Written by Lorenzo Baer
The second part of the DIVEBOMB special on Formula 4 events around the world in 2024 will be dedicated to the category's races in continental Asia, that is, the Indian and Chinese F4 championships. In both cases, the local drivers did not come out on top at the final standings, but even so, the success of the foreigners served to demonstrate the efficient process of internationalisation of the discipline's events.
Shell Helix FIA F4 Chinese Championship
Having its inaugural season in 2015, the Chinese Formula 4 championship is one of the most established national tournaments in the category around the world.
Always featuring stacked grids, the championship is interesting because it is one of the few regionalised tournaments that still maintains its national aspect, with most of drivers competing in it being of Chinese origin or from administrative areas of the country (such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taipei).
For the 2024 season, for example, only three drivers were listed as racing with a foreign license throughout the championship: Alex Sawer, who made his bid with a Vietnamese license; Viktor Turkin, registered as a Russian driver; and Oscar Pedersen, with Swedish credentials. Of these, only Pedersen participated in all stages of the tournament.
Of the local drivers, the big bets were Liu Kaishun, from Black Blade Racing and Jing Zefeng, from AdamCar Motorsport. The first had been runner-up in Chinese Formula 4 in 2023, losing the championship by just 15 points to champion Tiago Rodrigues. Zefeng placed third overall in the same classification, having managed one victory in round two.
The 2024 Chinese Formula 4 Championship had five legs, with competitions in Shanghai, Chengdu, Ningbo, Shanghai again, and finally Zhuhai .
There were plans for Macau to also host a non-championship race, being contested as a support event of Grand Prix on the traditional Guia circuit – however, this did not happen due to logistics and scheduling problems.
The start of the season in Shanghai was a support event for the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix, which meant that the Formula 4 race had an abnormally high 27 entries. Throughout the championship, the average number of drivers registered per stage of the Chinese F4 was nevertheless close to 20, a good average that guaranteed quality and good disputes throughout the tournament.
Despite expectations about local drivers, the one who surprised in the tournament was Swede Oscar Pedersen, who took home the 2024 Chinese F4 title after a solid campaign.
The Swede's achievement may indeed seem surprising, especially considering that this was the first time that Pedersen was racing in Asia. However, the 18-year-old brought with him to China an enviable resumé, having won the Swedish Kart championship twice (2021-22), and finishing second overall in the 2023 Formula Nordic.
On the other hand, Hong Kong driver Liu Kaishun had to settle for his second runner-up in a row. Despite having the same number of victories as Pedersen at the end of the season (four), Kaishun lost precious points for the championship contention in the Ningbo stage –, more specifically, in race four of the weekend, when he did not finish due to mechanical problems.
Another interesting name that came out of the tournament was the one of Jiang Fukang, from Black Jack Racing by ART. The third-placed result in the general classification was an excellent finish, promoting Fukang into one of the great promises of Chinese motorsport for the coming years.
It is worth mentioning that, for the 2024 Chinese F4 season, the venerable Mygale M14-F4 chassis, in use since the edition of the tournament, in 2015, was finally replaced by its successor, the M21-F4.
This change gave a fresh breath of life to the championship, making room for a new generation of machines. Taking advantage of this transition, the power units were also updated, moving from the 2-liter Geely G-Power Turbo engines to the 1.3-liter Alpine Turbo.
FIA F4 Indian Championship
After a troubled start, with the cancellation of the first edition of the championship in 2022, and the official relaunch of the tournament in 2023, it was hoped that the 2024 edition of Indian Formula 4 would finally manage to establish itself on the international motorsport scene — forming together with China to become, a hub in promoting motorsports talent in Central and South Asia.
After learning from 2023, for 2024, Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd — series manager — in partnership with MP Motorsport, planned a remodeling of the tournament, along the lines of other F4 championships around the world.
For example, great emphasis was placed on expanding the number of drivers, which jumped from an average of ten per race, in 2023, to 16 per event in 2024.
Another interesting point for 2024 was the greater capillarity of the tournament, which was longer and spread across different venues: in 2023 all the 15 races were compressed into four weekends, all of them contested in the Madras International Circuit (Chennai).
In 2024, the 15 races were spread over five weekends over four months, with events in Madras , Chennai Formula Racing Circuit, Madras again, Kari Motor Speedway, and Kari once more.
In predictions made before start of the championship, three strong candidates were identified as the main contenders of the Indian F4 title in 2024.
These included Jayden Hamilton, runner-up in the Australian Formula Open, AFO4 (F4) division in 2024; Hugh Barter, runner-up in French and Spanish F4 in 2022, and F3 driver in 2023; and Aqil Alibhai, a driver with an interesting experience in the United Kingdom, having participated in Ginetta Junior and British F4 races.
Barter started the championship with the right foot, taking three victories in the first five races of the year. However, due to lack of financial support, the team driver withdrew his entry from the final three legs of the championship, opening the door for Aqil Alibhai to take the lead in the tournament from the third weekend onwards.
Aqil's dominant performances in the last races of the year, with triumphs in five of the last seven events, guaranteed a smooth path towards the 2024 title of the Indian F4, achieving his first great international honour.
Ruhaan Alva, one of the biggest promises in Indian motorsport for the coming years, even dreamed of competing for the trophy, being reasonably close to Aqil in the middle of the season. But the South African's excellent presentations in the last two legs of the championship ended any hope for the driver, with Ruhaan having to settle for second place in the final standings .
Third in the general classification was another Indian, Jaden Pariat, who, despite not participating in the last stage of the tournament, in Kari, had enough of an advantage to mathematically guarantee him this position.
In addition to the championship itself, one of F4 Indian's most interesting proposals for 2024 was the so called “Indian F4 Global Shootout Program,” a project that can be considered the first act of the 2024 Indian F4 championship.
Basically, the event, held in July at the Circuit du Var in France was a free-for-all non-championship race, with the aim of providing an opportunity for young drivers to get to know and to experience the competitive environment of the F4 for the first time.
As a reward, the top three finishers received an invitation to participate in the official 2024 F4 Indian Championship, plus a progressive cost allowance, to cover team and racing related expenses. The winner of this race was the Swiss Giancarlo Artho (who, as a side note, finished 15th in the standings).
Throughout the 2024 edition of F4 Indian Championship, all drivers raced with the M21-F4 cars, produced by the French brand Mygale, and all of them were thrusted by the 1.3-liter Turbocharged Alpine-Oreca engines.
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