New faces and Talents in 2026 Italian Formula 4

Italian F4 Championship

This year in Italian Formula 4 we have a lot of new talents, but also some experienced and well-known drivers. At the beginning of the season, many people thought that Oleksandr Bondarev for Prema Racing would be the fastest driver. This was because, before the season started, there were some private tests at Monza — the Kateyama tests — where drivers tested different Pirelli tyres and different race car setups. The fastest driver on track in every session and on every day was always the young Ukrainian Bondarev.However, after a couple of race weekends, his teammate — and also rookie — Alp Aksoy is now leading the championship standings with many more points than Bondarev. Bondarev, however, is not a rookie, as he already competed last year with the number 27 alongside other drivers who either changed teams or stepped up to FRECA.We also have other talents on the grid, such as Thomas Bearman, the brother of Ollie Bearman, and Edu Robinson, who competed in FRECA last year but stepped back down to F4 with US Racing and managed to win a race this season.Another familiar face is Payton Wescott, who competed last year with VAR and is now racing in F1 Academy. She is now a Mercedes junior driver and also competes for R-ace GP in F4.Christian Costoya is another new driver on the grid. He is a rookie in his first year of F4 with Prema Racing and is also part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme. He looks like a very promising talent and has plenty of time to develop for the future, especially as part of such an important Formula 1 academy.

Written by Gloria Riva