Formula 2’s maiden visit to North America is the headline story from this weekend of junior single-seater action, while Eurocup-3, Japanese F4 and AU4 all race for the first time this year.

By Feeder Series

Two months ago, an F2 race in the Americas seemed ludicrous. After all, the championship was headed to Australia for its big overseas journey at the start of March before resuming its usual European and Middle Eastern fare in April. Surely another transcontinental journey was out of the question, right?

How wrong we were. The escalation of conflict in the Persian Gulf region prompted a change in course – literally – for F2, which had its Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds scrapped after F1’s grands prix in those countries were cancelled. Replacement rounds at Miami and Montréal were devised, organised and approved as swiftly as possible, with the formal announcement of the new F2 calendar coming only 22 days ago. The event marks the first time since March 2002 that F1’s direct feeder series has raced in the Americas.

This weekend’s junior single-seater calendar, therefore, looks as much like a miniature world championship as F1 itself. While F2 makes its championship debut in Miami, three other series make their 2026 bows. Eurocup-3 is the highest in level, beginning its eight-round 2026 campaign at Le Castellet in France with a vastly overhauled calendar and a new car. In a round spanning Friday to Monday morning, Japanese F4 heads to Fuji, the former home of the Japanese Grand Prix, for its first round, while Australia’s AU4 makes its first trip to Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria since its Australian F4 era in 2018.

Those are the four championships we cover in our reports. But if you fancy a fifth continent, Fórmula Nacional Argentina is racing at the Autódromo Ciudad de Concordia too.

1. Formula 2: Round 2, Miami
2. Eurocup-3: Round 1, Le Castellet
3. Japanese F4: Round 1, Fuji
4. AU4: Round 1, Winton

Formula 2: Round 2, Miami

Circuit: Miami International Autodrome, 5.412 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Friday 1 May

• 09:30–10:15: Practice
• 14:30–15:00: Qualifying

Saturday 2 May

• 10:00–10:45: Sprint race (23 laps or 45 minutes + 1 lap) 

Sunday 3 May

• 12:30–13:30: Feature race (32 laps or 60 minutes + 1 lap) 

How to follow: All sessions will be live-streamed on F1 TV, but fans can also follow them live via the series’ live timing service. Local viewing information can be found here.

Weather forecast: Mostly sunny on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures above 30ºC both days. Sunday’s weather forecasts suggest a strong chance of rain and thunderstorms.

What to know: Formula 2 makes its historic debut in North America as the grid heads to Miami. After a seven-week break following the action in Melbourne, the field faces the ultimate equaliser: a brand-new street circuit that none of the 22 drivers have ever raced before.

The title fight is currently a duel between two standout rookies who dominated the season opener. Nikola Tsolov of Campos Racing holds the championship lead after a clinical victory in the Melbourne feature race. Rafael Câmara of Invicta Racing is sitting seven points behind Tsolov. The Brazilian showed immense pace in round one through both the sprint and feature races.

Miami will also mark the first home race for Colton Herta in F2, but he will have to navigate the same steep learning curve as the rest of the field. His seventh-place finish in the Melbourne feature race suggests he’s already adapting rapidly to F2 machinery.

Report by August Bamford

Read our takeaways from the previous round here.

From the press: F2’s first foray across the Atlantic Ocean has cast a renewed spotlight on the eight 2026 drivers who hail from the Americas. Two of them are Joshua Dürksen, who won the Melbourne sprint race, and rookie Noel León, who finished behind him in second. We caught up with Dürksen to talk about his recent Formula E test outing and with León to discuss his start to life in F2. Click the links to hear from the Paraguayan and the Mexican.

Eurocup-3: Round 1, Le Castellet

Circuit: Circuit Paul Ricard, 5.822 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Thursday 30 April

• 18:10–19:00: Collective test

Friday 1 May 

• 11:00–11:40: Official test 1
• 14:50–15:30: Official test 2
• 17:00–17:20: Qualifying 1
• 17:25–17:45: Qualifying 2

Saturday 2 May 

• 13:05–13:40: Race 1
• 16:50–17:15: Sprint race

Sunday 3 May

• 09:00–09:35: Race 3

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing at Al Kamel Systems. All races will be streamed on the Eurocup-3 YouTube channel. 

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy on Friday and Saturday. Cloudy on Sunday.

What to know: Eurocup-3’s 2026 season gets underway this weekend as part of the support bill for the European Le Mans Series’ 4 Hours of Le Castellet. It will be the first Formula Regional–level championship to support ELMS since FR Europe did so at the same event in 2019.

Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship victor Keanu Al Azhari arrives at Le Castellet as the driver to beat and topped yesterday’s collective test. Campos Racing, meanwhile, carry momentum from clinching the winter series teams’ title after a close battle with newcomers Hitech – who fielded Al Azhari – and 2025 Eurocup-3 teams’ champions MP Motorsport.

All winter series teams will take part in the main season. There are some new additions to the grid, including the unexpected return of 2024 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist to junior single-seaters. Find out everything you need to know about the upcoming season in our season guide.

Report by Seb Tirado

From the studio: Want to hear more about the upcoming race weekend? Check out the latest episode of Feeder Focus from the Feeder Series Podcast, available now on all major podcast platforms.

Japanese F4: Round 1, Fuji

Circuit: Fuji Speedway, 4.563 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9) 

Friday 1 May

• 13:30–14:00: Independent Class practice 1
• 14:15–14:45: Champion Class practice 1
• 15:30–16:00: Champion Class practice 2
• 16:15–16:45: Independent Class practice 2

Saturday 2 May

• 08:00–08:30: Champion Class practice 3
• 08:45–09:15: Independent Class practice 3

• 13:10–13:30: Champion Class qualifying
• 13:40–14:00: Independent Class qualifying

Sunday 3 May

• 08:15–08:45: Independent Class race 1
• 09:20–09:50: Champion Class race 1

Monday 4 May

• 08:15–08:45: Independent Class race 2
• 09:20–09:50: Champion Class race 2

How to follow: All races are streamed on the series’ official YouTube channel. Live timing will be available on the Super GT Live Timing app, although it is not available in Europe.

Weather forecast: Rain expected on Friday and for both races on Monday. Saturday and Sunday are set to be mostly cloudy.

What to know: Japanese F4 enters its 12th season at Fuji this weekend with a record grid of 54 entrants, split across two classes. 

Eight drivers backed by Toyota and Honda enter the championship this year, and although it is usually an internal battle between them for the title, last year played out differently. Kageyama Racing’s Itsuki Sato was the championship leader until the final round, when he lost the title to Toyota junior Tokiya Suzuki. 

With three manufacturer-backed drivers – Honda’s Syo Momose and Toyota’s Yuzuki Miura and Masana Muto – going into their sophomore season this year, the championship fight can be expected to include this trio. Other possible candidates include Kageyama’s Ryo Shirasaki and Yuta Suzuki as well as Ponos Racing’s Megumu Suzuki, who was dropped by Toyota last year despite being the team’s highest-placed rookie. Read our season guide later today to learn more about the largest grid we’ve ever covered.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

AU4: Round 1, Winton

Circuit: Winton Motor Raceway, 3.000 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+10)

Friday 1 May

• 10:35–11:05: Free practice 1
• 12:30–13:00: Free practice 2
• 15:20–15:35: Official practice 

Saturday 2 May

• 10:15–10:30: Qualifying 1
• 10:35–10:50: Qualifying 2
• 15:00–15:25: Race 1 

Sunday 3 May

• 10:30–10:55: Race 2
• 14:15–14:40: Race 3

How to follow: Races will be broadcast on Blend Line TV with English commentary. Live timing will be available on NatSoft.

Weather forecast: Sunny on Friday; partly cloudy on Saturday. Sunday brings a high chance of rain, and thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon. 

What to know: AU4 kicks off its 2026 championship at Winton Motor Raceway, returning to the circuit for the first time since 2018 as Australian F4. The series boasts an exciting grid and its most internationally diverse field to date.

The multi-class format remains, again featuring the first-generation Mygale M14-F4 for drivers 14 and up and the second-generation Tatuus F4-T421 for those 15 and older.

Reigning Gen1 champion Jensen Marold steps up to Gen2 in pursuit of back-to-back titles, joined by familiar names from 2025 – Xavier Babbage-Hockey, Brock Burton and De’argo Stewart also vying for the win.

Elsewhere, Aris Kyriakou joins the grid after contesting two rounds of last year’s Indian F4 championship, while New Zealand trio Jackson Culver, William Beck and Marco Manson join Poland’s Borys Łyżeń in strengthening the international contingent. Learn more about what’s to come in our season guide.

Report by Anabelle Bremner

From the press: AU4’s two-class structure means that the series crowns two champions each year. While Gen2 champion Noah Killion waged a close battle all season long with Isaac McNeill, Gen1 champion Jensen Marold had a far more assured route to glory, winning 12 of the 12 races he contested. Click the links to hear what Killion, who moves on to Italian F4 this year, and Marold, who steps up to Gen2, had to say about their 2025 seasons.

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: Dutch Photo Agency