2026 ITALIAN FORMULA 4 SEASON KICKS OFF AT MISANO
This weekend the Italian F4 will kick off the 2026 season in Misano. A total of 49 drivers, among which 8 F1 juniors, will race wheel-to-wheel to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Freddie Slater and reigning champion Kean Nakamura-Berta.
Teams and drivers
The huge popularity of Italian F4 has seen the number of entrants increase to 49 drivers across 13 teams, of whom 8 are F1 juniors. This year marks also the last time teams will be able to field an unlimited amount of cars, as 2027 regulations will allow for a maximum of 4 cars per team.
Prema
After the departure of the Rosin family, the Italian team is slowly crumbing. A number of senior figures, including former F4 team manager Niki Cadei, left the team, in what resembles Red Bull’s downward spiral in Formula 1. However, Prema’s pace in F4 seems to have been saved from the fate of their F2 and F3 departments.
Williams’ junior Oleksandr Bondarev approaches is second season with Prema as a title contender, after winning the UAE4 championship.
Ferrari Driver Academy’s Niccolò Maccagnani makes his full time debut in F4, after skipping almost entirely karting and running an intense F2 and F3 testing programme.
McLaren’s junior Christian Costoya didn’t have the same impact he had in karting, tyre management not being a crucial skill anymore, but he’s confident he can bounce back.
Turkish hope Alp Aksoy has showed promising pace in the test he run since 2024, ensuring he was fully prepared for his full-time debut in 2026.
Kingsley Zheng steps up to F4 after a very brief karting career and achieving P19 in the UAE4 standings.
David Cosma switched to Prema after racing with PHM in 2025, scoring a best result of P8. His pace hints he can be a title contender on 2026.
US Racing
The German team, which carries the initials of Gerhard Ungar and Ralf Schumacher, brings an unprecedented lineup of 7 cars, as they aim to end Prema’s streak of championships.
Luka Sammalisto was set to drive in FREC with Trident, until a major sponsor backed out and left him with no seat for 2026. Having received multiple offers both at FR and F4 level, he opted for a second season with the German squad to chase the Italian F4 title.
Edu Robinson stepped back to F4 after a season in FRECA with G4 Racing, scoring just one point. He had left US before the start of the 2025 season, but he’s back with them to fight for the title.
Noah Killion moved to Europe after winning the Australian F4 championship. His pace in pre-season testing is promising.
Ary Bansal continues with US after making his debut in the E4 championship last season.
Arjen Kräling stays with US after joining midway through 2025, having also raced in GB4 and British F4.
Ludovico Busso switched to US after racing with Viola Formula in 2025, failing to score any points.
Oleksandr Savinkov approaches his third season in Italian F4, having previously raced with AKM and R-ace.
R-ace GP
The French team strengthened their links with Mercedes, fielding three of their juniors in their five-car lineup.
Mercedes’ junior Kenzo Craigie proved his worth in his first F4 test, showing a great potential which he needs to work on.
Fellow Mercedes junior Andy Consani proved to be a title contender, after coming close to the UAE4 title and setting the pace in the last pre-season test in Misano.
Tomika Gender is stepping up to single-seaters after a discrete karting career and failing to score in the UAE4 championship.
Payton Westcott will race in Italian F4 alongside his F1 Academy commitments with Mercedes, where she aims to fight for the title.
Emily Cotty is back for a second season in Italian F4 with the R-ace, having scored best result of P11 in 2025.
Van Amersfoort
Coming from their 50th birthday celebrations, the Dutch team are lining up three cars, half the amount of last season.
Thomas Bearman, Ollie’s brother, switched to Italian F4 from British F4, where he achieved a win and 3 podiums with Hitech.
Pedro Lima makes his European debut after clinching P3 in the Brazilian F4 standings.
Alexander Ruta, who started his career as a footballer for Barcelona F.C., is back for a second season in F4 with Van Amersfoort, having scored 17 points.
PHM
The German proves to be once again the best option for talented drivers with low budget, fielding five cars.
Oscar Repetto stepped up to F4 after a brief karting career, where he raced sporadically without completing any championship.
Iacopo Martinese transitioned seamlessly from karting to single-seaters, scoring 46 pints in the UAE4 championship.
Roland Kuklane makes his single-seater debut after testing with PHM during the winter.
Emma Felbermayr will run a dual campaign in Italian F4 and F1 Academy with Audi.
Alexander Chartier prepares for his F4 debut after karting in Italy, having also tested with R-ace GP at the end of last year.
Trident
The well-established Italian team makes his long-awaited debut in F4, and does so with five cars.
Beco Bernoldi, Enrique’s son, switched to Trident after having initially signed with Prema. Augustus Toniolo, mentored by Augusto Farfus, was the first confirmed driver by Trident and showed promising speed during testing. Dominik Simek steps up to F4, having previously raced in karting. Luboslav Ruykov enters his F4 rookie season with a dual campaign in Italian F4 and F4 CEZ with CRAM. Florentin Hattemer makes his full time F4 debut, having raced with Jenzer in the last round of F4 CEZ.
AKM
The San Marino-based team is back to business after participating only in the E4 championship in 2025: now that Kimi Antonelli isn’t a rookie anymore, his father Marco has more time to dedicate to his team.
Evan Michelini continues with AKM after competing in the last E4 championship. Vittorio Orsini is the latest winner of the Supercorso Federale ACI, which helped him transition to single-seaters. Fabricio Fogaça will run a trans-continental dual campaign, as he signed with Cavaleiro Sports to race in Brazilian F4.
Jenzer
The experienced Swiss team are fielding five cars for their 2026 campaign.
Arn Levi prepares for his rookie season, having achieved a podium in the Formula Winter Series. Elia Weiss comes back after racing with Cram in 2025 and testing some Formula E machinery. Nicolas Cortes continues with Jenzer, having joined the team in the last round of 2025. Georgiy Zasov makes his F4 debut as the reigning Swiss karting champion. Bader Al Sulaiti is back with Jenzer after a disappointing campaign.
Cram
The Italian team aims to move up from the back of the field, preparing four cars.
Rafaela Ferrerira will contest the Italian F4 alongside F1 academy with Racing Bulls. Eshan Naraayanan approaches his maiden F4 season with little testing ahead. Andre Rodriguez switched teams after racing with VAR in 2025. Roman Kamyab competed in the Formula Winter Series with US Racing, but switched to Cram for the main series.
ALPHA 54 Racing
Founded in 2026 by two former Racing Bulls’s mechanics in Faenza, this all-Argentinian team makes their debut in Italian F4 with two cars.
Thiago Palotini makes his single-seater debut in Europe, after a promising karting career in Argentina. Federico Diaz already has single seater experience, having raced Brazilian F4, Formula Nacional Argentina and Formula Renault Plus in 2025.
Maffi Racing
The Swiss team fields just two cars, half the amount they had in 2025.
Igor Polak makes his F4 debut after testing with the team. David Walther approaches his sophomore season.
Real Racing
The Romanian team fields just one car, driven by rookie Knud Nielsen.
PA Racing
Alessandro Perico’s team is expanding from rallies to single-seaters, (with no intention to field Niccolò in the future) helped initially by AS Racing. They’re fielding one car.
Ginevra Panzeri is set for a triple campaign, racing in the Italian, French and CEZ F4, as she chases a seat in F1 Academy.
Calendar
Unusually for the Italian F4 championship, all the seven rounds will be disputed in Italy. The E4 championship, on the other hand, will consist of the usual three rounds.
Format
Since there arre 49 entrants for the championship, almost every round will use the alternative format. This consists in dividing the field in 3 groups (A, B, C), which will qualify in two groups, setting the grid for the three heats. Based on the provisional standings after the heats, the top 36 drivers will advance to the final.
In larger circuits, such as Monza, qualifying will directly determine the grid for the three races.
New point system
Starting from 2026, the top 15 will receive points, according to this basis:
- 1st – 30 points
- 2nd – 26 points
- 3rd – 22 points
- 4th – 20 points
- 5th – 18 points
- 6th – 16 points
- 7th – 14 points
- 8th – 12 points
- 9th – 10 points
- 10th – 9 points
- 11th – 8 points
- 12th – 6 points
- 13th – 4 points
- 14th – 2 points
- 15th – 1 point
Interestingly, the gap between 9th and 11th decreases to just one point per position, while from 11th to 14th it increases back to 2 points per position.
Where can I watch?
All races will be streamed live for free on Italian F4’s official YouTube channel. Qualifying and free practice will not be broadcasted.
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