Photo: ACI Sport
Brando Badoer will stay with Van Amersfoort Racing for his second season in the Italian Formula 4 championship.
The 16-year-old son of former Ferrari Formula 1 driver Luca Badoer made his car racing debut at the start of 2022 in F4 United Arab Emirates, where he contested four rounds with AKM Motorsport and claimed a best finish of 12th place.
He then joined VAR for the ADAC and Italian F4 series, contesting two rounds as a guest driver in the former and coming 15th in the latter with four points appearances. Earlier this year he returned to F4 UAE with VAR, and claimed his maiden single-seater podium en route to sixth in the standings.
This year Badoer enters his second campaign in the Italian F4 series, which is known to be the most competitive F4 series world-wide. The grid will count far over forty drivers, all eager to make a name for themselves. The championship, which is held over seven rounds, kicks off at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola in the third week of April.
‘’Currently, we are working hard to prepare for the upcoming season,” said Badoer.
“Having a year of experience in single-seaters, I feel confident about the upcoming season. Last year was all about learning and understanding the car, and I have made big steps in my development both on- and off track.
“Personally, I am really looking forward to hitting the track again together with VAR. Spending so much time together as we did during the last year helps a lot in understanding each other, obviously benefiting both myself and the team. I am really eager to get started soon.”
Badoer will be team-mate to All Road Management protege Jack Beeton and Alpine junior Matheus Ferreira.
‘’Having Brando with us again this year is an absolute pleasure!” VAR’s CEO Rob Niessink said. “We made great progress together and to have the opportunity to continue working as a team has a lot of benefits.
“Besides the extra mileage he gained by participating in the F4 UAE championship, Brando and the team have been preparing for the upcoming season intensively over the winter break and we look forward to putting it all to practice when the championship kicks off later this month.”