Written by Lorenzo Baer, Edited by Madison Cooper
Formula Winter Series
In its third edition, the Formula Winter Series reaffirms the important role of the Iberian Peninsula as one of the main refuges for grassroots Formula drivers during the long European winter break.
For 2025, the FWS organisers have promoted a good dose of entertainment, starting with some changes to the regulations that were expected to shake up the category.
After the breakup with Agrupación Deportiva, the other tournament organiser till 2024, the promoters of FWS decided to shake things up a little in the new incarnation of the series.
The big change was related to the limit of engines and turbochargers that a team could use throughout the championship. The 2023/24 limit of 1.5 engines per car was abolished for 2025, giving greater freedom to drivers and teams.
The same happened with the limit of 2 turbochargers per season, which was rescinded for 2025. Another technical change was the new tire supplier for the series, with Pirelli taking over the position previously held by Hankook.
Not even the grid demographics were left untouched by the ‘new’ FWS. Many smaller Spanish teams, which had participated in the first editions of the tournament, migrated to the rival Eurocup-4 due to the large influx of foreign teams, which would reduce the space and prominence of Spanish teams.
In 2025, the championship will consist of 4 rounds, held in the following order: Algarve International Circuit (Portimão), Circuit Ricardo Tormo (Valencia), MotorLand Aragón (Alcañiz) and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Montmeló). Each weekend will consist of practice sessions, qualifying and three point-scoring races, increasing the number of events held throughout the tournament to 12.
Despite not having any big names for the season, the FWS had an interesting pool of talent to scout. Leading this pack was Russian Kirill Kutskov from Maffi Racing. The 2023 OK class FIA Karting world champion, 2024 F4 CEZ runner-up and 2024 Saudi Arabian F4 third-place finisher was expected to be one of the highlights of the tournament.
Campos Racing also stood out as a team, bringing an all-women line-up to the series. The squad was made of the seasoned Alisha Palmowski (3 wins in 2024 GB4), Rafaela Ferreira (3 wins in Brazilian F4) and Chloe Chambers (1 win in 2024 F1 Academy). However, the mantra of the F4 inter-season tournaments repeated itself once again in the FWS. The outsiders stole the spotlight, completely dominating the tournament.
Brazilian Gabriel Gomez (US Racing) and Algerian Leo Robinson (Hitech TGR) were involved in an exciting duel for the championship lead in the first two legs of the tournament in Portimão and Valencia. During these events, Gomez collected three wins, one second and two third-place finishes, while Robison snatched one win and four second-places.
However, there was a twist in this dispute in the third round of the tournament: Gomez continued his podium streak (adding one second and two third places to his tally), but Robinson faced a difficult weekend in Aragón, having as his best result a sixth.
Although the Algerian made up some of the lost ground in the last round of the year, winning two of the three races of the Barcelona leg, the result was not enough to knock Gomez off the lead, who became the first Brazilian to win the FWS.
It’s worth remembering that alongside the most traditional F4 championships in the world, the FWS uses the Tatuus F4-T421 chassis, powered by 1.4-litre Abarth engines.
Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship
In parallel with the FWS, another F4 inter-season tournament took place on the Iberian Peninsula between February and March: the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship.
The championship was created by the split of the German company Gedlich and Agrupación Deportiva F4 Spain, the two promoters of the FWS until 2024. Due to divergent views regarding the tournament’s future, the partnership was dissolved, with Gedlich assuming full shareholding control of the FWS.
In response, the Spanish organisers created a new championship: the F4 Spanish Winter Championship. The tournament’s name was later changed to Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship, in line with another product in Agrupación’s portfolio, the existing Eurocup-3.
In addition to differences in regulations, one of the major contrasts between the FWS and Eurocup-4 Spain is their proposals: while the former exists mainly as a winter tournament for some of the top European teams, the Eurocup aims to be a pre-season event for teams that will compete in the regular season of the Spanish F4.
This is because many teams that took part in the FWS until 2024 migrated to the Eurocup-4 due to the latter's regulations being more closely aligned with those of F4 Spain.
Thus, the first edition of the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship kicked off at the Circuito de Jerez, continued to Portimão and had its grand finale at the Circuito de Navarra. Each stage consisted of three races, two in normal format (30 minute heats plus one lap) and one sprint (20-minute race plus a lap).
Although well-known teams from the grassroots scene, such as ART Racing, Rodin Motorsport, Campos Racing and MP Motorsport (the latter two through satellite teams), lined up drivers for the competition, the names on the entry list were far from being the best known in the category.
Many of the drivers participating in the Eurocup-4 were in their first full season in F4, except a few notable names, including Belgian Yani Stevenheydens, runner-up in the 2024 French F4.
Another Belgian who was also expected to perform well in the tournament was Thomas Strauven from Griffin Core by Campos. The driver had had a consistent 2024 season, especially in the Spanish F4 tournaments, winning races in both the regular season and the FWS.
Despite the predictions, the tournament started with other names fighting for the top spots: Polish driver Jan Przyrowski (Griffin Core by Campos) and Dutch driver René Lammers (KCL by MP Motorsport). Both dominated the first weekend of the season in Jerez, with Przyrowski taking two first places and Lammers grabbing a win in the sprint race and a third in one of the regular races.
Thomas Strauven also had his moments, conquering a second and fourth as his best results of the weekend. But the Belgian would shine in the following two rounds, taking two wins, two second places and a third, promoting the Griffin Core driver to the top of the standings.
Consequently, Strauven won the 2025 Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship title, with Przyrowski and Lammers finishing second and third, respectively.
In the Rookies classification, the highlight was the American Vivek Kanthan from Campos. With three second places throughout the season, the driver had no difficulty in securing the title of the sub-category, earning some credits within the traditional Valencian team.
The car used in the Eurocup-4 was the Tatuus F4-T421, equipped with 1.4L turbo Abarth powerplants, the same set that is also used in the regular Spanish F4 Championship.
This brings to an end the second part of my two-part series on winter and interseason F4 championships. Stay tuned to keep up to date with other in-season F4 series throughout the rest of 2025.
