Hot battle for title in rookie classification

The debut season of the Formula Winter Series comes to an end on the Formula 1 circuit in Barcelona. While the battle for the runner-up championship and the title in the rookie classification will be hotly contested, three young women enrich the starting field.

Zachary David replaces champion Kacper Sztuka – US Racing with fifth car

Kacper Sztuka will not be at the start. The Pole already crowned himself the superior champion of the Formula Winter Series at the last race weekend in Navarra. Together with his US Racing team, the 17-year-old Pole therefore decided that he will not compete in the season finale. Zachary David will instead drive the fourth car from the US Racing team. David already competed for the team in ADAC Formula 4 and in the Italian championship last year and took a victory in Arabian Formula 4 at the beginning of the year.
US Racing will also field a fifth Formula 4 car. Akshay Bohra from Singapore will take the wheel of the Tatuus car. Bohra already contested a race weekend in Italy in 2022 for the team of Gerhard Ungar and Ralf Schumacher.

US Racing drivers fight for rookie title

While the overall championship has already been decided, the title in the rookie classification will be contested at the two rounds on the circuit in Catalonia. The two US Racing drivers Gianmarco Pradel and his Chinese team-mate Ruiqi Liu are fighting for it. Currently, the Australian Pradel has an eleven-point lead.
The fight for the vice championship is even closer. Frederik Lund and Gianmarco Pradel share second place with 82 points each. Ruiqi Liu, in fourth position, also still has a realistic chance of beating his two team-mates.

Jenzer Motorsport adds to its team

After making its debut in Navarra, Jenzer Motorsport, the team from Switzerland, will field a third car in the practice sessions in Barcelona. In addition to Kim Hwarang and Ethan Ischer, who already competed in the Formula Winter Series last weekend, Reno Francot drive start for the traditional team. The Dutch karting newcomer will collect important test kilometres in the Formula 4 car during the practice sessions.

Three female pilots at the start

A total of three female pilots complete the starting field of the Formula Winter Series in Barcelona. Maite Caceres, who already competed in Valencia, will start for Campos Racing together with Frenchwoman Lola Lovinfosse. In addition, GRS Racing will make its debut in the Formula Championship. Amna Al Qubaisi, who has already participated in the Formula E test programme, will drive the team’s car. All three drivers will race in the new F1 Academy in 2023, a Formula 4 racing series created by Formula 1 in which only women are allowed to compete. The three will use the guest appearance in Barcelona to gain additional kilometres before the start of the season. In addition, the experience on the Spanish circuit will be helpful to them when the F1 Academy makes a guest appearance at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in May.

Formula 1 and MotoGP circuit

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was opened in September 1991 and has been the venue for Formula 1 since then. Since 1996, MotoGP has also been a guest at the 4.657-kilometre permanent racetrack in Montmeló. Typical for the circuit are the long curves, which put a lot of strain on the tyres.

First race series on Formula 1 track variant

The Formula Winter Series will be the first race series to use the old track configuration in the final sector. At the end of February, Formula 1 announced that it would no longer use the unpopular slow chicane and would instead use the two challenging downhill right-hand corners. This change is also implemented by the GEDLICH Racing organisation for the season finale of the Formula Winter Series, so that the drivers are perfectly prepared for higher tasks in motorsport.

Watch the races in the stream

The two half-hour final races of the Formula Winter Series debut season will take place on Sunday 12 March at 11:45 and 14:55. Before that, the race day will open with a two-part qualifying session. Both races can be followed around the world via livestream so that fans do not miss the exciting decisions in the rookie classification and for the runner-up championship.