The four Aussies hunting UAE F4 glory
Four Aussie drivers and one team will be on the grid when the 2024 Formula 4 UAE Championship ignites this weekend.
Jack Beeton, Peter Bouzinelos, Kamal Mrad and Nicolas Stati will be the Australians to cheer for among the 33-car grid confirmed for the five-round championship mixed between Yas Marina and Dubai Autodrome.
The season begins with three races at the home of the Formula 1 finale Yas Marina this weekend, which follows a two-day test at the same circuit beginning today.
Three of the four drivers from down under will be representing Australian team AGI Sport.
The UAE F4 field during round 2 of the championship at Kuwait Motor Town in January last year.
The bright blue and yellow cars of the Sydney based open-wheel team will be hard to miss as it takes on the UAE series for the first time.
Leading the charge will be Beeton, who is the only Australian with previous experience of the series known as the “F4 world championship”.
The 16-year-old competed in the entire 2023 season and was one of the younger drivers on the grid.
He finished 23rd in the championship which included an impressive seventh place at Dubai Autodrome.
But Beeton will return as a far more complete driver fresh from a championship success.
Jack Beeton soaking in his first international title in the F4 South East Asia Championship
Two wins at Zhuzou in China and a streak of nine successive top five finishes meant Beeton wrapped up the title easily by 48 points.
He will be looking to carry on the momentum with a strong performance in the UAE as he prepares for a big year in Europe.
Perth product Stati also raced in the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship and is hoping to turn more heads.
Stati came straight from karting into the series and despite only making his debut at the halfway mark of the season, Stati still did enough to finish in the top 10.
Nicholas Stati leads the F4 South East Asia field in Sepang. Image: AGI Sport
Racing for AGI Sport he showed impressive improvement across the Sepang double header to close out the season.
After finishing no higher than 11th in his debut weekend, he was fighting up the front in the finale and won the reverse top eight race 2.
AGI Sport team principal Adam Gotch said at just 15, Ferrari Driver Academy entrant Stati has already shown a lot.
“Nico progressed very nicely in the final two rounds of the Asian F4 Championship late last year with us,” Gotch said.
“In only his fifth car race, he held his nerve to win the reverse grid (reverse top eight) race against strong pressure from Prema and his own team mates.
“It was a very impressive mature drive from the 15 year old who had only just started his F4 race programme with us the week before.”
Another member of AGI Sport’s championship winning F4 South East Asia line up was Bouzinelos.
Peter Bouzinelos with his third place trophy at Malaysia. Image: AGI Sport
Bouzinelos has a busy start to 2024 mixing his F4 UAE debut with the Spanish F4 Winter Series which begins at Jerez in February.
Much like Stati, Bouzinelos got acclimatised to F4 in his first South East Asia round in Sepang with a top result of 11th, before three straight top 10s in the finale, highlighted by a maiden trip to the podium in the final race, crucial to the thrilling chase for the teams title where AGI tied with Asia Racing Team.
In addition to F4 he has also represented Australia at the 2022 FIA World Motorsport Games in Junior Karting.
Kamal Mrad behind the wheel in Italy.
The only Aussie not racing for AGI Sport is Mrad, who will race under the PHM AIX banner.
Mrad has karting in both Australia and Europe and made the step up to F4 last year in the Italian series.
He participated in all three races of the final round at the Vallelunga Circuit with a best result of 21st in the competitive championship.
Drivers and teams will enjoy a two-day test at Yas Marina today before racing takes centre stage on January 12-14 this weekend.
2024 UAE F4 calendar
| Date | Venue | Event |
| January 10-11 | Yas Marina, UAE | Pre-Season Test |
| January 12-14 | Yas Marina, UAE | Round 1 (Races 1-3) |
| January 19-21 | Yas Marina, UAE | Round 2 (Races 4-6) |
| February 2-4 | Dubai Autodrome, UAE | Round 3 (Races 7-9) |
| February 9-11 | Yas Marina, UAE | Round 4 (Races 10-12) |
| February 16-18 | Dubai Autodrome, UAE | Round 5 (Races 13-15) |
2024 UAE F4 teams and drivers
AUTO ACTION’s final issue of the year #1876 is out now in its digital form downloadable right here, and available in all good newsagents and stockists near you on Thursday, continuing on as Australia’s most trusted independent voice in motorsport. If you can’t get a copy locally, you can also subscribe to the latest issue of Auto Action print or digital edition of the magazine here.
Head here for more of the latest motorsport news.
The team at AUTO ACTION wishes all readers and race fans a merry Christmas and happy new year!
On the latest podcast, Bruce, PG and Andrew talk about their three motor racing highlights of 2023, and to balance it out… The three lowlights as well, not lowlifes Bruce!
Listen to our latest episode on your podcast app of choice or here
