F4 2025 Season Recap: Continental European Championships

The 2025 F4 CEZ season concluded in the Automotodrom Brno, one of the most traditional circuits in Eastern Europe | Credit: F4 CEZ

F4 CEZ Championship

Once again taking on the role of premier grassroots motorsport tournament in Central Europe, the 2025 F4 CEZ did not disappoint. Organised by a consortium formed by the Automobile Club of the Czech Republic (ACCR) and the companies Krenek Motorsport and HM Sports the competition offered the public entertainment right up until the final moments of the competition.

However, before talking about that, let's go back to the beginning of the year. For 2025, the F4 CEZ calendar was again structured around six weekends, each consisting of three 25-minute races. The big change compared to the past editions of the tournament was the replacement of the Hungarian leg, traditionally held at Balaton Park, with a second event at the Red Bull Ring (Austria). 

Despite this move, the quality and diversity of the tournament remained evident in 2025, with three countries serving as ‘homes’ for the category throughout the season: firstly Austria, which hosted the first three rounds of the competition (two at the Red Bull Ring and one at the Salzburgring), then Czech Republic (with rounds four and six at Most and Brno, respectively) and finally, Slovakia (round five at the Slovakia Ring). 

It could be said that for 2025 there was no real favourite to win the F4 CEZ title, with the grid quite levelled up. However, as in previous years, it was expected that the main title contenders would come from Jenzer Motorsport, which has dominated the series since 2023. 

Jenzer Motorsport once again positioned itself as the favorite to snatch the team and driver trophies in the series | Credit: F4 CEZ

Expectations seemed to be confirmed right at the start of the season at the Red Bull Ring, when two drivers from the team dominated the standings. Britain's Bart Harrison (7th in the 2025 FWS) would take two wins and a third place over the weekend, while his teammate, Gino Trappa (5th in the 2024 Brazilian F4), would accumulate three second places.  

However, the interesting duel that was about to unfold between Harrison and Trappa would never materialize, since soon afterwards, the Briton was promoted to join Jenzer's squad in Italian F4. 

The early departure of his main competitor for the season, however, did not mean that the road was clear to Trappa to collect an easy title. Another Jenzer driver, Max Karhan (3rd in the 2024 F4 CEZ), would take Harrison's place as the main threat to the Argentinean in his quest for his first international trophy. 

Karhan would slowly close the gap to the Argentinian driver, especially from the Salzburgring stage onwards. The Austrian event signalled a great comeback from the Czech, who would finish on the podium in all the remaining races of the year. 

However, even this impressive string of results would not be enough to propel the driver to the top, with Karhan finishing second in the overall chart just nine points short of the 2025 F4 CEZ winner Gino Trappa. Rounding out the podium was the surprising Mexican Javier Herrera (another Jenzer driver), who in his first full season in F4 had already collected an excellent result to put on his resumé.

Gino Trappa and Jenzer Motorsport would emerge as the big winners of the 2025 F4 CEZ | Credit: F4 CEZ

In addition to the overall classification, two other prizes were also at stake during the 2025 F4 CEZ season: the Ladies Trophy and the Rookie Rocket Standings.

In the women's ranking, the winner was Germany's Mathilda Paatz (Mathilda Racing), who finished 5th in the overall tournament standings, with Michalina Sabaj and Kiara Henni rounding out the top three. In the Rookies classification, František Němec (F4 CEZ Academy team) took the laurels, followed by Sabaj and Nikolaj Dyrved. 

After dominating the podium in the overall standings, it is no surprise that Jenzer Motorsport claimed another comfortable victory in the team standings, more than 300 points ahead of second-placed Maffi. 

As in 2023, the F4 CEZ regulations again stipulated for 2025 that the standard chassis for the tournament would be the Tatuus F4-T421, equipped with Abarth 414TF 1.4L engines. 

E4 Championship

Sister series to the Italian F4, the E4 Championship is one of the most interesting proposals in world F4. Based on the premise of a ‘sprint’ championship with few rounds (in 2025, there were only three race weekends), the competition rewarded the daring drivers, offering no margin for error. 

Known until 2024 as Euro 4, the competition is managed in partnership by the Italian motorsport federation (ACI Sport) and WSK Promotion, the same organisers of the main Italian F4 tournament. With an interesting background in the category, it is not surprising that both institutions are able to field such a high level of competition for the discipline's races. 

The Mugello leg would prove decisive in the outcome of the 2025 E4, with Nakamura-Berta outperforming is main challenger, Gomez, in all races of the weekend | Credit: ACI Sport

Despite the revamping of its corporate image, E4 has maintained the formula that has been successful in recent years, with two of the three weekends of the series being held in Italy - at the Mugello and Monza circuits. The international leg of this year's event was reserved for Paul Ricard (France), which made its debut on the tournament calendar. Each stage consists of three races, lasting 30 minutes plus one lap.

Keeping with its new phase, E4 decided to break some of the main records that existed in the category pool until then: in 2025, 41 drivers competed in at least one stage of the competition, an absolute record surpassing the 2024 mark. In addition, 26 nationalities were represented on the E4 tracks during the season, attesting the increasingly multicultural tone of the competition. 

With so many interesting names in the competition, it might have seemed difficult to pick favourites at the start of E4 in 2025, but it soon became clear that the names that set the pace in Italian F4 also left their mark on this competition. 

Gabriel Gomez (US Racing), Kean-Nakamura Berta (Prema) and Sebastian Wheldon (Prema) got off to a flying start, with the trio monopolising the top three positions on the podium in the first round of the year at Paul Ricard. However, it would become clear that this time the trio would have another intruder, the young PHM Racing driver Reno Francot. 

A sweep by Nakamura-Berta in the final round of the competition at Monza was the perfect ending for the driver’s journey in the E4 | Credit: ACI Sport

Runner-up in the 2023 F4 CEZ, Francot would establish himself as one of the forces in the championship, behind Nakamura-Berta and Gomez. Fighting until the end of the competition with Wheldon for third place overall in the tournament, the Dutchman would come out on top, thanks to good results achieved at Mugello (two third places). 

While Francot and Wheldon fought an intense battle for the last spot on the E4 podium, Nakamura-Berta and Gomez also put on their own show. Repeating the cat-and-mouse game they had been playing in Italian F4 since May, it seemed that each driver's response was followed by a reaction from the other. 

After starting the tournament in the lead after the Paul Ricard stage, Gomez would be overtaken by Nakamura-Berta at Mugello, with the Brazilian finishing off the podium in all stages of the weekend (in comparison, the Nippon-Slovakian had pocketed a victory and a second place in the event). 

At the season’s last event, in  Monza, Gomez tried to stage a comeback, but it wasn't enough against a perfect performance by Nakamura-Berta, with the Prema driver sweeping the weekend with victories in all races. It was the perfect end to the season for Nakamura-Berta, who by then had also won the Italian F4 title.  

After taking home almost all the titles of the 2025 F4 Italian championship, Prema would have another near-perfect performance in E4 tournament | Credit: Prema Racing

Once again, Goméz had to settle for second place in the championship - and, once again, behind the Prema driver. Despite this, the Brazilian showed great speed and sagacity, closely following every step of Nakamura-Berta until the final moments of the competition.

The overall picture of the other classifications in contention within E4 would also only be decided in the final round at Monza: in the Rookies classification, Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev came out on top, finishing just two points ahead of Salim Hanna in the class. In the Women's Trophy, the competition was also fierce, with Emily Cotty beating Mathilda Paatz.

In the overall team classification, Prema Racing continued its absolute dominance in the competition, taking its third title in three editions of Euro 4/E4.  

Due to its close relationship with the Italian F4 championship, it is not surprising that both series share the same machinery, with all E4 drivers being equipped with Tatuus F4-T42 chassis fitted with 1.4-litre Autotecnica 414TF engines.