Misano World Circuit - The 2026 season of the Italian F4 Championship, the single-seater series promoted by ACI Sport and WSK Promotion, gets underway with record-breaking numbers. After the previous record set at Monza in 2022 with 44 cars on the grid, the championship has already surpassed that mark: 47 single-seaters ready to take to the track on Thursday for the collective tests ahead of the opening round of the season at the Misano circuit on the Adriatic Riviera.
A total of 13 teams will compete during the opening weekend. AKM Motorsport will field three cars entrusted to three drivers also entered in the Rookie class: Costa Rican driver Evan Michelini, Brazilian Fabricio Fogaça, and Italian Vittorio Orsini, winner of the 2025 ACI Sport Supercorso Federale.
Alpha 54 Racing, the Argentine team based in Faenza, will make its debut in the Italian championship with two cars for Thiago Palotini and Federico Diaz. AS Motorsport will also be on track with a Pirelli-shod Tatuus driven by Italian racer Ginevra Panzeri, who will be among the contenders in the female standings.
CRAM Motorsport will line up Brazilian Rafaela Ferreira and American Andre Rodriguez, while Jenzer Motorsport will field five cars for Arn Levi, Elia Weiss, Nicolas Cortes, Georgly Zasov, and Bader Al Sulaiti. Maffi Racing will instead enter two single-seaters, relying on the experience of David Walther alongside rookie Igor Polak.
PHM Racing will bring five cars to the grid with Iacopo Martinese, Roland Kuklane, Austrian driver Emma Felbermayr, Alexander Chartier and Oscar Repetto.
Prema Racing also boasts a top-level line-up featuring McLaren junior Christian Costoya in the papaya livery, Ferrari Driver Academy member Niccolò Maccagnani, Williams Driver Academy representative Oleksandr Bondarev, as well as Alp Aksoy, Ho Kingsley Zheng Kwan, and David Cosma-Cristofor.
Five cars will also be entered by French squad R-ace GP, which will field Mercedes juniors Andy Consani and Kenzo Craigie alongside Hungarian driver Tomika Gender. The French team will also include two drivers competing in the female standings: Payton Westcott and reigning female champion Emily Cotty.
Romanian outfit Real Racing will be represented solely by Danish driver Nielsen Knud, while Trident Motorsport will make its category debut with five drivers: Beco Bernoldi, Florentin Hattemer, Augustus Toniolo, Dominik Simek, and Lyuboslav Ruykov.
The largest line-up will belong to US Racing, entering seven cars for Luka Sammalisto, Edward Robinson, Noah Killion, Oleksandr Savinkov, Sicilian driver Ludovico Busso, Aryaman Bansali, and Arjen Kräling. Van Amersfoort Racing will instead field three single-seaters for Alex Ruta, Pedro Lima, and Thomas Bearman, the younger brother of Formula 1 driver and 2021 Italian F4 champion Oliver Bearman.
The Misano weekend will feature four races: three qualifying heats and a Final reserved for the top 36 classified drivers. A new points system will also debut, awarding 30 points to the winner with a descending distribution down to 15th place. The format will continue to award points in every race, making each heat crucial for the overall standings.
Following the collective tests, the weekend will officially begin on Friday, May 8, with free practice sessions in the morning and qualifying in the evening. Series 1 will be on track from 8:30 AM to 8:50 AM and from 1:30 PM to 1:50 PM, while Series 2 will run from 9:00 AM to 9:20 AM and from 2:00 PM to 2:20 PM. Qualifying sessions will take place later in the day, with Series 1 scheduled from 5:55 PM to 6:15 PM, followed by Series 2 from 6:55 PM to 7:20 PM.
The results will determine the composition of the three race groups (A, B, and C): the fastest overall driver will be placed in Group A and secure pole position for Race 2 and Race 3, while the fastest driver from the other series will lead Group B from pole in Race 1.
Race 1 will take place on Saturday, May 9, at 11:30 AM, followed by Race 2 at 5:10 PM. On Sunday, May 10, the schedule will open with Race 3 at 8:30 AM. At the end of the qualifying heats, a combined classification will determine the 36 drivers admitted to the Final, scheduled for 1:50 AM. All races during the weekend will have a duration of 25 minutes + 1 lap and will award points towards the championship standings.
All races throughout the weekend will be broadcast live on the Italian F4 Championship social media channels and on ACI Sport TV, available on Sky channel 228, Tivùsat channel 52, and via streaming on ACI Sport TV. Admission to the event will be free, with the paddock open to the public.