With summer break coming to an end, F1 Academy heads to Zandvoort for the fourth and final time, while more than 130 other F4 cars also take to tracks in Britain, Spain, Japan and Australia. Feeder Series previews the action.

By Feeder Series

Formula 1’s last hurrah at Circuit Zandvoort is the big event in motorsport this weekend, and F1 Academy is joining them on the schedule. Eight of the full-season F1 Academy drivers have competed in other events during the summer break, with three of them taking advantage of British F4’s Zandvoort round last month, including championship challenger Emma Felbermayr.

In a rare event for F4 competition, the Spanish F4 grid heads to Jarama as the only series on the billing as a replacement for their cancelled Madring debut. British F4 and AU4 both return to tracks for the second time this year – Donington Park and The Bend respectively – to take on their longer circuit layouts, while Japanese F4 supports Super GT in Suzuka.

Finally, Nordic 4 returns to Denmark for the 60th Grand Prix Danmark at the Jyllandsringen. Richard Olson pulled a 35-point gap in the standings in Rudskogen after Matteis Stigsen finished the weekend with no trophies in hand. Olson also took two wins at the Jyllandsringen in round two, while Stigsen claimed a hat-trick of podiums. Milla Sjöstrand, who currently sits sixth in the standings, is expected to return to the series after missing the previous two events.

1. F1 Academy: Round 4, Zandvoort
2. British F4: Round 7, Donington Park
3. Spanish F4: Round 4, Jarama
4. Japanese F4: Round 4, Suzuka
5. AU4: Round 4, The Bend

F1 Academy: Round 4, Zandvoort

Circuit: Circuit Zandvoort, 4.259 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Friday 21 August

• 14:00–14:40: Free practice

Saturday 22 August

• 09:20–09:50: Qualifying
• 14:35–15:10: Race 1

Sunday 23 August

• 10:30–11:05: Race 2

How to follow: Sessions will be streamed live on F1 TV and on the series’ X account and YouTube channel. Live timing will be available via the F1 Academy website. 

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy all weekend. Showers possible on Friday and Saturday, with the weather clearing up on Sunday. 

What to know: F1 Academy returns this weekend to race at Circuit Zandvoort for the fourth and last time for the foreseeable future.

Zandvoort has been on the F1 Academy calendar since the series’ inception. Last year, the two Dutch drivers on the grid prevailed to win on home soil, with Nina Gademan winning the reverse-grid race and Maya Weug winning the main race. 

Heading into the weekend, Alisha Palmowski maintains her lead in the championship with 108 points, with Emma Felbermayr in second with 78 points. Gademan rounds out the top three with 50 points. Campos lead the teams’ standings with 174 points, followed by Rodin with 121 and Prema with 94. 

The wild card driver for the round at Zandvoort is Zoe Florescu (#15), backed by Dirt Is Good. The 17-year-old Romanian made her single-seater debut this year and is currently racing in Spanish F4, with her best result being 13th at the round at Aragón. She also raced in both the Formula Winter Series and the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship earlier in the year, finishing 39th and 28th in the standings respectively. Florescu also raced in one round of Italian F4 this year in Mugello, with her best result being 24th in race two. 

Report by Kaylene Lau

From the press: Backed by Haas, 16-year-old Kaylee Countryman is contesting her first season in F1 Academy this year. The American driver spoke with us about balancing her campaigns in Europe and the US, racing with Haas support and how her season has gone so far. Read the article here.

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

British F4: Round 7, Donington Park

Circuit: Donington Park Grand Prix, 4.003 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Thursday 20 August 

• 09:15–10:00: Practice 1
• 12:55–13:40: Practice 2

Saturday 22 August

• 09:35–09:55: Qualifying
• 15:35–15:55: Race 1

Sunday 23 August

• 10:20–10:40: Race 2
• 15:25–15:40: Race 3

How to follow: Race one will be available for all viewers on the British F4 YouTube page. Races two and three will be available on ITV4 and ITVX for UK viewers and on the British F4 YouTube page for international viewers. Live timing for all sessions can be found on TSL Timing.

Weather forecast: Rainy throughout practice on Thursday. Partly cloudy for the rest of the weekend.

What to know: British F4 returns to Donington Park for the seventh round of the 2026 season, this time taking to the full Grand Prix layout.

Despite failing to finish in two of the last three races, Dries Van Langendonck continues to lead the way in the standings, 41 points ahead of Lewis Wherrell.

Van Langendonck made headlines in last year’s running on the Grand Prix layout. The McLaren junior took pole on his single-seater debut on his 15th birthday before taking his first win the following day, becoming the youngest driver to take top honours in the series. 

Theo Palmer remains within touching distance of second-placed Wherrell, with the gap between the two sitting at 7.5 points heading into this weekend. A strong weekend for Ethan Jeff-Hall – coupled with a points penalty for Scott Kin Lindblom – saw the Mercedes junior jump the Red Bull–backed driver for fourth in the championship. 

Kit Belofsky will not be taking part in this weekend’s action for Fortec Motorsport. The reigning Saudi F4 champion, currently 13th in British F4, recovers from a concussion caused by an incident during race three at Thruxton. 

Joseph Smith is ‘unavailable to race this weekend’, as per British F4’s social media accounts, though the 16-year-old is expected to return at the following round at Croft. Taking his place at Virtuosi this weekend is Fred Green (#91), currently second in the GB4 standings with Elite Motorsport. The 17-year-old Briton has taken three wins and a further three podiums thus far in his GB4 campaign, sitting 70 points behind the lead of the championship. 

The last driver departing the series for this weekend is Qarrar Firhand, who made his single-seater debut at Thruxton – though chassis damage incurred in race one left the Indonesian driver unable to partake in Sunday’s action. Filling in the final seat at Argenti for the remainder of the season is Canadian driver Justin Di Lucia (#23). The 15-year-old Canadian became champion in the FRP Atlantic Championship last year in the USF Juniors class – not to be confused with the USF Juniors series – before taking part in several test sessions in British F4 earlier this year. 

Report by Gavin Guthrie

From the press: Tommy Harfield was one of British F4’s standout rookies last season, taking three wins and six further podiums en route to fourth overall. His 2026 season, however, hasn’t gone quite so successfully. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver discussed the difficulties he’s faced and what he and the team need to improve. Read his thoughts here.

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

Spanish F4: Round 4, Jarama

Circuit: Circuito de Madrid Jarama, 3.850 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Saturday 22 August

• 10:00–11:00: Official test
• 11:30–12:00: Free practice 1
• 12:10–12:40: Free practice 2
• 14:40–15:00: Qualifying 1
• 17:00–17:35: Race 1

Sunday 23 August

• 10:00–10:20: Qualifying 2
• 11:50–12:20: Race 2
• 14:20–14:55: Race 3 

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing at Al Kamel Systems. All races will be streamed on the Spanish F4 YouTube channel in English and Spanish. 

Weather forecast: Hot and partly sunny all weekend. 

What to know: The Spanish F4 paddock returns to Jarama for the second time in 2026 in lieu of the series’ cancelled round at the Madring, which was originally scheduled to be held last weekend.

When the field last visited during the Eurocup-4 winter series, Griffin Core by Campos’ Noah Monteiro bookended his weekend with wins from pole position, the second victory being a 1-2 rounded out by teammate Vivek Kanthan. 

Back in June, two fourth-place finishes and a podium at Aragón were enough for Monteiro to take over the championship lead. Former points leader Rocco Coronel only scored 14 points during the weekend after a spin at Turn 12 in the closing stages of the final race meant he tumbled down the order to finish 30th. Coronel now sits fourth with 87 points, 13 away from Monteiro and behind T-Code’s Andrej Petrović and Nacho Tuñón as well.

Yuzuki Sato (#5), who is currently 31st in the standings, has replaced Tomas Pregliasco, competing as “Sam Urus”, at TC Racing for the remainder of the season, with his seat at Monlau Motorsport taken by previous occupant Rahim Alibhai (#11).

Having turned 15 earlier this month, Max Mokarem (#18) will substitute for Zoe Florescu at Tecnicar this weekend as she heads to Zandvoort for her F1 Academy wild card appearance. The Lebanese-American driver, who has tested with the team on multiple occasions, is currently second in USF Juniors with Zanella Racing after taking two wins at Homestead and a second place at Carolina Motorsports Park.

Lastly, two drivers make their return to Spanish F4 this weekend with GRS Team. Yani Stevenheydens has made way for Pablo Riccobono Bello (#74), who has recovered from the wrist injury he sustained at Portimão, whilst Sandro Pérez (#96) will replace Ryusho Nakazato and make his second appearance in the championship after previously doing double duty at Valencia with TC Racing alongside his GR Cup Spain campaign.

Report by Seb Tirado

From the press: Tecnicar’s satellite team T-Code have disrupted MP Motorsport and Campos Racing’s typical dominance by taking the teams’ championship lead with three wins and four further podiums. T-Code teammates Nacho Tuñón and Andrej Petrović offered their perspective on how the team became title contenders. Read the interview here.

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

Japanese F4: Round 4, Suzuka

Circuit: Suzuka Circuit, 5.807 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9)

Thursday 20 August

• 13:30–14:00: Champion Class practice 1
• 14:20–14:50: Independent Class practice 1
• 15:35–16:05: Champion Class practice 2
• 16:25–16:55: Independent Class practice 2

Friday 21 August

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

Saturday 22 August

• 08:30–08:50: Champion Class qualifying 
• 09:10–09:30: Independent Class qualifying
• 13:20–13:50: Independent Class race 1 (11 laps)
• 14:25–14:55: Champion Class race 1 (11 laps)

Sunday 23 August

• 08:30–09:00: Independent Class race 2 (11 laps)
• 09:35–10:05: Champion Class race 2 (11 laps)

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: Partly cloudy and hot all weekend, with temperatures up to 33°C and a low chance of rain throughout. 

What to know: Japanese F4 enters its fourth round of the season at Suzuka this weekend.  

Ryo Shirasaki of Kageyama Racing inherited the championship lead at the previous round at Fuji as he extended his win streak to four. TGR-DC Racing School’s Masana Muto sits in second on 89 points as Shirasaki’s only real threat, 11 points behind. Kenta Kumagai in third is 52 points behind Shirasaki. The statistics are not in Muto’s favor, though, as his team has not won at Suzuka since 2021, when Rin Arakawa last took victory for the team. 

There are a few driver changes in both classes. Buzz Racing’s William Beck, who made his Japanese F4 debut at the previous round, will miss this round because of a clash with his main series AU4. 

Fujita Pharmacy Racing’s Taiga Ishii will likewise be absent, as will Falcon Motorsport’s Haru Kataoka, who made his F4 debut at the previous round with a best result of 12th. 

In the Independent Class, M&K Racing and owner Mitsuhiro Endo will be absent, as will Rn-sports’ Ryuchi Kunihiro. Masayuki Ueda (#92) will return in Kunihiro’s place, having last competed in round two in Okayama.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Read the previous round’s report here.

AU4: Round 4, The Bend

Circuit: The Bend International Layout, 4.95km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9:30) 

Friday 21 August

• 10:40–11:10: Practice 1
• 13:20–13:50: Practice 2
• 16:00–16:15: Official practice

Saturday 22 August

• 10:55–11:10: Qualifying 1
• 11:20–11:35: Qualifying 2 
• 14:40–15:10: Race 1

Sunday 23 August

• 10:45–11:15: Race 2
• 14:35–15:05: Race 3

How to follow: Live timing will be available on NatSoft. Sessions will be broadcast on Kayo within Australia. 

Weather forecast: Clouds and fog throughout the weekend with mild temperatures.

What to know: Jensen Marold and Marco Manson will renew their battle for the AU4 championship lead at The Bend this weekend, separated by only 10 points heading into the penultimate round. 

Last round, while much of the grid faced reliability issues, collisions and crashes, Marold and Manson were inseparable out front. The Australian held the lead for a lights-to-flag victory in race one ahead of Manson and William Beck. Race two saw Manson snatch the lead after a collision between Beck and Lana Flack brought out the safety car, with the New Zealander taking victory ahead of Marold and DeArgo Stewart. In race three, Marold stretched away immediately, coming home more than four seconds ahead of Manson and Beck despite encountering traffic. 

Gen1’s Lewis Gotch will look to build on his perfect weekend last time out, having dominated every race to jump to first in class, five points ahead of Koby Wilson.

Joe Imbrogno (#25) will make his AU4 debut with Tim Macrow Racing in the Gen2 class. He currently sits eighth in the Australian Formula Ford standings.

Report by Anabelle Bremner

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: Red Bull Content Pool