Theophile Nael takes another Spanish F4 win in first Jerez race

Photo: F4 Spain

Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael won Spanish Formula 4’s opening race at Jerez from fourth on the grid.

Pole position was taken by Campos Racing’s Andres Cardenas, by just 0.007 seconds over team-mate Enzo Deligny. It was a Campos 1-2-3-4 as Christian Ho was 0.113 behind in third and Nael was 0.195s off pole in fourth.

The top 21 were covered by 0.965s, and in total there were nine different drivers who at one point were on provisional pole before Cardenas went to the top with an unbeatable laptime.

The 35-car field was the biggest that Spanish F4 has had since the 2022 season finale, and at the start of the race Ho and Nael jumped the front row duo.

Ho and Nael had contact a few corners in and Nael got into the lead with Cardenas sneaking into second place. There was then a collision between MP Motorsport’s Alvise Rodella and Thomas Strauven which required the safety car to come out.

Fernando Barrichello also put his car into the gravel, and green flag action did not occur again until the race’s second half.

The top six held position on the restart, while Pedro Clerot dropped out of the points places. After a few laps the safety car was out again as Lin Hodenius beached his car in the gravel, while Rodella finally retired his car in the pits.

Rodin Carlin drivers Noah Lisle and Alex Ninovic almost collided on lap 15, and further back Sainteloc Racing’s Theodor Jensen spun his car to a stop. Although he had the capacity to get going again, race control red flagged the race on lap 16 and so the results were taken from the end of lap 14.

That meant Nael took a points lead-extending win by 0.746s over Cardenas, with Deligny completing the podium.

Race result (14 laps)