Since 2023, the autumn season has brought racing fans another Formula 4 championship: the Indian F4 Championship. The 2026 season already kicked off at Kari Motorsport Speedway last weekend, with the second round this weekend also taking place at Kari. Feeder Series tells you everything you need to know about the fourth edition of India’s F4 series.

By Katrina Abbott

Indian F4 was created just over five years ago alongside the FRegional Indian Championship, the intended destination for the F4 championship’s winner. Five years later, only one series out of the two ended up coming to fruition, and even then it only did so with a one-year delay after the first season, scheduled for 2022, was pushed back to 2023. 

For its first two seasons, Indian F4’s fleet of cars was run by Dutch outfit MP Motorsport. Australian driver Cooper Webster of Chennai Turbo Riders won the inaugural season, with the likes of 2024 Euro 4 champion Akshay Bohra and 2025 FR Europe rookie champion Dion Gowda winning races.

The second season marked the start of the Formula Global Shootout Program in partnership with driving school AGS Formule 1, which offered a fully paid scholarship to one driver. Giancarlo Artho emerged as the winner, though he ultimately finished only 14th in the main season. Former F3 driver Hugh Barter took an early lead in the championship before departing after round two, which left South African Aqil Alibhai of Hyderabad Blackbirds and Indian Ruhaan Alva to fight for the championship. That season also marked the F4 debuts of eventual F1 Academy drivers Aiva Anagnostiadis, Alba Larsen and Esmee Kosterman.

Indian F4’s cars were independently operated from 2025 by series organisers Racing Promotions Private Limited. Frenchman Sachel Rotgé won that year’s FGSP and fought for the championship with fellow shootout finalist Shane Chandaria of the Chennai Turbo Riders team. Chandaria came out on top, making history for Kenyan motor racing and giving the series its third consecutive winner from the Southern Hemisphere after Webster and Alibhai. Japanese F4 runner-up Itsuki Sato made a surprise cameo in the third round at Kari, taking one pole position and two wins.

The calendar

Six rounds are planned, with the season opener being at Kari Motor Speedway as in the 2025 season. A week before the championship began, the first two rounds were announced, with the second also being at Kari.

Although the rest of the calendar hasn’t been announced, Feeder Series understands that the third round will take place at the Madras International Circuit, the site of the season opener in 2023 and 2024, while local sources expect the season finale to be held in Navi Mumbai. These have not yet been confirmed by the championship.

Round 1: Kari Motorsport Speedway (12–13 September)

Round 2: Kari Motorsport Speedway (18–20 September)

Round 3: Madras International Circuit (23–25 October)

Round 4: TBA (30 October–1 November)

Round 5: TBA (27–29 November)

Round 6: TBA (4–6 December)

The format

Each round is expected to have three races. Two free practice sessions on either Friday or Saturday begin the weekend. They are followed by two qualifying sessions, with the first one setting the grid for race one and the second doing so for race three. The second race features a reversed grid.

The points system underwent an overhaul for this season. No pole position points or fastest lap points will be awarded. For races one and three, the points will still follow the standard 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 distribution used in most FIA series. Race two will only award points to the top eight finishers in a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 allocation, matching that of F2’s sprint races. This differs from last year, when the top 10 scored points.

Where to watch

Although the series has an official YouTube channel, races are not broadcast there. In India, the series can be watched through TrillerTV, JioHotstar or Star Sports. Global viewers in selected regions can watch the championship through Motorsport Television Deutschland with German-language commentary. The second round is being broadcast globally in English on the Star Sports YouTube channel.

Teams and drivers

In May 2026, the third Formula Global Shootout Program was held 18–20 May at the Circuit du Var, France, with Singaporean karter Aaron Mehta being declared the winner. He therefore received a paid-for seat to compete in the championship.

Four others from the shootout ended up joining the Indian F4 grid too. Other notable participants in the shootout include recently announced Saudi Arabian F4 driver Veer Chopra and recent European F4 tester Jagrat Detroja, who lies 18 points behind Chopra in the Champions of the Future Academy Program’s OK-N class.

The championship features the same eight teams as last year, all running the same specification of car. Most teams run two cars, with the grid numbering 14 cars for the first two rounds. Racing Promotions Private Limited operates all vehicles, making the team names largely cosmetic.

Chennai Turbo Riders

Shane Chandaria won the drivers’ title with the Chennai Turbo Riders team in 2025 and now competes in French F4. Singaporean Kareen Kaur made her single-seater debut with the team and was set to compete in the 2026 Formula 4 South East Asia season before it was cancelled. She also appeared in the 2026 F1 Academy rookie test last week.

The reigning champions have a two-car line-up. One seat is occupied by sim racer turned open-wheel racer Sai Aditya (#9). The Indian driver has tested F4 machinery since late 2024 and had his first test in FR cars with Evans GP in Sepang two months ago.

His teammate is American-Kenyan Anay Doshi (#98), a participant in the FGSP. The 16-year-old is making his single-seater debut.

Goa Aces JA Racing

Last season, Goa Aces had an all–South African line-up of Luviwe Sambudla and Mahlori Mabunda. While Mabunda has moved to Godspeed Kochi, Sambudla is staying with the team for the 2026 season.

After his plans to race in the Ginetta Junior Championship fell through in 2025, 17-year-old Luviwe Sambudla (#11) pivoted to a campaign in Indian F4, his first in single-seaters. Sambudla came to the international racing scene after spending five years in international karting from 2020 to 2024, during which time he also won the 2021 South Africa National Karting Championship’s Mini ROK category. 

Sambudla will partner current USF Juniors driver Aryan Narola (#20), another shootout competitor. With a background mostly in rental karts, the 15-year-old American of Indian descent made his single-seater debut in the final round of the 2026 YACademy Winter Series. He is currently 22nd in USF Juniors with a best finish of 10th.

Ahmedabad Apex Racers

Ahmedabad Apex Racers notably fielded the oldest driver of the 2025 season, Itsuki Sato, last year. This year, they have one driver confirmed, and he once again the oldest in the paddock.

That driver is 24-year-old Mathias Forland (#12) of Norway. Forland attended France’s Winfield Racing School last year, where he drove a single-seater car for the first time. This year, he was awarded a €30,000 scholarship to put towards his first single-seater campaign in Indian F4.

Also originally announced to be competing for Ahmedabad Apex Racers was 16-year old Dutch karter Roxanne Lantinga, though she has not appeared in the series’ official driver roster. In her karting career, she was the winner of the 2025 IAME Eurocup Ladies Cup, 10th overall in the 2026 IAME Euro Series X30 Senior class, and runner-up in the 2026 IAME Netherlands Series X30 Senior class. Lantinga will also be competing in the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout as one of six finalists for a fully funded seat in the 2027 Spanish F4 Championship with MP Motorsport.

Hyderabad Blackbirds

Hyderabad Blackbirds had a three-car line-up in 2025 consisting of Greece’s Vasileios Apostolidis, Australia’s Annabel Kennedy and South Africa’s Enzo Rujugiro. Apostolidis only contested the opening round at Kari, and he started the first race on pole position and converted it to his maiden win. 

For 2026, the Hyderabad Blackbirds squad will field two cars. One is for Indian-British 16-year-old Bhuvan Bonu (#14), whose family moved to the United States when he was five months old. They have since moved back to India, where Bonu has won races in both the Formula LGB 1300 series and the MRF Formula 1600 class of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge.

Shravan Shanmugavel (#24) has been karting since age 11. Running under an Indian licence, Shanmugavel made his car racing debut aged 15 in the 2022 Ginetta Junior Championship for Elite Motorsport and ended the season 22nd. He then stepped away from racing to focus on his education, and he will be competing under a British licence for his racing return.

Kolkata Royal Tigers

Kolkata Royal Tigers, who ran third-place championship finisher Ishaan Madesh last year, will run a two-car line-up this year.

Their first driver is FGSP winner Aaron Mehta (#17). The 15-year-old Singaporean spent 2025 competing in the X30 Junior karting class in the IAME Euro Series and the Kartmasters Grand Prix, finishing 64th and 17th respectively.

Mehta will line up alongside fellow 15-year-old Swarnav Das (#67). The Indian driver has a background in the Rotax Max Challenge India and the IAME Series India and is currently competing in the 2026–27 MRF Formula 2000 season alongside his Indian F4 campaign.

Godspeed Kochi

Last season, Godspeed Kochi had a rotating lineup of 2025 USF Juniors driver Wian Boshoff, Ethan Joy, Zakariya Mohammed and Aris Kyriakou. Boshoff placed the highest out of the quartet, ending the championship in ninth position.

So far, only one driver has been announced for the team this season, and that is South African Mahlori Mabunda (#23). The 17-year old from Johannesburg began his car racing career in the Ginetta Junior Championship, scoring no points in 2024 but taking points in all three races he entered in 2025. Last year, Mabunda competed in Indian F4, ending up 14th in the standings with a best result of sixth. 

Speed Demons Delhi

Speed Demons Delhi once again field two cars for Indian F4. They bid farewell to Saishiva Sankaran, who ended the last season in fifth position with four podiums, achieved in the second and third rounds at Madras and Kari. He currently leads the 2026–27 MRF Formula 2000 championship.

Speed Demons Delhi will, however, retain 16-year-old Ntiyiso Mabunda (#77), who ended the series eighth overall last season and came close to his first podium with a best result of fourth at Kari. The younger brother of Godspeed Kochi’s Mabunda also raced in Ginetta Junior in 2024 and early 2025. He scored points in eight of the 13 races he entered en route to finishing 24th overall in his first year before adding two more points finishes in his only round in 2025.

Speed Demons’ second driver is Krishay Gutte (#33), who is part of the Akcel GP academy. The 17-year-old currently competes in the MRF Formula 2000 championship.

Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru

Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru had Sachel Rotgé in their line-up last year, the 2025 FGSP winner going on to become the championship’s runner-up. Austrian Clara Stiebleichinger, who ended her maiden single-seater campaign in 11th, now competes in the French F4 championship and sits 19th in the standings with a single point. She also took part in the 2026 F1 Academy rookie test.

For this year, the team field Enzo Rujugiro (#36), a 16-year-old Rwandan-born South African-Canadian based in Johannesburg. Rujugiro competes in the GB4 Championship with Fox Motorsport and currently lies 24th in the standings. He participated in the Indian F4 Championship last year on a part-time schedule, though with a best finish of 10th and only two points scored, he ended up at the bottom of the standings.

Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru’s second driver is also familiar to the series. Aris Kyriakou (#53) will run his first single-seater races of 2026 after a planned jump to AU4’s Gen2 class did not materialise. The Australian also participated in FGSP in 2025 and ultimately made his racing debut in the series for the final two rounds of the 2025 season. In that campaign, he finished a highest of seventh two times, with one fastest lap the first time around at Kari, and ended the championship in 16th.

The grid at a glance

Team	#	Driver
Chennai Turbo Riders	9	Sai Aditya
	98	Anay Doshi
Goa Aces JA Racing	11	Luviwe Sambudla
	20	Aryan Narola
Ahmedabad Apex Racers	12	Mathias Forland
Hyderabad Blackbirds	14	Bhuvan Bonu
	24	Shravan Shanmugavel
Kolkata Royal Tigers	17	Aaron Mehta
	67	Swarnav Das
Godspeed Kochi	23	Mahlori Mabunda
Speed Demons Delhi	33	Krishay Gutte
	77	Ntiyiso Mabunda
Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru	36	Enzo Rujugiro
	53	Aris Kyriakou

Header photo credit: F4 Indian Championship