-car line-up for the majority of the season, though three cars competed in Spielberg and Hockenheim. The team were able to finish seventh in the standings on debut, with a best race result of sixth.
After contesting three rounds with the team in 2025, Enea Frey (#6) will remain with CL Motorsport for his first full season in the series. The Swiss driver finished 16th in Italian F4 in 2024 with Jenzer before racing in Euro 4, in which he scored just four points. Continuing in Italian F4 with Jenzer last season, the 17-year-old scored a best result of sixth in the season opener before leaving the series with two rounds to go. Between his partial FR Europe campaign last year and his full season this year, Frey raced in FR Middle East over the winter, finishing 27th overall with a best race result of 12th.
Another driver joining CL Motorsport after a brief appearance in the series last season is Reno Francot (#69). Of the drivers who competed in junior single-seaters last year, the 18-year-old was the one who racked up the most race experience, completing at least one lap in 62 races last year across six different series. Francot finished fifth overall in F4 Middle East in the winter of 2025, contested two rounds of the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship, and achieved a race win and four more podiums in Spanish F4. Finishing third overall in E4 and 12th in a partial Italian F4 season later in the year, he finally made the step up to FR Europe for round seven and took home a point on his debut weekend. The Dutchman continued his racing frenzy in 2026 with a fifth-place finish in his Eurocup-4 campaign this winter and an appearance with CL in the second half of FR Middle East.
CL Motorsport will also field rookie Jules Roussel (#24) for his first season of FR Europe. The Frenchman comes into the series having contested back-to-back French F4 seasons. Finishing 11th in his rookie year, the 19-year-old came third in 2025 with two wins, two pole positions and six more podiums. Roussel enters FR Europe as the reigning F4 World Cup champion having won from second on the grid in the main race last year ahead of Olivieri and fellow 2025 French F4 driver Rintaro Sato.
CL Motorsport’s 2026 line-up: Enea Frey (#6), Jules Roussel (#24), Reno Francot (#69, pictured) | Credit: Dutch Photo Agency
RPM
Irish-owned RPM were purchased in 2022 by racing driver Keith Donegan, and they competed in the 2022 FR Europe season as their inaugural campaign under their new ownership. Based in Piacenza, Italy, the squad have competed solely at the FR level since their debut. The team’s best result in the series was in 2023, when they ended the season fourth in the teams’ standings.
Remaining with the Italian-based Irish squad in 2026 for a third season will be Giovanni Maschio (#99). The Italian will commence his fourth consecutive season in FR Europe at the season opener in Spielberg. The 19-year-old has scored a total of seven points throughout his FR Europe career, six of which came last year on his way to a personal best championship finish of 17th. Over the winter, he contested FR Middle East, in which he failed to score any points and finished 32nd in the standings. New for this year, however, Maschio will combine his FR Europe season with a campaign in the LMP3 class of the 2026 Le Mans Cup, in which he sits second in the drivers’ championship after one round.
Also continuing with the team in 2026 will be Jan Przyrowski (#8), who appeared as a guest driver at the final round of last season. In that guest appearance, the 17-year-old Pole came fifth – the team’s best performance all season long – though he did not score points as he was only a guest driver. In the winter of 2025, Przyrowski finished second in Eurocup-4 and third overall in Spanish F4 in the regular season. This winter, Przyrowski took three podiums and sixth overall in FR Middle East in preparation for the 2026 FR Europe season.
RPM will also field Miguel Costa (#5) for his first season in the championship. The Miami-born Brazilian graduated from karts in 2025 and competed in Eurocup-4 and Spanish F4. The 17-year-old finished eighth overall with a podium in the final round of the winter series at Navarra, while his main campaign in Spanish F4 saw him finish 14th in the standings with a best result of fourth, again at the final round of the season. This winter, a best result of second at the season opener put Costa 15th in the FR Middle East drivers’ standings.
G4 Racing
Swiss team G4 Racing were originally founded by the Gnos family to support Axel Gnos’ 2019 Spanish F4 effort. The Gnos-only racing team changed their ethos when they took over FR Europe team Bhaitech in 2021. Finishing sixth in their very first season, the squad have been up and down in the series over the past five years, having scored multiple wins and podiums in some seasons and few points in others. Last year was one such difficult season for the team, who only managed to score a single point all season – a low only eclipsed by a scoreless season in 2022.
The team will continue with only one driver from their 2025 season, Saqer Al Maosherji (#3), who remains with the team for a second year after moving to them from Akcel GP in round seven. The 18-year-old Kuwaiti driver contested all but the fifth round in Le Castellet and ended the season with a best finish of 15th at the final race.
The first driver making his debut in the series with G4 Racing will be Marcus Sæter (#67). The Norwegian rookie first appeared in cars in 2024, taking sixth in the Ginetta Junior Championship with two wins and six additional podiums. After a brief appearance in FWS in 2025, the 17-year-old went on to race in Italian F4 and secured a best result of fourth on his way to 15th in the drivers’ standings.
The squad’s second rookie will be Rahim Alibhai (#23), who heads into the season with the least single-seater experience of any driver on the grid. The American competed in just six races across the final two rounds of USF Juniors to kick off his single-seater racing career in 2025. Since then, the 16-year-old has contested the three-round Eurocup-4 and one round of FWS in 2026. Alibhai achieved best results of 13th and 11th respectively in those series, while he also finished ninth and secured his first two points in Europe in the single race he contested at the Spanish F4 season opener this year.
MP Motorsport
After sitting 2025 out, MP Motorsport will return to the FR Europe grid this year. The Dutch team, founded in 1995 by Cock Kool, began contesting FR Europe in 2021. The team achieved their highest tally of points and best result in their first year, scoring 177 points to finish the 2021 season fifth in the standings. The team stepped away from the series after their worst result in 2024, when they ended the season eighth with no podiums all year long. Instead, they focused their efforts at the FR level on Eurocup-3, in which they won the drivers’ title with Mattia Colnaghi and dominated the teams’ championship too.
Having originally been announced at Prema for 2026, Sebastian Wheldon (#98) will race with MP Motorsport after swapping teams in the offseason. The American driver, a member of Andretti Global’s driver development programme since 2021, finished third in Italian F4 with six wins, three poles and a further three podiums. The 17-year-old, whose accolades include winning the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in his first year in car racing, also finished fourth in E4 in 2025 and came fifth in the recent FR Middle East season in the winter. Only months prior to his FR Middle East campaign, Wheldon finished fourth after starting 15th on the grid for the main race at the 2025 F4 World Cup.
Also racing with the Dutch squad in 2026 will be Chinese driver Zhenrui Chi (#28). Racing under an Italian licence, Chi made his single-seater debut in the 2024 Formula Trophy UAE season, in which he finished fifth with two podiums and a pole position. The 17-year-old’s 2025 was far more adventurous, with Chi competing in five series throughout the year. His Italian F4 and E4 campaigns were most prominent, with the Chinese driver finishing fifth and 12th in the standings respectively, though he appeared as a guest driver for the final round of GB3 and raced in rounds seven and nine of FR Europe with CL Motorsport as well. Before this year’s FR Europe campaign, Chi again raced with CL Motorsport to finish 16th on 20 points in FR Middle East, which followed a difficult Macau Grand Prix weekend in which he failed to complete the first lap of the main race after a five-car incident.
MP Motorsport will complete their driver line-up in 2026 with Alexander Abkhazava (#15). The Russian-born, Kazakh-licensed driver has raced primarily in Spain throughout his single-seater career. After racing in F4 UAE and Spanish F4 in 2023, Abkhazava graduated to Eurocup-3 for his main campaign in 2024, taking a win and another podium to finish ninth in the standings before staying in the series in 2025 and finishing 12th. Over the winter this year, the 19-year-old raced in FR Middle East Trophy and finished third overall with two wins and an additional podium – the best campaign in his career so far.
Rodin Motorsport
Making their debut in the series in 2026 will be the New Zealand squad Rodin Motorsport, so named after Rodin Cars CEO David Dicker purchased a majority stake in Carlin Motorsport in 2023. Rodin have operated teams in F2, F3, F1 Academy, GB3, British F4, Spanish F4 and FWS. With race- and championship-winning pedigree in those series, the squad now expand to FR Europe for 2026 in hopes of replicating such success.
Having driven with the team since his very first race in single-seaters, Alex Ninovic (#2) will remain with Rodin for the 2026 season. The Australian came runner-up in British F4 in 2024 before graduating to GB3 in 2025. There, Ninovic took nine wins, 10 pole positions and another two podiums to finish with 524 points and win the drivers’ title. Over the winter, the 19-year-old took one race win and two more podiums in the FR Middle East season to finish eighth in the championship.
Another driver coming from GB3 will be Reza Seewooruthun (#4). The 19-year-old Briton finished fifth last year in GB3, taking a race win, a pole and four further podiums throughout the season. His past few months were much tougher, with a non-finish in the Macau Grand Prix after being involved in the five-car crash on the first lap, then a 22nd-place championship result in FR Middle East with only two points.
After a breakout 2025, Gabriel Gomez (#78) will join Rodin for his rookie season in FR Europe. Racing with new team TC Racing, Gomez finished only 18th on 13 points in his first Spanish F4 season in 2024, so his dominant FWS championship victory in 2025 with three wins, seven pole positions and six more podiums may have been seen as a surprise on paper. But the 19-year-old Brazilian then backed his victory up by finishing second in both Italian F4 and E4 in the main season with six wins and five pole positions across the two campaigns.
The grid at a glance
| Team | # | Driver |
| Rodin Motorsport | 2 | Alex Ninovic |
| 4 | Reza Seewooruthun | |
| 78 | Gabriel Gomez (R) | |
| G4 Racing | 3 | Saqer Al Maosherji |
| 23 | Rahim Alibhai (R) | |
| 67 | Marcus Sæter (R) | |
| RPM | 5 | Miguel Costa |
| 8 | Jan Przyrowski | |
| 99 | Giovanni Maschio | |
| CL Motorsport | 6 | Enea Frey |
| 24 | Jules Roussel | |
| 69 | Reno Francot | |
| Van Amersfoort Racing | 7 | Andrea Dupé |
| 11 | Francisco Macedo | |
| 55 | Dion Gowda | |
| R-ace GP | 12 | Yuki Sano |
| 71 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | |
| 73 | Emanuele Olivieri (R) | |
| MP Motorsport | 15 | Alexander Abkhazava |
| 28 | Zhenrui Chi | |
| 98 | Sebastian Wheldon | |
| ART Grand Prix | 19 | Kabir Anurag |
| 27 | Mattéo Giaccardi | |
| 95 | Alexandre Munoz (R) | |
| Trident | 33 | Maximilian Popov |
| 47 | Andrija Kostić | |
| 87 | Kai Daryanani | |
| Prema Racing | 51 | Kean Nakamura-Berta |
| 60 | Tomass Štolcermanis (R) | |
| 88 | Salim Hanna |
Header Photo Credit: FR Europe
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