Photo: Copa Notiauto
The 2024-25 NACAM Formula 4 season finally got underway with two races on the support bill of Formula 1’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
The choatic run up to the opening event began in February, at which point a seven-round 2024 season starting in June was expected. When the season-opening round in Mexico City did not come to pass, a new 2024-25 schedule was announced with Puebla as venue of the first races on October 5/6.
The calendar for NACAM F4’s next season has been released.
2024
1 Puebla (October 5/6)
2 Mexico City (October 25-27) [F1 support slot]
3 Puebla (November 23/24)
4 Mexico City (December 16/17)
2025
5 Mexico City (January 25/26)
6 Queretaro (February 22/23)
7 Monterrey (March 7/8) pic.twitter.com/UraGxNpGde— Formula Scout (@FormulaScout) July 1, 2024
That also did not go ahead, and the championship did not comment why when approached by Formula Scout. On October 17, the calendar was updated again.
January’s Mexico City round was postponed by a week, and the following two rounds were cancelled. Bringing the schedule back up to seven rounds were replacement events in Mexico City (March 1/2 and May 2/3) and at Autodromo Panama (April 5/6).
The trip to Panama will mark the fourth time NACAM F4 has raced outside of Mexico. The 2016-17 season opener was at Circuit of the Americas, then two non-championship events ran at MSR Houston in 2021.
Despite the appeal of being in the F1 support paddock, only 10 drivers turned up for the championship’s first races using second-generation F4 cars.
Alessandros Racing’s Helio Meza set the pace in practice on Friday, a 1m48.713s lap putting him 0.31 seconds ahead of team-mate Jose Carlos Hernandez. RRK Motorsports’ Cristian Cantu, the 2023 championship runner-up, was 1.804s off the pace in third and his team-mate Alex Franco was 11.371s slower than Meza in last place.
Hernandez moved to the top in qualifying on Saturday, setting a 1m46.333s to take pole by 0.515s from Meza. Ram Racing’s Zaki Ibrahim and Cantu were 0.761s and 0.877s behind in third and fourth, with 5.661s covering the field on pace.
In race one, Hernandez took a dominant win, finishing 10.989s clear of Ibrahim. Meza was close behind to complete the podium in third, with Cantu finishing over seven seconds back in fourth but well clear of the rest.
Pole position for race two on Sunday also belonged to Hernandez, and he took a lights-to-flag win. There was early drama, as the pace car appeared following a crash instigated by Santinel Racing’s Horia-Traian Chirigut and which also eliminated Cantu and Alessandros’s Alex Bobadilla.
Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Jose Carlos Hernandez Alessandros Racing 25m05.880s
2 Zaki Ibrahim Ram Racing +10.989s
3 Helio Meza Alessandros Racing +11.450s
4 Christian Cantu RRK Motorsports +19.120s
5 Alex Bobadilla Alessandros Racing +43.089s
6 Jose Martinez Alessandros Racing +51.983s
7 Horia-Traian Chirigut Santinel Racing +57.788s
8 Maximiliano Mora Ram Racing +58.369s
9 Alex Franco RRK Motorsports +1m05.201s
10 Alan Zezatti Ram Racing +1m10.911s
Pole: Hernandez, 1m46.333s
Fastest lap: Hernandez, 1m46.718s
Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Hernandez 19m53.340s
2 Meza +0.950s
3 Ibrahim +5.994s
4 Martinez +27.375s
5 Mora +29.409s
6 Franco +44.012s
7 Zezatti +1m01.764s
Reti Chirigut
Ret Cantu
Ret Bobadilla
FL: Meza, 1m46.725s