Italian F4 wraps up its 2026 season and the Kyojo Cup its six-way title battle this weekend, as F4 races also take place in Bahrain, India and Mexico. Feeder Series previews the action.

By Feeder Series

It’s a light weekend for junior single-seater racing, with the main draws being Italian F4 at Mugello, the Kyojo Cup at Fuji and F4 Saudi Arabia at Sakhir for the first of two back-to-back rounds in Bahrain.

Within the Italian F4 paddock, however, there could be milestones to celebrate for two teams after Sunday’s races. The Mexico City Grand Prix later that day is likely to bring the coronation of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who just two years ago was a fixture in our pages as an F2 rookie, as F1’s new world champion. The 20-year-old Italian took several championship titles with Prema, including Italian F4’s, on his ascent up the junior single-seater ladder, while his father owns the AKM Motorsport team.

This potentially pivotal F1 weekend will feature junior single-seater racing on the undercard in the form of NACAM F4. Entering the season finale, the title has already been decided, with Alex Bobadilla taking the crown last time out in Puebla with his eighth win of the year and two second places. Alan Zezatti is also guaranteed second, while Oliver Trejo sits in third place, 44 points ahead of Fernando Rivera with 50 points on the table. Fourteen drivers will take part this weekend, including single-seater debutant Luis Fernando Núñez with Ram Racing.

Finally, Indian F4 heads to the Buddh International Circuit, the country’s former F1 venue, for the first time. After three rounds, Luviwe Sambudla leads the standings on 138 points, 21 ahead of Aris Kyriakou, after winning races one and two last week in Madras. Race three winner Aaron Mehta is in third, only three points ahead of Ntiyiso Mabunda. Arjun Chheda returns to the series this weekend, having competed in at least one round of every Indian F4 season.

Italian F4: Round 7, Mugello

Circuit: Mugello Circuit, 5.245 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Friday 30 October

• 08:30–08:55: Free practice 1 (Group 1)
• 09:00–09:25: Free practice 1 (Group 2)
• 11:15–11:40: Free practice 2 (Group 1)
• 11:45–12:10: Free practice 2 (Group 2)
• 15:10–15:30: Qualifying (Group 1)
• 15:40–16:00: Qualifying (Group 2)

Saturday 31 October

• 10:05–10:35 : Race 1 (Groups B and C)
• 14:40–15:10: Race 2 (Groups A and B)

Sunday 1 November

• 08:40–09:10: Race 3 (Groups A and C)
• 12:15–12:45: Race 4 (Final race)

How to follow: Free practice and qualifying sessions are not broadcast, but ACI provides live timing. Races are live-streamed on ACI’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy on Thursday and Friday. Sunny weather is expected on Saturday, with rain possible on Sunday.

What to know: The Mugello Circuit will host the final round of the 2026 Italian F4 Championship, more than a month after the previous round in Misano.

The series already has its champion in Luka Sammalisto, who managed to secure the title in Misano and left the round with a 68-point advantage over Alp Aksoy. With that, he brought US Racing to the top for the second time, three years since their last title.

The Mugello weekend will be far from a formality, however. With 90 points still up for grabs, the final event is shaping up to be wide open. Alp Aksoy, Ary Bansal, David Cosma Cristofor, Edu Robinson and Kenzo Craigie are all fighting for second place in the championship. Craigie comes to Mugello having been crowned overall and rookie champion in the last round of E4 at Monza, where most of this weekend’s entrants also raced.

Prema Racing will be without Georgiy Zasov and Roman Kamyab, who is unwell, this weekend. Instead, they will field 15-year-old Ferrari junior Filippo Sala (#5), who made his single-seater debut in the final E4 round three weeks ago. Racing in the OK class of karting, Sala took two wins and three podiums in WSK-run events and finished fourth in the FIA Karting European Championship. This year, the Italian was 43rd in the European Championship and eighth in the Champions of the Future Euro Series. Also returning for this weekend is his countryman Ginevra Panzeri (#64), currently 53rd in the championship, who will have Prema support for her PA Racing entry.

Mathilda Paatz (#18) will return to E4 with her family team Mathilda Racing. She ran two rounds of the series last year with AS Motorsport and finished 32nd overall. This year, the 18-year-old German has competed in F1 Academy with Prema Racing, representing Aston Martin and sitting 10th overall, while also racing in the F4 CEZ championship, which concluded last weekend.

After more than a year away, Technorace Competition will return to the grid, fielding Italian driver Antonio Errigo (#78), who finished three places below Paatz in F4 CEZ in 15th, and Bahraini driver Musaad Albassam (#79). Errigo made his single-seater debut in the last round of the Italian F4 championship last year. Albassam has mainly karted in the Middle East, winning the Max DD2 title in the Sakhir Rotax Max Challenge last year. He tested Technorace’s F4 machinery at Mugello earlier this month.

Arjen Kräling announced after Monza that he would be absent from the finale. He has since been promoted to GB3 with TJ Speed Motorsports and will not be replaced at US Racing.

R-ace GP drivers James Anagnostiadis and Tamás Gender will also miss the round, and in their place will be Jesse Phillips (#32), who won the GB4 Winter Series title last weekend. The 15-year-old Briton made his F4 race debut in British F4’s Brands Hatch finale after months of testing and a season in the Ginetta Junior Championship.

Denmark’s Nikolaj Dyrved (#82) will swap championships and continue with Maffi Racing having finished 50th in the F4 CEZ championship with the team, while China’s Sun Yibei (#48) will return after entering the most recent E4 round in Monza with Trident.

Absent from Jenzer Motorsport’s line-up is F4 CEZ runner-up Teo Borenstein, who took a shock pole at the previous round in Misano but did not plan to return for the finale. And F1 Academy’s Rafaela Ferreira, who raced for Cram in five of the first six rounds, will miss the event to compete in NASCAR Brazil’s Chapecó round of the playoffs with Cavaleiro Racing, with whom she raced part-time in Brazilian F4 last year.

Report by Cristina Leone

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 Saudi Arabia: Rounds 3 and 4, Bahrain

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit, 5.412 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+3)

Saturday 31 October

• 09:00–09:40: Official test
• 12:00–13:00: Free practice 1
• 15:00–15:20: Qualifying 1
• 18:20–18:50: Race 1

Sunday 1 November

• 09:10–10:10: Free practice 2
• 12:10–12:30: Qualifying 2
• 15:30–16:00: Race 2

Tuesday 3 November

• 09:30–10:10: Free practice 1
• 12:10–12:30: Qualifying 1
• 15:30–16:00: Race 1

Wednesday 4 November

• 09:30–10:10: Free practice 2
• 12:10–12:30: Qualifying 2
• 15:30–16:00: Race 2

How to follow: All races will be livestreamed for free on F4 Saudi Arabia’s official YouTube channel. As was the case for the past two seasons, races will also be available in German via Motorsport TV Deutschland’s YouTube channel. Live timing will be available on Its-live for all sessions.

Weather forecast: Sunny throughout all the on-track action.

What to know: F4 Saudi Arabia moves to Bahrain for its third and fourth rounds of the season. Originally set to take place in Jeddah, the middle rounds of the season have been moved to the Bahrain International Circuit amid an escalation in geopolitical tensions between Saudi Arabia and Houthi insurgents from Yemen.

After two rounds of the championship, Swiss-Austrian Marlon Bayer leads the way on 83 points having taken a win in each Jeddah round, as did Archie Owen, who sits just three points behind him after two rounds. With Bayer’s absence from the entry list, however, Owen is poised to become the new championship leader. That possibility is aided by his 34-point gap over Harrison Mackie, giving him plenty of breathing room heading into the third round of the season.

Mackie leads a hotly contested fight for third in the championship on 46 points, with his closest rival Amin Kara Osman just two points behind. Isaac Seah trails the Briton by 13 after taking his maiden career podium last time out.

Two drivers are missing from the entry lists, both without replacements. Points leader Bayer and Rachel Robertson are both absent for both Bahrain rounds, while Aleksandar Vukcevic is still yet to make his debut after reportedly picking up food poisoning on the eve of the season.

Report by Marco Albertini

Read the previous round’s report here.

Kyojo Cup: Round 5, Fuji

Circuit: Fuji Speedway, 4.563 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9)

Thursday 29 October

• 11:20–11:50: Free practice 1
• 13:00–13:30: Free practice 2
• 14:20–14:50: Free practice 3

Friday 30 October

• 10:20–10:50: Free practice 4
• 12:30–13:00: Free practice 5
• 14:30–15:00: Free practice 6

Saturday 31 October

• 09:30–09:50: Qualifying
• 13:05–13:30: Sprint race (10 laps)

Sunday 1 November

• 12:45–1:20: Final race (15 laps)

How to follow: Qualifying and races will be broadcast on the Inter Proto Series x KYOJO CUP Channel with Japanese commentary.

Weather forecast: Mild temperatures and a moderate chance of rain on Friday. Sunny on Saturday and partly cloudy on Sunday.

What to know: The grand finale of the 2026 Kyojo Cup season takes place this weekend at Fuji, with six drivers still in contention for the championship.

Round four saw Miki Onaga convert sprint pole into her first win of the season, before Kokoro Sato secured her maiden victory in the feature race, taking the lead from Onaga after the safety car restart. Onaga, Sato and Joanne Ciconte all scored double podium finishes, narrowing the points gaps between the title contenders.

Riona Tomishita retains a narrow lead on 75 points despite a scrappy weekend, with Ciconte on 70 and Aimi Saito on 69. Saito’s hopes took a hit last round when an error landed her in the barriers and out of the feature race. Sato sits on 64 points and Onaga on 59, while 2025 champion Rio Shimono is also still in the hunt with 49 points.

Maaya Orido (#59) will join the grid for the final round with new team New’Z Racing Club. She was originally slated to contest the full season, but she withdrew before round one to compete in the SRO Japan Cup and All-Japan EV Championship, finishing second in the GT4 class in the former and third overall in the latter.

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: ACI Sport