Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
UAE drivers Rashid Al Dhaheri (Prema Racing) and Keanu Al Azhari (Yas Heat Racing Academy) went wheel for wheel in grabbing attention as the Formula 4 UAE Championship came to an end on Sunday at the Dubai Autodrome. Freddie Slater won the overall crown, but he had Al Dhaheri's victory in the last weekend's third and final race to thank for his silverware.
The final of the five weekends that comprise the championship saw Al Dhaheri putting up an impressive show under pressure. The 15-year-old Slater, His Mumbai Falcons teammate Kean Nakamura-Berta, Al Azhari and Al Dhaheri were all involved in the final moments of the championship that went down to the wire and fittingly finished on the overall series podium in that order.
The weekend rounded out another hugely successful season for the championship, which continues to power the development of motorsport in the region. Slater finished with 172 points, four ahead of his teammate. Both Al Azhari (164 pts) and Al Dhaheri (153) had two race victories out of a possible 15, but the former nudged ahead of Al Dhaheri with two more second-place finishes.
His Excellency Khalid Bin Sulayem, President of the Emirates Motorsports Organisation, said: "The F4 UAE Championship has grown leaps and bounds since its launch in 2016. We are seeing young local talent driving and we are confident that the series will continue to reach new heights.
"
Heading into this weekend,
Alpine Formula 1 team protégé Nakamura-Berta and Al Dhaheri were the form men over the weekend. Nakamura-Berta, 16, and Enzo Deligny took the first two races, leaving it all to fight for in the grand finale for the major players. The points system is similar to F1 where the winner gets 25 points, second 18 points and 15 for the third.
Slater had his share of struggles in the first two races but fought his way up, including upstaging Al Azhari twice, to take fifth, fourth and third in the three races.
In the finale, Nakamura-Berta lost his pole position advantage to Al Dhaheri at the start as Slater moved into third. If Nakamura-Berta got into the lead, the title would be his, but Al Dhaheri held firm. Nakamura-Berta was second, and he gained some consolation by being crowned Rookie champion.
Mumbai Falcons completed a hat-trick of championships by adding the teams' title to Slater's overall honours and Nakamura-Berta's rookie feat.
Nakamura-Berta was dominant in the second qualifying session to earn pole position for the final race of the F4 UAE season by 0.665 seconds. With Slater fourth on the grid and Al Azhari 10th, a processional race with no changes of position would mean Nakamura-Berta would become champion.
But such is not the way of F4 UAE. Instead, Al Dhaheri got a better launch from the other front-row position to grab the lead from Nakamura-Berta into Turn 1.
And with Alex Powell, third on the grid, suffering a problem at the lights that put him out of the race, Slater was already up to third. Now Slater was in the theoretical title-winning position, but that did not stop him throwing everything into trying to pass Nakamura-Berta over the course of the opening lap. That allowed Al Dhaheri to extend a nice margin at the front of the field.
Meanwhile, an incident on Turn 10 cost Al Azhari any hopes of making ground. Post the safety car period, if both Slater and Nakamura-Berta got past Al Dhaheri to finish first and second, they would be on equal points and Nakamura-Berta would claim the crown on wins countback.
It turned out that this was a moot point. Al Dhaheri did not put a wheel wrong over the remaining eight laps of racing. Nakamura-Berta was never close enough to try a move that would not entail enormous risk, and Al Dhaheri prevailed by 0.707 seconds. Slater appeared to lack the pace of the leading duo, but third place was enough for him to become champion.
