Emanuele Olivieri is the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European champion. The 18-year-old R-ace GP driver secured the overall title in a four-way showdown at Hockenheim, decided in the final race of the eighth and last round of the season. It capped an outstanding weekend for Thibaut de Mérindol’s team, which had already sealed the Teams’ title on Saturday.
Second place behind his closest rival, Sebastian Wheldon, was enough for the ACI Team Italia and former Scuola Federale trainee driver to celebrate, having already clinched the Rookie title at the previous round in Imola.
Wheldon, who topped both qualifying sessions at the German circuit for MP Motorsport, took the lead in Race 2 and held it to the chequered flag. It was his fourth victory of the season, more than any other driver, and secured him second place in the championship standings.
It was a bitter finale for Kean Nakamura-Berta. Running second, the PREMA Racing driver was caught up through no fault of his own in a collision with Race 1 winner Jan Przyrowski and finished seventh. The result dropped him to third in the championship, after his runner-up finish in Saturday’s opening race had brought him to within seven points of Olivieri.
Wheldon’s MP Motorsport team-mate Alexander Abkhazava completed the Race 2 podium in third. R-ace GP’s Rashid Al Dhaheri, who arrived at the final round fourth in the standings and still with an outside chance of the title, finished outside the points.
Race action
With three of the four title contenders on the first two rows of the grid, Wheldon started from pole for the final time this season and led into the first corner. Nakamura-Berta held second, ahead of Jan Przyrowski and Olivieri. An incident in the midfield involving Maksimilian Popov, Tomass Stolcermanis and Saqer Almaosherji brought out the Safety Car almost immediately.
After three laps behind the Safety Car, Rashid Al Dhaheri climbed from 13th to ninth at the restart, while Wheldon continued to lead. Przyrowski then attempted to pass Nakamura-Berta, but the pair made contact. The PREMA Racing driver dropped to fourth, allowing Olivieri and Alexander Abkhazava through into second and third. Yuki Sano joined the battle at the front and also passed Nakamura-Berta to take fourth. Przyrowski, meanwhile, was handed a 10-second penalty.
Olivieri opened up a gap of more than two seconds over Abkhazava, while Sano defended fourth from Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic. The order then settled, with the top five holding their positions to the chequered flag. Salim Hanna finished sixth, ahead of teammate Nakamura-Berta. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Oleksandr Bondarev took eighth, with Lewis Wherrell ninth on his debut for RPM. G4 Racing’s Marcus Saeter completed the top 10.
After the race, Ninovic was disqualified for a technical infringement.
Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP, 2026 FIA FREC Champion): "It still feels strange to say that I’m champion. I’m honestly a bit speechless. The start of the season was very difficult, but R-ace GP believed in me and supported me throughout. I owe the team so much, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together. The race today was tense, with four of us still in contention for the title. I knew I had the pace, so I focused on staying calm. I made a good start, then took advantage of the incident ahead to move into second. From there, I managed the race. I felt I might have had the pace to catch Sebastian, but there was no need to take that risk. Once again, the team gave me a brilliant car."
Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport, Race 2 winner and Championship Runner-up): "It’s a great way to end the season. We had some very good weekends and some difficult ones, so I’m happy to finish with a win. Of course, I’m disappointed to miss out on the championship. I made mistakes in the middle of the season, and I know things could have turned out differently. Overall, though, it’s been a valuable learning experience. I feel I improved as the season went on, and that’s what you always want as a driver. I’m pleased with what we achieved this year, and I’m already looking ahead to next season."
Results are still provisional