The fifth and penultimate round of the 2026 FIA-certified French F4 Championship produced a breakthrough weekend for Kota Tsuchihashi at Lédenon, as the Japanese driver converted his first pole position into victories in both principal races. Between those successes, Jade Jacquet made championship history by controlling the reverse-grid Race 2 to become the first woman to win a race in French F4.
Championship leader Guillaume Bouzar did not win across the weekend, but Lédenon still represented a major step towards the title. He finished second in both principal races while closest rival Thibaut Ramaekers could manage only eighth in Race 1 and 19th in Race 3. Although Ramaekers recovered to second in the reverse-grid race, Bouzar increased his championship advantage from 39 to 62 points before the season finale at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Tsuchihashi consequently emerged as the weekend’s largest overall scorer, adding 57 points and climbing from fifth to third in the Drivers’ Championship. Lilian Soares also recorded podium finishes in both principal races, while Lewis Francis returned to the podium in Race 2. In the Women’s Championship, Annabelle Brian retained the lead despite strong weekends from Clara Stiebleichinger, Angelina Proenca and Sofia Zanfari.
2026 French F4: Lédenon: Qualifying: Tsuchihashi takes maiden pole
The 30-car field faced a demanding Friday Qualifying session around the 3.156-kilometre Lédenon circuit, where the timing of each driver’s tyre window became particularly important. An early stoppage interrupted the initial running before times began to fall rapidly during the second half of the 30-minute session.
Tsuchihashi ultimately emerged fastest with a 1:21.769, securing his first French F4 pole position. Soares came extraordinarily close to denying him, finishing only 0.019s behind with a 1:21.788. Bouzar took an important third on a 1:22.047, placing the championship leader in a considerably stronger position than Ramaekers.
Jack Iliffe produced a late improvement to secure fourth ahead of Hugo Herrouin, while Tom Dussol, Francis and Matthéo Dauvergne occupied the next three positions. Ramaekers could manage only ninth, 0.524s away from pole, leaving six drivers between himself and Bouzar at a crucial stage of the championship.
Jacquet completed the top 10 with a 1:22.352, only two thousandths faster than Oscar Goudchaux. Her result also gave her pole position for the reversed-grid Race 2. Among the women, Sofia Zanfari followed Jacquet with a 1:22.672, ahead of Stiebleichinger, Ginevra Panzeri and Brian.
Tsuchihashi also recorded the quickest second-best lap with a 1:21.791, ensuring that he would start Race 3 from pole as well. Soares again joined him on the front row, while Bouzar occupied third. Herrouin and Dauvergne completed the top five on the second-best-lap classification, with Ramaekers only 10th.
2026 French F4: Lédenon: Race 1: Tsuchihashi converts pole into maiden victory
Tsuchihashi entered Race 1 with three previous podium finishes during the season but without a victory. That changed at Lédenon as the Honda Racing School-backed driver converted pole position into a controlled lights-to-flag win, resisting pressure from Bouzar and managing the race’s interruptions without losing command.
Soares initially started alongside Tsuchihashi, but Bouzar quickly passed him and began pursuing the race leader. Tsuchihashi refused to make the mistake that his rival needed, maintaining first through the opening phase before a Safety Car shortly before halfway eliminated the advantage that he had begun to establish.
The Japanese driver immediately rebuilt the gap when racing resumed and also secured the fastest lap. His 1:21.634 proved more than a quarter of a second quicker than Bouzar’s best effort, and he eventually crossed the line 3.626s clear after 20 laps to take his first French F4 victory.
Bouzar remained secure in second, while Soares completed the podium only 0.401s further behind. Herrouin had fought his way ahead of Iliffe for fourth on track, but a two-second post-race penalty reversed their positions and returned fourth to the American. Francis followed closely in sixth ahead of Dauvergne and Ramaekers.
Ramaekers’ eighth place represented another blow in his pursuit of Bouzar. Having started ninth, the Belgian gained only one position while his championship rival finished second and collected another 18 points. Nicolas Pasquier climbed from 12th to ninth, while Yuval Rosen produced an even larger recovery from 17th to secure the final point in 10th.
Dussol had occupied sixth for much of the contest before retiring after 14 laps, while Maverick McKenna completed only 15. Jacquet’s difficult opening race also ended after six laps, leaving her 29th in the classification despite the pace she had demonstrated during Qualifying.
Race 1 Classification
- Kota Tsuchihashi
- Guillaume Bouzar
- Lilian Soares
- Jack Iliffe
- Hugo Herrouin
- Lewis Francis
- Matthéo Dauvergne
- Thibaut Ramaekers
- Nicolas Pasquier
- Yuval Rosen
- Jules Avril
- Wojciech Woda
- Shane Chandaria
- Oscar Goudchaux
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Autumn Fisher
- Kyler Cheezum
- Sasha Beisemann
- Angelina Proenca
- Paul Gleizes
- Arthur Eschalier
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Annabelle Brian
- Sofia Zanfari
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Walter Schulz
- Maverick McKenna
NC: Tom Dussol, Jade Jacquet, Thomas Senecloze.
Fastest lap: Kota Tsuchihashi — 1:21.634
Officials added 29 seconds to Zanfari and Brian’s race times after converting drive-through penalties. Herrouin received a two-second penalty, while Senecloze was handed a 10-place grid drop.
Women’s Race 1 Classification
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Autumn Fisher
- Angelina Proenca
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Annabelle Brian
- Sofia Zanfari
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Jade Jacquet — NC
Panzeri emerged as the leading woman after Jacquet’s retirement, recovering from 23rd on the overall grid to finish 15th. Fisher followed in 16th overall, while Proenca completed the women’s podium.
2026 French F4: Lédenon: Race 2: Jacquet makes French F4 history
Race 2 delivered the defining moment of the weekend as Jacquet used her reverse-grid pole position to become the first woman to win a race in the French F4 Championship. Having qualified 10th, the Williams Racing Driver Academy member started from the front and never relinquished the lead throughout the 19-lap contest.
Jacquet immediately established herself at the front and began opening a sizeable advantage over Ramaekers. She also produced the fastest lap of the race, setting a 1:22.661 on Lap 3. A Safety Car eventually removed the gap that she had created, but the interruption did little to change the outcome.
When racing resumed, Jacquet once again pulled clear. Behind her, Ramaekers came under intense pressure from Francis and Dussol as the three fought for the remaining podium positions. Only 0.221s eventually separated second from fourth, but Ramaekers resisted the attacks and secured eight valuable championship points with second place, 1.620s behind Jacquet.
Francis finished only 0.140s behind Ramaekers to secure third and his first podium since Spa-Francorchamps. Dussol was another 0.081s further back in fourth, recovering strongly after his Race 1 retirement. Soares climbed from 10th to fifth, while Race 1 winner Tsuchihashi made the same four-position gain to take sixth.
Jules Avril advanced five places to seventh, while Herrouin collected the final reverse-grid points in eighth. McKenna produced one of the race’s strongest recovery drives by climbing from 17th to ninth but narrowly missed the points, and Iliffe completed the top 10.
The race also temporarily reopened the championship battle. Bouzar crashed at the back of the field and finished 26th, while Dauvergne retired after completing only one lap. With Bouzar scoring nothing and Ramaekers taking second, the Belgian recovered 10 points from the championship leader before Sunday’s finale.
Jacquet’s overall victory simultaneously gave her first place in the women’s race, with Stiebleichinger finishing second in the category and Panzeri third. However, Jacquet did not score Women’s Championship points because of her simultaneous F1 Academy participation.
Race 2 Classification
- Jade Jacquet
- Thibaut Ramaekers
- Lewis Francis
- Tom Dussol
- Lilian Soares
- Kota Tsuchihashi
- Jules Avril
- Hugo Herrouin
- Maverick McKenna
- Jack Iliffe
- Oscar Goudchaux
- Shane Chandaria
- Nicolas Pasquier
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Yuval Rosen
- Walter Schulz
- Kyler Cheezum
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Arthur Eschalier
- Angelina Proenca
- Annabelle Brian
- Sofia Zanfari
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Thomas Senecloze
- Wojciech Woda
- Guillaume Bouzar
NC: Sasha Beisemann, Paul Gleizes, Autumn Fisher, Matthéo Dauvergne.
Fastest lap: Jade Jacquet — 1:22.661
Officials converted drive-through penalties for Senecloze and Woda into 29-second additions to their race times, while Gleizes received a 10-place grid penalty.
Women’s Race 2 Classification
- Jade Jacquet
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Angelina Proenca
- Annabelle Brian
- Sofia Zanfari
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Autumn Fisher — NC
2026 French F4: Lédenon: Race 3: Tsuchihashi completes weekend double
Tsuchihashi returned to pole for Sunday’s final race after recording the fastest second-best lap during Qualifying. Soares again lined up alongside him, with Bouzar third and Herrouin fourth, while Ramaekers faced a considerably more difficult challenge from 10th.
As in Race 1, Tsuchihashi converted pole into the lead and controlled the contest from the front. Two Safety Car periods interrupted the 18-lap race, but neither restart unsettled him, and he repeatedly resisted the pressure behind to remain in command through to the chequered flag.
Bouzar moved into second and placed himself in a position to capitalise on Ramaekers’ early problems. The Belgian became involved in an incident at the start that sent him towards the back of the field, effectively removing him from contention for meaningful points. While Ramaekers attempted to recover, Bouzar remained directly behind Tsuchihashi and simultaneously moved significantly closer to the championship.
Tsuchihashi eventually won by 1.257s to complete his first French F4 double. Bouzar secured second and also recorded the fastest lap with a 1:21.937, only four thousandths quicker than Tsuchihashi’s best. The bonus point increased the championship leader’s Race 3 haul to 19 points.
Soares completed another strong weekend with third place, finishing only 1.133s behind Bouzar. Herrouin remained close in fourth, while Dauvergne took fifth. Rosen produced one of the race’s strongest advances to finish sixth, with Dussol seventh ahead of Chandaria, Goudchaux and Senecloze.
Ramaekers could recover only to 19th and therefore scored no points. The result proved especially damaging because Bouzar had already held a 39-point advantage before the weekend. Combined with Bouzar’s second place and fastest lap, the non-score increased the deficit considerably before Paul Ricard.
Several other drivers also encountered difficult finales. Iliffe retired after four laps while running among the chasing group, Panzeri completed only three laps and Francis did not start. McKenna and Eschalier finished three laps down.
Jacquet finished 13th overall and once again topped the on-track women’s classification, completing a remarkable weekend after her outright Race 2 victory. Zanfari finished second among the women ahead of Brian, Stiebleichinger, Fisher, Proenca and Goldberg, while Panzeri retired. With Jacquet ineligible for Women’s Championship points, Zanfari took the largest eligible score from the race.
Race 3 Classification
- Kota Tsuchihashi
- Guillaume Bouzar
- Lilian Soares
- Hugo Herrouin
- Matthéo Dauvergne
- Yuval Rosen
- Tom Dussol
- Shane Chandaria
- Oscar Goudchaux
- Thomas Senecloze
- Nicolas Pasquier
- Wojciech Woda
- Jade Jacquet
- Walter Schulz
- Jules Avril
- Paul Gleizes
- Sofia Zanfari
- Annabelle Brian
- Thibaut Ramaekers
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Autumn Fisher
- Angelina Proenca
- Kyler Cheezum
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Sasha Beisemann
- Maverick McKenna
- Arthur Eschalier
NC: Jack Iliffe, Ginevra Panzeri, Lewis Francis.
Fastest lap: Guillaume Bouzar — 1:21.937
Women’s Race 3 Classification
- Jade Jacquet
- Sofia Zanfari
- Annabelle Brian
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Autumn Fisher
- Angelina Proenca
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Ginevra Panzeri — NC
Weekend standouts and key trends
Tsuchihashi delivered the strongest weekend of his French F4 career. After taking his first pole position, he controlled both principal races from start to finish and added the Race 1 fastest lap. Sixth in the reverse-grid contest completed a 57-point weekend, moving him from 88 to 145 points and lifting him from fifth to third in the championship.
Jacquet produced the weekend’s most significant individual milestone. Her reverse-grid pole became an outright victory after she controlled Race 2 through the Safety Car interruption and set the fastest lap, making her the first woman to win a French F4 race. She then topped the women’s on-track order again in Race 3. However, her F1 Academy participation means she is not eligible to score towards the separate French Women’s F4 Championship.
Bouzar’s weekend was less spectacular but potentially decisive for the championship. Second place in Race 1, a non-score in Race 2 and second with fastest lap in Race 3 added 37 points to his total. More importantly, Ramaekers added only 14 after eighth, second and 19th, allowing Bouzar to increase his championship advantage by 23 points.
Soares also produced one of the most consistent weekends in the field. Third in Race 1, fifth in Race 2 and third again in Race 3 added 35 points, moving him from 92 to 127. However, Tsuchihashi’s larger haul means Soares slips from third to fourth in the championship despite his two podium finishes.
Herrouin collected 24 points through fifth, eighth and fourth, while Dauvergne added 16 despite retiring from Race 2. Dussol recovered from his opening-race retirement by taking fourth in the reverse-grid contest and seventh in Race 3, while Francis’ third place in Race 2 helped move him to 46 championship points.
In the women’s competition, Brian retained the championship lead and moved from 175 to 215 points. Stiebleichinger remains second after increasing her total from 166 to 203, while Proenca follows on 189. Zanfari’s productive Lédenon weekend moved her to 168, ahead of Goldberg on 150, while Isabella Abreu remains on 43 after not competing at the round.
2026 French F4 Standings after Round 5: Lédenon
Bouzar leaves Lédenon with 223 points and a 62-point advantage over Ramaekers. The Frenchman has therefore more than compensated for the ground he lost to his Belgian rival at Magny-Cours, where the gap had fallen from 58 to 39 points.
Tsuchihashi’s double victory moves him into third on 145 points, 16 behind Ramaekers and 18 ahead of Soares. Herrouin follows on 113, while Dauvergne remains sixth on 85. Dussol, Iliffe and Francis occupy seventh through ninth, with Rosen and McKenna tied on 42 points.
Drivers’ Championship
- Guillaume Bouzar — 223 points
- Thibaut Ramaekers — 161
- Kota Tsuchihashi — 145
- Lilian Soares — 127
- Hugo Herrouin — 113
- Matthéo Dauvergne — 85
- Tom Dussol — 64
- Jack Iliffe — 59
- Lewis Francis — 46
- Yuval Rosen — 42
- Maverick McKenna — 42
- Oscar Goudchaux — 40
- Jules Avril — 26
- Shane Chandaria — 20
- Nicolas Pasquier — 13
- Jimmy Hélias — 9
- Arthur Eschalier — 8
- Thomas Senecloze — 4
- Clara Stiebleichinger — 1
- Wojciech Woda — 1
Bouzar has not yet mathematically secured the championship, but his 62-point advantage places him in a commanding position before the final three races. Ramaekers remains second, while Tsuchihashi’s Lédenon performance has brought him to within 16 points of the Belgian and created another significant contest for the final championship positions.
Women’s Championship
- Annabelle Brian — 215 points
- Clara Stiebleichinger — 203
- Angelina Proenca — 189
- Sofia Zanfari — 168
- Héloïse Goldberg — 150
- Isabella Abreu — 43
Brian’s advantage over Stiebleichinger has increased slightly from nine points after Magny-Cours to 12 after Lédenon. However, Proenca remains only 26 points from the lead, while Zanfari’s strong weekend has kept her within range heading into the finale.
Conclusion: Tsuchihashi breaks through as Bouzar moves closer to title
Lédenon produced two of the most significant breakthroughs of the 2026 French F4 season. Tsuchihashi transformed his first championship pole into two controlled victories and emerged as a clear contender for a top-three championship finish, while Jacquet converted reverse-grid pole into a historic outright victory and demonstrated the pace that had already placed her inside the Qualifying top 10.
The championship contest moved in the opposite direction. Ramaekers had reignited his challenge by reducing Bouzar’s advantage to 39 points at Magny-Cours, but Lédenon swung the momentum firmly back towards the French driver. Bouzar’s two second-place finishes and Race 3 fastest lap combined with Ramaekers’ difficult principal races to increase the gap to 62 points.
Soares and Herrouin remain prominent in the fight behind the leading pair, but Tsuchihashi’s 57-point weekend has reshaped that contest. His rise from fifth to third puts him ahead of both heading into the final round, while only 32 points separate Tsuchihashi, Soares and Herrouin.
French F4 will conclude its 2026 season at Circuit Paul Ricard in October. Bouzar arrives with a substantial championship advantage but without the title mathematically secured, while Ramaekers retains a path to the championship. The final three races will also settle the fight for third overall and a Women’s Championship in which Brian, Stiebleichinger and Proenca remain closely matched.
