Photo: Indian F4
The new Indian Formula 4 championship was supposed to get underway on Formula E’s street circuit in Hyderabad this weekend, but has been relocated to the permanent Chennai track.
Chennai hosted the official pre-season test on October 29/30, and only one day ago was the series advertising where tickets could be bought to attend the Hyderabad round.
“We will be moving the venue for the first race weekend from Hyderabad to Chennai. The race weekend for both the F4 Indian championship and the Indian Racing League will remain the same (Nov 4 & 5), with only the venue changed to Madras International Circuit (MIC) in Chennai,” Indian F4 announced in a press release.
“This is due to a force majeure event that has been invoked due to code of conduct that has been prescribed for elections in Telangana. We would like to respect the rules and regulations of the election commission, and hence, have come to the decision of shifting the venue.
“Full refunds will be issue to ticket holders. Details regarding refunds will be sent to the registered emails by Paytm Insider. We apologise for the inconvience, but look forward to welcoming everyone to Chennai!”
It has been a long road to get the Indian F4 championship underway, with its creation announced in August 2021 and with plans for a 2022 season starting in February. The street circuit in Hyderabad was then revealed, and when Formula Scout informed Formula E founder Alejandro Agag of that track he then took to the idea and turned it into reality but using a different layout to what Indian F4 had planned.
In January 2022 the season was pushed back to a November start date, but when it came to November the season was called off. The next update came in March 2023, with an October start date announced for the inaugural season and a switch of chassis supplier from Tatuus to Mygale, then in June the series announced Dutch team MP Motorsport would replace Prema as centrally running all the cars.
This August a December date was given to a round on a new street circuit in Chennai, and earlier this month there was a revision to the calendar as round two at ex-Formula 1 venue Buddh International Circuit on November 11/12 was dropped and replaced with a round at Chennai on November 30/December 1 that immediately preceded already scheduled races at the track on December 2/3.
Chennai also hosts the final two rounds, as they are shown as seperate events on the current calendar, on December 9/10.
The list of drivers signed up to race in Indian F4 include GB4 runner-up Cooper Webster, Euro-4 race-winner Akshay Bohra, British F4 race-winner Dion Gowda, Shahan Ali Mohsin, Arjun Chheda, Nooris Gafoor, Rishab Jain, Rohaan Madesh, Ahren Manhas, Salva Marjan, Alex Sawer and Jack Taylor.