Photo: CAMS
Australian Formula 4 will kick off its 2019 season as a support to the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.
Since its inception in 2015, the championship has raced at former IndyCar venue Surfers Paradise and Phillip Island, host of the country’s grand prix from 1928-’35. It will add the current F1 circuit Albert Park to that roster for the first time next year.
?Albert Park is a fantastic circuit and the drivers will really get an opportunity to soak up everything that comes with being involved in a world class, Formula 1 event,? said Andrew Papadopoulos, president of Australia’s motorsport governing body CAMS.
?We?d like to thank the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and Formula One Management for this significant opportunity.?
The ADAC, NACAM and United States F4 championships appear on the F1 calendar as supports, with the US series also joining the IndyCar paddock on occasion.
At the end of the year the top three Australian F4 drivers, and up to eight other ‘wildcard’ drivers from lower in the standings, will be invited to China for the inaugural F4 Asia Pacific Cup. They will be pitted against drivers from the Chinese, Japanese and South East Asia series.
There are also plans for a F4 World Cup, a concept first proposed several years ago and has struggled to go beyond the planning stages. Papadopoulos is confident that such an event will take place in 2019 though, and believes it will follow the format of the recent FIA GT Nations Cup in Bahrain, where drivers represent nations, rather than the FIA Formula 3 World Cup that is handed to the winner of the Macau Grand Prix.
?The introduction of both the World Cup and Asia Pacific Cup provides our drivers with a superb opportunity to highlight their skills and abilities in front of a global audience,? Papadopoulos said.
?I have no doubt that those qualify from Australian F4 will be hungry to do their country proud. With the Australian Grand Prix opening race, a World Cup and Asia Pacific Cup on offer, it?s going to be a very exciting year for our young drivers.?