Formula 1 continues its European leg with the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, supported by F2 and F3, as Okayama and Mid-Ohio host five junior single-seater championships between them. Feeder Series previews the action.

By Feeder Series

It’s been nearly a year since F2 and F3 both raced on back-to-back race weekends, but the moment has finally come again with the F1 paddock’s return to Europe for the summer. This weekend marks the first-ever Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with the Spanish Grand Prix’s move to Madrid for a race in September, though it is F1’s 36th consecutive season of racing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. That record won’t extend to 37, however, as the track’s rotation with the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps means it is set to feature only in even-numbered years hereafter.

Though we are covering seven championships to some extent this weekend, they only take place on three circuits. Two of them, Super Formula Lights and Japanese F4, race together for the first time this season, taking to the track at the Okayama International Circuit. The final three – FR Americas, F4 US and Ligier JFC, all part of the Racing America package – make their annual stop at Mid-Ohio a week earlier than planned following a swap with the FR Americas–only Indianapolis round to be held next weekend. Live streams are not expected.

These championships, of course, will take a back seat to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s most famous endurance racing event, which runs from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. Keep your eyes peeled for a special feature tomorrow morning on the 2025 feeder series alumni competing in the event.

Want to hear more about the F2 and F3 races this weekend? We also looked ahead to the action in the latest episode of the Feeder Series Podcast’s Feeder Focus, released yesterday.

1. F2: Round 5, Barcelona
2. F3: Round 3, Barcelona
3. Super Formula Lights: Round 4, Okayama
4. Japanese F4: Round 2, Okayama
5. FRegional Americas: Round 3, Mid-Ohio
6. F4 US: Round 3, Mid-Ohio
7. Ligier Junior Formula Championship: Round 3, Mid-Ohio

F2: Round 5, Barcelona

Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.657 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Friday 12 June

• 11:05–11:50: Free practice
• 15:55–16:25: Qualifying

Saturday 13 June

• 14:15–15:00: Sprint race (26 laps)

Sunday 14 June

• 11:25–12:25: Feature race (37 laps)

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: Hot, dry and sunny all weekend, with temperatures climbing above 30ºC on Saturday and Sunday. 

What to know:

The F2 paddock has barely had any time to breathe before heading straight from the streets of Monaco to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for round five of the 2026 season. 

In Monte Carlo, Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara secured pole position and appeared destined for a maiden F2 victory before seeing it slip away, opening the door for Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov to claim the win. Câmara will hope to revive his fortunes in Spain after winning there on his way to the F3 title last year. 

Tsolov, meanwhile, can’t help but find himself in the winner’s circle, with three victories from the opening four rounds. The Bulgarian now sits just one point behind championship leader Gabriele Minì, who maintained his remarkable consistency with a sprint podium in Monaco.

Barcelona is among the calendar’s most familiar circuits, with every driver having experience here through junior categories or F2’s annual pre-season test. There are no driver changes for this round.

Report by August Bamford

Read our takeaways from the previous round here.

F3: Round 3, Barcelona

Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.657 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Friday 12 June

• 09:55–10:40: Free practice
• 15:00–15:30: Qualifying

Saturday 13 June

• 10:05–10:50: Sprint race, 21 laps

Sunday 14 June

• 08:40–09:30: Feature race, 25 laps

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: Hot, dry and sunny all weekend, with temperatures climbing above 30ºC on Saturday and Sunday.

What to know: F3 rounds off its first double-header of the season by stopping in Barcelona for round three of the 2026 championship. The track is familiar to all 30 drivers, who have all either conducted pre-season testing at the circuit earlier this year or raced here previously throughout their careers.

Campos Racing will be the team to watch this weekend as they look to restart their winning streak at the Spanish circuit. The home team won races at the track every year from 2022 to 2024 but only managed a podium finish in 2025. With Théophile Naël emerging as the one to beat thus far in qualifying and Ugo Ugochukwu being extremely consistent in races, they are expected to continue delivering strong results this weekend. Teammate Ernesto Rivera should not be counted out either after he delivered impressive results in qualifying and the feature race in Monaco despite missing the first round.

The only absence for the weekend is AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides, who fractured three of his vertebrae in a collision on the opening lap of the Monaco sprint race. Replacing him is Indy NXT driver Ricardo Escotto. The 21-year-old Mexican has not raced in Europe since 2024, with his previous appearance also being at Barcelona in the Euroformula Open round in which Benavides scored enough points to win the title. Escotto is managed by Facu Regalia, who once oversaw Benavides’ career as well.

Report by Tori Turner

Read our takeaways from the previous round here.

Super Formula Lights: Round 4, Okayama

Circuit: Okayama International Circuit, 3.703 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9) 

Friday 12 June

• 09:30–11:30: Practice 1
• 14:00–16:00: Practice 2

Saturday 13 June

• 10:35–10:45: Qualifying 1
• 10:55–11:05: Qualifying 2
• 15:10–15:50: Race 1 (25 laps)

Sunday 14 June

• 09:20–09:50: Race 2 (18 laps)
• 14:05–14:35: Race 3 (18 laps)

How to follow: All races will be live-streamed on the series’ official YouTube channel. Live timing is available at sfl.racelive.jp.

Weather forecast: Mix of sunny and cloudy weather all weekend. Rain possible on Sunday.

What to know: Super Formula Lights enters its fourth round of the season at Okayama this weekend.

TOM’S’ Kiyoshi Umegaki now leads the drivers’ standings after his hat-trick of wins at Suzuka. The early championship picture appeared to be developing into a dogfight between B-Max Racing’s Evan Giltaire and Delightworks Racing’s Yusuke Mitsui, who won five of the first six races between them.

Umegaki’s rise, however, might not continue this weekend. B-Max Racing beat TOM’S to victory in all six races at Okayama in the past two years with Kaylen Frederick, 2024 champion Syun Koide and 2025 champion Yuto Nomura.

And while Zion Suzuki, Junnosuke Suzuki and Yuito Suzuki could represent the Samurai Blue Sunday evening at Japan’s opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Tokiya Suzuki will hope to take his maiden SF Lights win at the venue where he took his only double win in FRegional Japan last year. 

Rintaro Sato’s Super Formula Lights season is over and he will therefore not compete in this weekend’s round. The 20-year-old son of ex-F1 driver Takuma Sato only had a contract for the first three rounds of the season. His replacement for the following rounds is expected to be 2025 driver Zachary David, who had been focussing on school in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, Kenta Kumagai of LMcorsa will be absent as he prioritises Japanese F4 this weekend. Last year’s Masters’ Class champion Yasuhiro Shimizu of Art Taste Racing will likewise be absent. As a result, this weekend’s grid of 10 drivers is the smallest in the series in more than five years.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

From the press: Umegaki and Suzuki have waged battle in multiple theatres over the years – Japanese F4 in 2024, FR Japan in 2025 and now Super Formula Lights, all as teammates. What makes the Toyota juniors’ rivalry so distinct, and how do they reflect on their strengths and weaknesses – and those of the other? Get their thoughts here.

You can also read the previous round’s report here.

Japanese F4: Round 2, Okayama

Circuit: Okayama International Circuit, 3.703 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9) 

Thursday 11 June

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

Friday 12 June

• 08:10–08:40: Champion Class practice 3
• 08:50–09:20: Independent Class practice 3
• 11:50–12:20: Champion Class practice 4
• 12:30–13:00: Independent Class practice 4

Saturday 13 June

• 09:30–09:50: Independent Class qualifying
• 10:00–10:20: Champion Class qualifying
• 12:50–13:20: Independent Class race 1
• 13:50–14:20: Champion Class race 1

Sunday 14 June

• 11:05–11:35: Independent Class race 2
• 13:00–13:30: 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: Mix of sunny and cloudy weather all weekend. Rain possible on Sunday.

What to know: This weekend, Japanese F4 enters its second round of the season at Okayama, a venue the series last visited in 2019. 

Toyota juniors Buntaro Igarashi and Masana Muto shared the wins at the opening round at Fuji in early May. Fuji also marked the first time Kageyama Racing went winless in a round since the penultimate event of the 2024 season. 

There are several driver changes this weekend. Most notably, Leon Ochiai (#21) switches from Falcon Motorsport to Eagle Sports. He crossed the line second in the first race at Fuji before a penalty demoted him to outside the points. 

TGM Grand Prix will also be absent, having experienced issues with the car in the opening round. With the cause yet to be discovered, the team and driver Miku Ikejima have withdrawn from the Okayama round. Likewise absent will be Zap Speed’s Kota Umemoto and Dr.Dry Racing Team’s Kodai Yoshida. 

In the Independent Class, Yuichi Sasaki and his team DayDream Racing will be absent, as will be Buzz Racing’s Shigeto Nagashima, B-Max Racing’s Nobuhiro Imada, and Rn-sports’ Hiroshi Sugiyama, and Ryuichi Kunihiro. 

“Syuji” (#44) will replace Imada at B-Max, while Masayuki Ueda (#11) will drive for Rn-sports. Ueda, 65, is currently fourth in FR Japan’s masters’ class, while “Syuji” last competed in Japanese F4 in 2023.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Americas: Round 3, Mid-Ohio

Circuit: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 3.634 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−4)

Thursday 11 June

• 17:25–18:05: Optional test 1

Friday 12 June

• 11:05–11:45: Optional test 2
• 17:50–18:05: Practice

Saturday 13 June

• 11:00–11:25: Qualifying
• 16:50–17:25: Race 1

Sunday 14 June

• 11:25–12:30: Race 2

How to follow: Live timing will be available on Race Monitor for all sessions.

Weather forecast: Cloudy with rain possible on Thursday. Clouds will clear during the day on Friday, becoming sunny on Saturday. Rain expected on Sunday.

What to know: After a one-month hiatus, FRegional Americas is back in action for its third round of the season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, featuring two races.

In the previous round at Road America, championship leader Evagoras Papasavvas took pole position and finished the weekend as the only driver to score multiple podiums, elevating him to a 12.5-point lead over Kiwi Motorsport’s Cooper Shipman. The Ohio resident previously won at his home track in the 2023 and 2024 USF2000 championships and scored a ninth-place finish at the circuit in Indy NXT series last year. Shipman too has a successful history at Mid-Ohio, having won his first two races at the F4 United States level there a year ago before beginning an irrepressible charge for the title.

This weekend’s entry list includes 13 drivers, with the only change from Road America being the absence of Toney Driver Development’s Luke Powers, who sat sixth in points and had scored one podium at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Report by Owen White

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 US: Round 3, Mid-Ohio

Circuit: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 3.634 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−4)

Thursday 11 June

• 15:25–15:50: Optional test 1
• 16:25–16:50: Optional test 2

Friday 12 June

• 08:30–08:55: Optional test 3
• 10:35–11:00: Optional test 4
• 16:20–16:45: Practice

Saturday 13 June

• 10:00–10:25: Qualifying
• 15:40–16:15: Race 1

Sunday 14 June

• 10:35–11:00: Race 2 

How to follow: Live timing will be available on Race Monitor for all sessions.

Weather forecast: Cloudy with rain possible on Thursday. Clouds will clear during the day on Friday, becoming sunny on Saturday. Rain expected on Sunday.

What to know: Round three of the F4 US season is set to take place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course this weekend, featuring a season-high 11-car grid – the largest grid yet since the series introduced the second-generation F4 cars in 2024.

Following his sweep of the opening round at New Orleans Motorsports Park, Caleb Campbell remains the championship leader, 21 points clear of Zach Fourie. After winning both races at Road America, Gastón Irazú sits third, 28 points behind Campbell. The trio have taken up 14 of 15 total spots on the podium throughout the season’s first five races and hold a comfortable advantage over the rest of the field.

Irazú is the only driver on the grid to have scored a win in a Racing America championship at Mid-Ohio, having done so a year ago in the Ligier JFC series.

Three additions have been made to the grid since the previous round. Canada’s Cole Medeiros (#77), who competed and took pole position in the opening weekend, is back with MLT Motorsports after missing the previous round to race in the clashing USF Juniors event at Mosport. Joining the grid for Crosslink Motorsports is Texas native Austin Kaszuba (#34), 29, who last raced in the series in 2018 and has been working with the team owned by his father, Gill Kaszuba, since.

Zain Khan (#10) is also set to race with USNG Racing, a team making its competitive series debut. Khan, an entrepreneur and real estate executive, has previously tested F4 machinery in Japan, while the USNG outfit has been on the F4 US scene since its founding in 2024 but has yet to race.

Report by Owen White

Read the previous round’s report here.

Ligier Junior Formula Championship: Round 3, Mid-Ohio

Circuit: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 3.634 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−4)

Thursday 11 June

• 15:25–15:50: Optional test 1
• 16:25–16:50: Optional test 2

Friday 12 June

• 08:30–08:55: Optional test 3
• 10:35–11:00: Optional test 4
• 14:15–14:40: Practice

Saturday 13 June

• 09:00–09:25: Qualifying
• 14:25–15:00: Race 1

Sunday 14 June

• 09:15–09:50: Race 2 
• 14:05–14:40: Race 3 

How to follow: Live timing will be available on Race Monitor for all sessions.

Weather forecast: Cloudy with rain possible on Thursday. Clouds will clear during the day on Friday, becoming sunny on Saturday. Rain expected on Sunday.

What to know: After another one-month break, the Ligier Junior Formula Championship returns to action at Mid-Ohio for its third round of the season.

Last time out at Road America, Jack Speth won both races of a truncated round to take over the Gen 2 points lead from the absent Edward Kennedy, while Michael Fatutta was the sole other Gen 2 entrant after switching chassis mid-weekend. Gen 1 meanwhile was closely fought, but it was ultimately Beckham Jacir who took both class wins and extended his championship lead to 44 over Lázaro Bainotti, who finished on the podium in both races.

Jacir’s biggest rival at Road America, however, was Ava Hanssen, who pestered the Champagne Racing driver for the lead in both races and secured a third-place finish in race two. She enters Mid-Ohio third in points, 54 behind Jacir.

Just as in Road America, nine cars are present on the entry list, albeit with two changes. NOLA’s Gen 2 pacesetter Edward Kennedy (#30) returns to the series after skipping the Road America round to make his USF Juniors debut, while Michael Fatutta is absent from the entry list.

Report by Marco Albertini

Read the previous round’s report here.

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