The E4 Championship, known as the Euro 4 Championship until 2025, is Italian F4’s sister series. Featuring the same machinery as Italian F4, this series aims to provide further wheel-to-wheel experience to young drivers to supplement their seasons in other F4 championships. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about E4’s 2026 season.
By Julien Thoinet
The series started in 2023, the year after ADAC F4, Germany’s national F4 series and a frequent counterpart to Italian F4, folded. The first edition was won by current F3 championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu and the second was won by Super Formula Lights driver Akshay Bohra. Last year’s winner was none other than current FR Europe title contender Kean Nakamura-Berta, who also won the 2025 Italian F4 championship.
Both high-profile and lesser-known drivers have the opportunity to gain experience with this series, which holds one round in France and two in Italy. Last season, a record-breaking 41 drivers took part in at least one round, proving that E4 offers a competitive playing field sought after by many young racers. Prema and their drivers swept all championships, with US Racing following them in the teams’ standings.
The calendar
The 2026 calendar will feature three rounds just like last season’s, starting with Vallelunga in July.
- Round 1: Autodromo Vallelunga (3–5 July)
- Round 2: Circuit Paul Ricard (17–19 July)
- Round 3: Autodromo Nazionale Monza (9–11 October)
The format
The format is mostly the same as Italian F4’s, albeit with some key differences.
The weekend starts on Friday with two free practice sessions lasting 40 minutes each. Then, depending on the track’s maximum capacity, the following rules may apply.
If the number of entries is below the circuit’s maximum capacity as is specified in the regulations, every driver will take part in two qualifying sessions lasting 15 minutes each. Depending on the track, these may be either completely separated or held in one go with a 10-minute neutralisation period in the middle.
In such cases, the grid for race one is based on the best time achieved during the first qualifying session, while the grid for race two is based on the best time achieved in the second qualifying session. Finally, for race three, the grid is based on the second-best time achieved by drivers in either qualifying session. Each race lasts 30 minutes plus one lap.
If the number of entries exceeds the circuit’s maximum capacity as is specified in the regulations, the format changes significantly. Two qualifying practice series lasting 20 minutes each take place, and each driver is assigned to a series according to championship standings. For those who cannot be sorted in such a way, the previous round’s final race results, then qualifying race results, then qualifying race times will be used to determine assignments.
The classification is based on the times recorded by each driver in their respective series, with absolute first place attributed to the fastest driver in the fastest series, the absolute second place to the fastest driver in the second fastest series and so on. This ranking serves as a basis for making three groups of drivers for qualifying races. Each group competes in two of the three races lasting 25 minutes and one lap.
- Group A is made up of the drivers classified first, fourth, seventh and every third position from there.
- Group B is made up of the drivers classified second, fifth, eighth and every third position from there.
- Group C is made up of the drivers classified third, sixth, ninth and every third position from there.
On Saturdays, three qualifying races are held. Groups B and C will take part in race one, groups A and B will take part in race two and groups A and C will take part in race three. Each race lasts 25 minutes plus one lap.
A final race takes place on Sundays, with the grid being decided by adding up all the points obtained by each driver in the qualifying races. Drivers with no points are ordered according to their best finishes. Only the 36 best drivers will be allowed to compete in this race, which lasts 25 minutes plus one lap like the others.
For the 2026 season, a new points system has been established, and after each of the races, points are awarded to the top 15 drivers, who receive 30, 26, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points in descending order. There are no points awarded for taking pole position or setting the fastest lap of a race.
Aside from the drivers’ championship, there are three other standings: the teams’ championship, the rookies’ championship and the women’s championship. The points format is the same for every championship, but each of them has no influence on the others. Last season, Emily Cotty won the women’s championship with 138 points, but she scored only 19 points in the rookie standings.
The drivers’ championship is decided by summing up the scores over the three rounds. The rookie and women’s championships are decided by adding the scores for the seven best results obtained during races. Last but not least, the teams’ championship is decided by adding the scores from the highest-ranked two drivers of a competitor for each round. This season, in order to be included in the final standings, competitors must have raced in all events.
Only drivers who have competed in no more than three single-seater race weekends prior to 2026 are eligible for the rookies’ championship, although exceptions can be made at the series’ discretion.
Where to watch
Free practice and qualifying sessions are not broadcast, but ACI Sport provides live timing. Races are live-streamed on ACI Sport’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Teams and drivers
The grid is likely to change throughout the season. Featured teams and drivers are mostly the same as in Italian F4, and E4 uses the same cars and races on the same tracks barring the French round.
Prema Racing
Prema Racing have consistently claimed the teams’ championship since the first season of the series. In 2025, Kean Nakamura-Berta won the drivers’ championship in dominant fashion while Oleksandr Bondarev claimed the rookie title. Their closest opponent has always been US Racing.
Spanish driver Christian Costoya (#1) capped off a successful karting career in 2025 by winning the FIA Karting European Championship in the OK class. This year, the 16-year-old McLaren junior finished sixth in the UAE4 Series, and he currently stands 20th in his first Italian F4 season with a best result of fourth place in the final race of the Monza round.
Alp Aksoy (#10) enters E4 as one of the favourites this season. The 15-year-old Turkish driver took a single-seater championship on his first attempt in Formula Trophy late last year with two wins and two further podiums. In 2026, he achieved eighth place overall in UAE4 and third in the rookie standings. He currently sits third in Italian F4, having achieved two wins and three further podiums, and has a dominant 41-point lead in the rookie standings.
Ferrari junior Niccolò Maccagnani (#19) now has extensive experience in F4 machinery having forwent a karting career. The 15-year-old Italian took three wins and three further podiums in six F4 SEA starts last year on top of single-round entries in Italian F4 and E4, with a best result of sixth in the latter. Over the winter, he finished second in Formula Trophy and fourth in UAE4, though he is only 11th in the Italian F4 standings with a win in the season opener at Misano.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Bondarev (#27) starts his second full season in E4 after finishing in ninth position overall in 2025, claiming the rookie title. The 17-year-old Williams junior also competed full-time in Italian F4, finishing 10th overall with one win and one further podium. He found much more success over the winter, winning both races of the Abu Dhabi support round for Formula Trophy and snatching the UAE4 crown with four wins and three further podiums in February. Despite his experience and pedigree, Bondarev is only 13th in the Italian F4 standings with a best finish of second, obtained in the first race of the season.
Kingsley Zheng (#69) finished eighth in the rookie standings and 19th overall in UAE4 over the winter after not karting or racing competitively in 2025. The 15-year-old Chinese driver currently stands 30th in Italian F4 with a best result of seventh place in race two at Vallelunga.
Georgiy Zasov (#98) is a new addition to Prema’s line-up, making the switch from Jenzer Motorsport and taking David Cosma Cristofor’s driver number. The 15-year-old Swiss driver made his single-seater debut in the Formula Winter Series and finished 36th overall. He is currently seventh overall in F4 CEZ, with two best results of fourth, and 50th overall in Italian F4 as well as 25th in the rookie standings.
Finally, Roman Kamyab (#4) is a 16-year-old British driver who raced in karting in 2025, finishing 13th in the OK class of the FIA Karting European Championship and 15th in the WSK Super Master Series. Having transitioned to single-seaters this year, he competed in FWS, finishing 27th overall and eighth in the rookie standings. Despite being announced as part of Cram Motorsport’s lineup at the start of the 2026 Italian F4 season, he ended up joining Prema for the second round in Vallelunga after withdrawing from the season opener at Misano. He is currently 25th in the overall standings and 19th in the rookie standings.
US Racing
German team US Racing have been the runners-up in all three seasons. They have, however, clinched the drivers’ championship in the past with Indian driver Akshay Bohra triumphing in 2024 after a battle with Prema’s Freddie Slater.
Luka Sammalisto (#7) is returning for his second season in E4 after missing the 2025 edition. In 2024, his rookie year in F4, he finished 20th in the overall standings of the former Euro 4, having raced in two of the three rounds. He placed 18th in Italian F4 in 2024 and eighth in 2025, but this season, the 18-year-old Finn is the championship leader, with seven race wins in a row and a 47-point advantage atop the standings.
British-Spanish driver Edu Robinson (#9) likewise returns for a second season in the series after finishing 19th with US Racing in 2024. Last year, he raced mostly in FR Europe, finishing 20th with a best result of 13th. Robinson, 17, reunited with US Racing for his second Italian F4 campaign this year and currently stands sixth in the overall championship with a win and two additional podiums earned in Vallelunga.
Noah Killion (#13) won the 2025 AU4 championship in his first-ever single-seater campaign. He followed that up by finishing 13th in Formula Trophy and 16th in FWS over the winter. The 16-year-old Australian currently stands 12th in Italian F4 with a win and a podium earned at the previous round in Monza.
Oleksandr Savinkov (#17) returns to E4 as an F4 veteran. Last year, his second in the category, the Ukrainian-licensed 17-year-old finished 21st in E4 and 27th in Italian F4, both with 10th-place finishes at Monza as his only points finish. He took his first victory in FWS over the winter and took two further podiums to finish fourth in the overall standings – the position he occupies in Italian F4 now thanks to three podiums.
Ludovico Busso (#29) is competing in his second E4 season this year. The 17-year-old Italian driver took 23rd place last year with two best results of 12th place. Last year, he was 36th overall and 12th in the rookie standings in Italian F4 with minnows Viola Formula Racing. He has achieved more favourable results with US Racing, finishing 11th in FWS with one podium and standing 10th in Italian F4 with a best result of fourth.
Besides winning the 2025 GB4 title, Ary Bansal (#46) finished 19th in E4 last year with one top-10 finish, as well as in the final Italian F4 round at Misano, where he scored a best result of 15th in his first race. After that, the 16-year-old Indian driver claimed sixth Saudi Arabian F4, fifth in the FIA F4 World Cup at Macau, and third in FWS with two wins and three podiums. He is currently fifth in the Italian F4 drivers’ standings with three podiums.
Arjen Kräling (#62) finished 26th overall and eighth in the rookie standings in a partial British F4 campaign last year. He also entered the final two E4 rounds and finished the season 16th overall, while over the winter, the 15-year-old German driver placed eighth with a victory in FWS. He currently stands seventh in Italian F4 with a podium achieved in Vallelunga.
R-ace GP
R-ace GP entered E4 in its debut season as Euro 4 in 2023 and achieved a best finish of fourth in last season’s teams’ championship. They also claimed last season’s women’s championship with British driver Emily Cotty.
Frenchman Andy Consani (#30) enters his second E4 season having finished 18th overall and seventh in the rookies last year despite missing the Le Castellet opener. While the 16-year-old was the runner-up in a close battle with Oleksandr Bondarev for the UAE4 crown, he is only 22nd in the Italian F4 standings after failing to qualify for the last two finals. His placement doesn’t tell the whole picture, however, as both penalties and unfortunate incidents have hampered his progress on track, including when he was close to snatching his first overall podium in Monza.
Hungary’s Tamás Gender (#33) finished 32nd overall in his maiden single-seater campaign in UAE4 over the winter. The 16-year-old is currently 40th in Italian F4’s overall standings and 18th in the rookie standings.
Fifteen-year-old British rookie Kenzo Craigie (#34) finished just behind fellow Mercedes junior Consani in UAE4 in third with a win and two additional podiums. A protégé of Lewis Hamilton and a standout karter who won the Champions of the Future Euro Series’ OK class last year, Craigie currently stands 14th overall in Italian F4 and third in the rookie standings with a win and four other podiums in class.
Jean-Paul Karras (#32) is a 17-year-old French-licensed Greek driver. He competed in OK-N for the FIA Karting World Cup finale last year alongside guest appearances in the last three Spanish F4 rounds of the season. In 2026, he remains in Spanish F4 as a full-time driver and currently sits 23rd with a best finish of 10th in race one at Portimão.
His twin brother Philippe-Armand Karras (#36) was 27th in the FIA Karting World Cup finale last year. After joining his brother for three guest rounds in Spanish F4, he remains in the series as a full-time competitor in 2026 and occupies 18th in the standings thanks to two top-10 finishes in Portimão.
Van Amersfoort Racing
Dutch outfit Van Amersfoort Racing joined the championship’s grid in 2023, earning third place in the teams’ championship. They did so again the next season, but last year, they only managed fifth in the standings with lead driver Maximilian Popov claiming eighth place in the drivers’ championship.
Their most experienced E4 campaigner is 17-year-old Polish driver Aleksander Ruta (#3), who finished 13th overall with four top-10 finishes and fifth in the rookie standings last year. In Italian F4, he finished 23rd overall with six top 10s and eighth in the rookie standings. He took his first victory in FWS earlier this year en route to sixth overall despite missing out on the final round because of a wrist injury picked up in the penultimate round. That caused him to miss a significant part of pre-season testing, and he currently sits 21th in Italian F4 with a best result of eighth.
A Brazilian F4 race winner last year en route to third overall, Pedro Lima (#53) moved from his home country to Europe over the winter and started 2026 by finishing 10th overall in FWS. The 16-year-old is currently 26th in Italian F4 with a best result of ninth.
British racer Thomas Bearman (#87) began his single-seater career in what was then Euro 4, though he left for his home country soon after. He finished eighth in British F4 last year, winning one race and earning four additional podiums, and sixth in the main race of the FIA F4 World Cup. His 2026 got off to a much better start with a runner-up finish in FWS bolstered by eight podiums. The 16-year-old currently sits ninth in Italian F4, with the highlight being a podium in race three at the Monza round.
PHM Racing
German team PHM Racing joined the grid in 2023 and took their best result last season, finishing third in the teams’ championship. Reno Francot ended his season with a third place in the drivers’ standings as he helped the Berlin-based squad claim their first victory in the series in Le Castellet. In 2026, they are massively expanding their line-up with five drivers total.
Oscar Repetto (#6) – who is Italian, Monégasque, New Zealander and Swedish – entered the Mugello round of E4 last year, taking 20th place as his best result in the first race. The 16-year-old also entered the Italian F4 finale last year ahead of his first full campaign this year, which has put him 18th overall with a best result of sixth as well as fourth in the rookie class with one win and four further podiums. He finished 23rd in FWS over the winter.
After a decorated karting career completed by an 11th-place finish in the FIA World Karting Championship’s OK class last year, Iacopo Martinese (#28) made his single-seater debut in UAE4 over the winter. The 16-year-old Italian finished ninth in the overall standings with a podium, but in Italian F4, he is ninth only in the rookie standings, being 32nd in the overall classification.
Roland Kuklane (#47) competed in OK karting last year, finishing ninth overall in the WSK Euro Series. Italian F4 was the 18-year-old Estonian’s first foray into single-seaters, and he occupies 34th position in the overall standings with a best result of 11th in the first race of the season. He is 13th in the rookie standings.
Arizona-based Canadian Alexander Chartier (#81) graduated from karting over the winter, beginning his single-seater career in FWS with a best result of 10th place in two rounds entered. The 15-year-old is currently 28th in the overall Italian F4 standings with a best result of fifth. In the rookie standings, he is 17th with a win in class at Monza after returning from a hand injury sustained in Misano. He also competed in the Spanish F4 season opener at Valencia in April, taking a best result of 24th.
Cram Motorsport
Cram Motorsport, formerly known as Cram Competition, joined the series during the second round of the 2023 season. For the last two seasons, the small outfit only competed in the second round each time and failed to score any points. They will field one car in the 2026 E4 grid.
Andre Rodriguez (#40) returns for a second season in E4 after finishing 35th with a best result of 16th last year with Van Amersfoort Racing. He also entered three Italian F4 rounds and one round of the Ultimate Cup Series Formula Cup. Earlier this year, the 17-year-old American competed in FWS, finishing 25th, and in the opening round of Eurocup-3, sitting 27th with a best result of 17th. He is currently 33rd in the overall Italian F4 standings with a top-10 finish in race one at Monza.
Real Racing
Romania’s Real Racing joined the grid in 2024. Last season, they finished ninth in the teams’ championship, with their sole driver Luca Viișoreanu only competing in the season opener. Like Cram Motorsport, they will be fielding only one car in 2026.
Their sole driver in Italian F4 continues with them in E4. Rookie Knud Nielsen (#41) graduated from Rotax karting last year to F4, sitting 17th in the F4 CEZ standings with three top-10 finishes and 19th in the Italian F4 standings with a best finish of eighth in race two at Monza. The Dane is impressively Aksoy’s closest rival for the rookie points lead in Italian F4, sitting 41 points behind with five class podiums.
Trident
Trident expanded their programme down another rung to F4 over the winter after making the move to FRegional in 2022. In other series, Trident are at present sixth in FR Europe, third in F3 and seventh in F2, putting them on course for their best-ever championship finish in the last of those.
Bernardo Bernoldi (#16) moved from Prema to Trident before the UAE4 season, in which he finished 31st overall. Upon stepping up from OK karting, the 16-year-old Brazilian competed in Formula Trophy with the Prema-backed Mumbai Falcons squad, finishing 23rd, before his move to Trident. He is now 29th overall and sixth among the rookies in Italian F4.
Switzerland’s Florentin Hattemer (#50) stepped up to single-seaters late last year, entering Italian F4’s and F4 CEZ’s respective final rounds. With Trident earlier this year, he finished 24th in UAE4 as the seventh-best rookie and has improved to 15th in Italian F4. The 16-year-old is fifth in the rookie standings with four podiums in class.
Augustus Toniolo (#51) competed in junior karting in 2025, finishing 24th in the WSK Super Master Series’s OK class last year. The 15-year-old Brazilian rookie is 35th in the overall Italian F4 standings and 15th in the rookie standings.
Fellow rookie Dominik Šimek (#67) finished 27th in the overall standings of UAE4, which he entered before his Italian F4 campaign. The 17-year-old Czech rookie is 31st in the overall standings with a top-10 finish in race one at Monza as well as 10th in the rookie standings.
Lyuboslav Ruykov (#73) competes in both Italian F4 and F4 CEZ, racing with rival squad Cram Motorsport in the latter. The 15-year-old Bulgarian rookie took a rookie victory there in race three at Red Bull Ring, with a fourth-place finish overall. He currently sits 18th in the overall standings as well as 11th in the rookie standings, while in Italian F4, he currently sits 36th in the overall standings as well as 12th in the rookie standings.
AKM Motorsport
AKM Motorsport joined E4 in 2023, with Enzo Deligny finishing 10th in the second round at Monza. The Italian outfit have since followed an upwards trajectory, finishing eighth last season thanks to Tomass Štolcermanis’s best result of seventh place in Mugello. The AKM entity owned by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s father, Marco Antonelli, is an offshoot of GT racing team Antonelli Motorsport.
AKM’s first seat will be occupied by George Proudford-Nalder (#66), a 16-year-old Australian driver coming from British F4. He currently sits seventh in the standings, having won the final race of the most recent Silverstone round to take home the BDRC International Trophy. He also competed in the final two rounds of FWS earlier this year, finishing 13th in the overall standings and seventh in the rookie standings thanks to a class podium in race two at the final round in Barcelona. Having joined the Italian F4 grid last round in Monza, he finished 23rd overall in race two and 13th in the rookie class after having to retire from race one and failing to qualify for the final race.
Italian rookie Vittorio Orsini (#88) finished 20th overall in FWS this winter, taking a rookie class win at Estoril with a fifth-place overall finish in a rain-hit contest. He is 43rd in the Italian F4 drivers’ standings and 16th in the rookie standings.
Scuderia Buell
The Scuderia Buell name is among the most storied outfits on the grid. The entity dates back to 1958, when Carroll Shelby drove a Maserati T3 during the Portuguese Grand Prix, climbing up to seventh place before retiring because of brake failure. In the current century, Scuderia Buell have reformed with a focus on the United States. The F4 US and Ligier JFC series have been the main territory of the Mugello-based team, who achieved fourth place in the latter’s teams’ standings. This year, however, they are competing in a European double programme in both F4 CEZ and E4, in which they make their debut. They also race in the FX Pro Series in first-generation F4 machinery.
Joaquín Rubino (#52) is an Argentine driver who participated last year in the tenth round of the Fórmula 3 Metropolitana season, though his biggest accolade was becoming champion in Fórmula Renault Plus. He also raced in Fórmula 2 Argentina, finishing the season in ninth place with two podiums to his credit. In 2026, he is trying to repeat his feat in Fórmula Renault Plus and conquer the FX Pro Series, in which he is currently second with one win and three further podiums. His E4 entry in Vallelunga is his first in current-generation F4 machinery.
The grid at a glance
| Team | # | Driver |
| Prema Racing | 1 | Christian Costoya (R) |
| 4 | Roman Kamyab (R) | |
| 10 | Alp Aksoy (R) | |
| 19 | Niccolò Maccagnani | |
| 27 | Oleksandr Bondarev | |
| 69 | Kingsley Zheng (R) | |
| 98 | Georgiy Zasov (R) | |
| Van Amersfoort Racing | 3 | Aleksander Ruta |
| 53 | Pedro Lima | |
| 87 | Thomas Bearman | |
| PHM Racing | 6 | Oscar Repetto (R) |
| 28 | Iacopo Martinese (R) | |
| 47 | Roland Kuklane (R) | |
| 81 | Alexander Chartier (R) | |
| US Racing | 7 | Luka Sammalisto |
| 9 | Edu Robinson | |
| 13 | Noah Killion | |
| 17 | Oleksandr Savinkov | |
| 29 | Ludovico Busso | |
| 46 | Ary Bansal | |
| 62 | Arjen Kräling | |
| Trident | 16 | Bernardo Bernoldi (R) |
| 50 | Florentin Hattemer (R) | |
| 51 | Augustus Toniolo (R) | |
| 67 | Dominik Šimek (R) | |
| 73 | Lyuboslav Ruykov (R) | |
| R-ace GP | 30 | Andy Consani |
| 32 | Jean-Paul Karras | |
| 33 | Tamás Gender (R) | |
| 34 | Kenzo Craigie (R) | |
| 36 | Philippe-Armand Karras | |
| Cram Motorsport | 40 | Andre Rodriguez |
| Real Racing | 41 | Knud Nielsen (R) |
| Scuderia Buell | 52 | Joaquín Rubino |
| AKM Motorsport | 66 | George Proudford-Nalder (R) |
| 88 | Vittorio Orsini (R) |
Header photo credit: ACI Sport
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Feeder Series 