F4 2025 Season Recap: National European Championships – France and Great Britain

British F4 cars go through Paddock Hill Bend, the Brands Hatch turn that was the site of many stories | Credit: British F4

French F4 Academy

One of the most established championships in continental Europe, the French F4 Academy underwent some significant changes for 2025. The focus of the French automobile federation (FFSA) was to revamp the series calendar, aligning competitiveness with greater efficiency in the institution's operations.

To this end, the first major change implemented by the FFSA was the reduction of the tournament from seven to six rounds. The choice fell on the exclusion of one of the two international stages of the tournament, with Nürburgring being the victim of the competition's rationalization.

Another major change was the replacement of Paul Ricard by Le Mans (Bugatti) as the final venue of the season. The choice took into account criticisms from drivers and teams regarding the dubious track limits at Paul Ricard in recent years.

It also played in favor of the change the fact that Le Mans is the headquarters of the FFSA, making it much more convenient for the institution to hold the final right in its backyard.

Moving on to the drivers, some interesting names stood out on the early list released by the FFSA. The first of these was 18-year-old Jules Roussel, who already had an interesting résumé in French karting categories under his belt before making the leap to F4 in 2024. After a year of adaptation, it was hoped that 2025 would be the driver's breakthrough year in single-seaters.

French F4 single-seaters at Le Mans: a strange, but interesting sight for motorsport fans! | Credit: KSP Images via FFSA

Another Frenchman who promised to fly higher in 2025 was Arthur Dorison. After a difficult 2024, in which the driver struggled to acclimatize to the category, Dorison was expected to redeem himself, especially given the potential the driver had shown when driving karts - and which culminated in the 2022 FIA Karting Academy Trophy title.

Another name to keep an eye on was Alexandre Munoz. After a strong end in 2024, where the driver won his first French F4 victory, it seemed that Munoz could be a surprise name in the standings, with youth playing in favour of the driver.

Among the foreigners, the big attraction was Japan's Rintaro Sato, son of former Formula One driver Takuma Sato. With a career built so far almost exclusively in Asia, the 2025 edition of French F4 appeared to be Rintaro's first major challenge on the European motorsport stage, with technical support from the renowned Honda Suzuka Racing School.

However, it would be the French drivers (in greater numbers) who would dictate the pace of the tournament. And this would become clear at the end of the competition, with the top eight in the overall standings coming from the country of the tricolour flag. The main prospects, Munoz, Dorinson and Roussel, would confirm expectations, fiercely competing for the season’s title.

Munoz had a devastating start, winning four of the first six races of the series. However, superior results from Dorison and Roussel at Spa-Francorchamps and Magny-Cours allowed both drivers to close the gap in the battle for the top of the standings.

The 16-year-old Alexandre Munoz proved to be the name of the 2025 French F4 season, demonstrating excellent pace in most of the races | Credit: FFSA

But Munoz would redeem himself at Lédenon, the penultimate round of the year, with two second places in the three races over the weekend, earning crucial points in the title fight. Despite a comfortable lead, Dorison and Roussel still had a mathematical chance of winning the title, which left the outcome of the tournament to be decided in the final round at Le Mans.

However, the results needed by Dorison and Roussel to turn the tables on Munoz did not materialize, with the 16-year-old driver thus winning the 2025 French F4 season title with one race to spare.

In addition to the overall standings, in 2025 the FFSA introduced a classification for female drivers. The competition in this category was marked by the duel between French drivers Lisa Billard and Jade Jacquet. Billard would come out on top in the face-off, especially due to good results in the second half of the season.

From a technical perspective, the FFSA chose to renew its alliance with French manufacturers. This time with Ligier (which absorbed the series former chassis supplier, Mygale), offering its drivers the brand new JS F422 chassis powered by an 1.6-litre Ligier Storm engine.

F4 British Championship

One of the most prestigious championships in world F4, the British series offered a very interesting scenario in 2025. In a tournament almost always marked by balance between drivers, the most recent edition remained true to form, offering the public an interesting duel between two non-British drivers.

On the organization side of the tournament, the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) made few changes, maintaining a robust calendar with ten rounds. However, drivers were able to feel differences in two points on the agenda: the first was the addition of a non-championship round at Silverstone, acting as a support event for the British F1 Grand Prix.

A good performance in the rain can open many doors, with the chance to demonstrate a driver's unique skills in tricky conditions | Credit: British F4

In addition, the reintegration of the traditional Oulton Park circuit (after its absence in 2024) into the calendar was a welcome surprise, with the track being a favourite of drivers and fans alike.

With the exception of the NC round at Silverstone (consisting of only two races), each weekend consisted of three races, bringing the total of races contested throughout the season to 30 – which maintains the series as one of the most exhausting F4 national championships.

The demanding nature of the tournament in the minds of the drivers is rewarded, however, by the high level of competition and the fact that the series is one of the main gateways to the higher categories of single-seater motor racing. This means an interesting density of prospects in the sport, who fought hard for the title in 2025.

The main name of 2025 British F4 during the pre-season was Fionn McLaughlin of Hitech TGR. The Irishman had a storming start in 2025, winning three races and finishing third overall in the Formula Winter Series – the driver’s first real first experience in open-wheeler single-seaters.

The winner takes all: McLaughlin celebrates 2025 British F4 title | Credit: British F4

McLaughlin's main challenger was Jimmy Piszcyk, from Rodin Motorsport. In his third F4 season, the Australian had already in his track an interesting resumé, the highlight being the resounding F4 Australia title in 2024.

Among the outsiders, high expectations fell on the shoulders of Thomas Bearman, also from Hitech. The younger brother of Haas F1 driver Ollie Bearman, Thomas had accumulated so far just a few lackluster seasons in karts and low-formula races, with his best result being eighth overall in the 2025 FWS standings.

However, it would become clear in the first half of the season that the title fight would be concentrated in the hands of McLaughlin and Piszcyk. While the rest of the field struggled to maintain consistent results, both drivers regularly appeared in the top 10, with Piszcyk claiming three race wins and McLaughlin two. However, it was the Irishman who led the standings, thanks to a total of six podium finishes to the Australian's five.

Consistency would be the keyword in the title decision: in the second half of the year, both drivers would tie in the number of wins (three more wins each), but McLaughlin would climb onto the podium eight times in total, versus his rival's five.

These positions translated into valuable points for the overall classification, which culminated at the end of the season in McLaughlin's title – in addition, the Irishman also easily clinched the Rookies classification title.

Despite finishing second in the drivers standings, Piszcyk results were crucial to Rodin’s title in the teams classification | Credit: British F4

Piszcyk fought bravely until the end of the competition (snatching two race wins in the final round of the year at Brands Hatch), but it wasn't enough. Third in the standings was Hungarian Martin Molnár (Virtuosi Racing), British F4 rookie of the year in 2024, who once again proved to be a name to watch in the coming years.

Like almost all other European championships in the discipline, British F4 uses Gen-2 F4-T421 Tatuus chassis. All cars were equally powered by Abarth 414TF 1.4L engines.