The fourth round of the 2026 FIA-certified French F4 Championship produced three different winners at Magny-Cours as the championship entered its second half. Thibaut Ramaekers claimed Race 1 before Maverick McKenna secured his maiden victory in the reverse-grid contest and Guillaume Bouzar responded with a decisive Race 3 triumph.
Matthéo Dauvergne started the weekend by securing pole position for both principal races, but he could not convert either opportunity into victory. Meanwhile, Ramaekers scored 50 points across the three races and reduced Bouzar’s championship advantage from 58 to 39 points. Annabelle Brian also moved into the Women’s Championship lead after producing the strongest eligible points haul in her category.
2026 French F4: Magny-Cours: Qualifying: Dauvergne takes double pole
The clouds repeatedly threatened to disrupt Friday’s Qualifying session, although the circuit remained dry as all 32 drivers attempted to establish their starting positions for the weekend’s three races. Bouzar set the early benchmark before a red flag interrupted the session after approximately 10 minutes.
Kota Tsuchihashi and Ramaekers remained close to the championship leader, while several competitors lost lap times for exceeding track limits. Dauvergne also had an early effort removed, but he responded immediately after the restart and became the only driver to break the 1:41 barrier.
Dauvergne completed a 1:40.975 to secure Race 1 pole by 0.203 seconds over Ramaekers. Tsuchihashi finished third ahead of Yuval Rosen, while Bouzar dropped to fifth after failing to improve on the lap that he recorded before the stoppage.
Tom Dussol qualified sixth ahead of Lilian Soares and McKenna. Paul Gleizes produced his strongest Qualifying performance of the season in ninth, while Jack Iliffe completed the top 10 and therefore secured pole for the reversed-grid Race 2.
Dauvergne also recorded the quickest second-best lap with a 1:41.177, giving him another pole position for Race 3. Ramaekers joined him on the front row, while Tsuchihashi and Bouzar occupied row two. Jade Jacquet led the women’s order ahead of Lisa Billard and Autumn Fisher.
2026 French F4: Magny-Cours: Race 1: Ramaekers overturns Dauvergne’s pole advantage
Dauvergne converted pole position into the lead through the opening sequence, but Ramaekers immediately placed the French driver under pressure. The Belgian closed under braking for the Adelaïde hairpin before completing the decisive pass on the exit of the Nürburgring corner.
Tsuchihashi recognised the opportunity and also moved ahead of Dauvergne to claim second. Dussol made an equally impressive start from sixth and subsequently passed the pole-sitter to secure third, leaving Dauvergne outside the podium positions.
Three Safety Car periods repeatedly compressed the field and prevented the leaders from establishing lasting advantages. Nevertheless, Ramaekers controlled each restart and resisted Tsuchihashi through the closing stages. Dussol remained close behind in third but could not challenge the leading pair.
Behind them, Hugo Herrouin produced one of the race’s strongest recovery drives by advancing from 12th to fifth. Soares followed in sixth, while McKenna finished seventh. Shane Chandaria gained seven positions to take eighth ahead of Lewis Francis and Rosen.
Bouzar endured a damaging race and completed only 10 of the 13 laps, leaving him 25th in the final classification. His difficulties allowed Ramaekers to remove a substantial portion of the championship deficit before the weekend reached its halfway point.
Ramaekers crossed the line 0.694 seconds ahead of Tsuchihashi and also recorded the fastest lap. Dussol claimed his first podium of the season, while Dauvergne had to settle for fourth despite starting from pole.
Race 1 Classification
- Thibaut Ramaekers
- Kota Tsuchihashi
- Tom Dussol
- Matthéo Dauvergne
- Hugo Herrouin
- Lilian Soares
- Maverick McKenna
- Shane Chandaria
- Lewis Francis
- Yuval Rosen
- Jules Avril
- Annabelle Brian
- Lisa Billard
- Wojciech Woda
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Kyler Cheezum
- Truly Adams
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Sasha Beisemann
- Autumn Fisher
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Sofia Zanfari
- Angelina Proenca
- Walter Schulz
- Guillaume Bouzar
- Thomas Senecloze
NC:
- Arthur Eschalier
- Paul Gleizes
- Jack Iliffe
- Oscar Goudchaux
- Jade Jacquet
- Nicolas Pasquier
Fastest lap: Thibaut Ramaekers — 1:41.457
Officials converted drive-through penalties for Schulz and Proenca into 18-second additions to their final race times.
Women’s Race 1 Classification
- Annabelle Brian
- Lisa Billard
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Autumn Fisher
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Sofia Zanfari
- Angelina Proenca
- Jade Jacquet — NC
2026 French F4: Magny-Cours: Race 2: McKenna secures maiden French F4 victory
Iliffe started the reversed-grid contest from pole alongside Gleizes, with McKenna and Soares directly behind them. However, McKenna quickly moved into first place and established himself as the driver to beat during the opening exchanges.
Soares followed the American through and remained close throughout the race. Although the French driver repeatedly applied pressure, McKenna defended the lead and prevented his rival from creating a decisive overtaking opportunity.
Ramaekers continued his productive weekend by advancing from ninth on the grid to third. Bouzar also recovered from sixth to fourth, limiting the championship damage after his difficult opening race, while Iliffe completed the top five after losing his pole advantage.
Herrouin gained six positions to finish sixth, while Senecloze advanced from 13th to seventh. Avril delivered one of the race’s largest recoveries by climbing 10 positions and taking the final reverse-grid point in eighth.
Further back, Dauvergne could only finish 19th despite setting the fastest lap. Tsuchihashi also endured a difficult race and finished one lap behind in 25th, while Dussol retired after four laps following his Race 1 podium.
McKenna ultimately defeated Soares by 0.516s and became another first-time winner during the 2026 French F4 season. Ramaekers’ third place completed a highly productive Saturday and placed him firmly back into championship contention.
Race 2 Classification
- Maverick McKenna
- Lilian Soares
- Thibaut Ramaekers
- Guillaume Bouzar
- Jack Iliffe
- Hugo Herrouin
- Thomas Senecloze
- Jules Avril
- Oscar Goudchaux
- Lisa Billard
- Yuval Rosen
- Truly Adams
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Jade Jacquet
- Sofia Zanfari
- Kyler Cheezum
- Lewis Francis
- Arthur Eschalier
- Matthéo Dauvergne
- Walter Schulz
- Annabelle Brian
- Sasha Beisemann
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Autumn Fisher
- Kota Tsuchihashi
- Shane Chandaria
NC:
- Paul Gleizes
- Wojciech Woda
- Angelina Proenca
- Tom Dussol
- Nicolas Pasquier
- Ginevra Panzeri
Fastest lap: Matthéo Dauvergne — 1:41.454
Officials added 10 seconds to Schulz’s result for repeated track-limit infringements. Chandaria received an 18-second penalty.
Women’s Race 2 Classification
- Lisa Billard
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Jade Jacquet
- Sofia Zanfari
- Annabelle Brian
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Autumn Fisher
- Angelina Proenca — NC
- Ginevra Panzeri — NC
2026 French F4: Magny-Cours: Race 3: Bouzar responds with fifth victory
Dauvergne started the final race from pole and retained first place through the opening corners. Ramaekers remained directly behind him, while Tsuchihashi held third ahead of Bouzar.
The leading four remained closely matched throughout the opening half of the race. Ramaekers repeatedly explored possible moves on Dauvergne but could not initially create enough overlap to complete a pass.
Their prolonged battle allowed Bouzar to close after he overtook Tsuchihashi. The decisive moment arrived during the final third of the race when Ramaekers attacked Dauvergne at the Nürburgring corner.
The two drivers compromised each other as they fought for position, allowing Bouzar to move to the inside and pass both in one sequence. Ramaekers recovered into second, but Dauvergne lost additional ground as Dussol took advantage and moved into third.
Tsuchihashi followed in fourth, while Soares passed Dauvergne during the closing stages to claim fifth. McKenna finished seventh and completed his strongest French F4 weekend, with Herrouin, Goudchaux and Rosen occupying the remaining points-paying positions.
Unlike the opening two races, the finale ran without a Safety Car. Bouzar therefore controlled the closing stages and crossed the line 2.715s ahead of Ramaekers, recording the fastest lap on the final tour and securing his fifth victory of the season.
The result restored part of the advantage that Bouzar had lost on Saturday. However, Ramaekers’ second place ensured that the Belgian still left Magny-Cours significantly closer to the championship leader than he had arrived.
Race 3 Classification
- Guillaume Bouzar
- Thibaut Ramaekers
- Tom Dussol
- Kota Tsuchihashi
- Lilian Soares
- Matthéo Dauvergne
- Maverick McKenna
- Hugo Herrouin
- Oscar Goudchaux
- Yuval Rosen
- Paul Gleizes
- Jules Avril
- Jack Iliffe
- Autumn Fisher
- Lisa Billard
- Nicolas Pasquier
- Jade Jacquet
- Thomas Senecloze
- Wojciech Woda
- Sasha Beisemann
- Annabelle Brian
- Truly Adams
- Walter Schulz
- Kyler Cheezum
- Sofia Zanfari
- Arthur Eschalier
- Angelina Proenca
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Lewis Francis
NC:
- Ginevra Panzeri
- Shane Chandaria
Fastest lap: Guillaume Bouzar — 1:40.977
Officials added five seconds to Avril’s result for track-limit infringements. Schulz received an 18-second penalty after officials converted a drive-through sanction.
Women’s Race 3 Classification
- Autumn Fisher
- Lisa Billard
- Jade Jacquet
- Annabelle Brian
- Sofia Zanfari
- Angelina Proenca
- Clara Stiebleichinger
- Héloïse Goldberg
- Ginevra Panzeri — NC
Weekend standouts and key trends
Ramaekers produced the weekend’s strongest championship performance. His Race 1 victory, Race 2 third place, Race 3 runner-up finish and opening-race fastest lap added 50 points to his total. He consequently reduced Bouzar’s advantage by 19 points over the complete round.
Bouzar endured his first non-scoring principal race since the opening round but responded strongly. Fourth in Race 2 limited the damage before his Race 3 victory and fastest lap moved him to 186 points.
McKenna enjoyed his most successful weekend of the season. Seventh in Race 1 preceded his maiden victory, while another seventh place in Race 3 lifted him from 13th to ninth in the championship.
Dussol also made considerable progress by claiming podium finishes in both principal races. His two third places doubled his points total from 22 to 52 and elevated him to seventh in the standings.
Tsuchihashi scored 30 points through second in Race 1 and fourth in Race 3, moving to within one point of Herrouin. Soares’ Race 2 runner-up finish and fifth place in the finale lifted him into third in the championship.
Dauvergne’s results did not reflect his Qualifying pace. Although he secured two poles and two fastest-lap bonus points, fourth, 19th and sixth left him 69 points and sixth in the championship.
In the women’s competition, Brian won the first race’s on-track classification and became the highest eligible championship finisher in Race 3. She moved nine points ahead of Stiebleichinger, while Proenca, Zanfari and Goldberg remain within reach with two rounds remaining.
2026 French F4 Standings after Round 4: Magny-Cours
Bouzar retained the championship lead despite losing ground to Ramaekers. The French driver holds 186 points, while his Belgian rival follows on 147.
Soares moved into third with 92 points after scoring in every race. Herrouin sits three points behind, while Tsuchihashi occupies fifth on 88.
Only four points separate Soares, Herrouin and Tsuchihashi, leaving the final podium positions highly contested before the championship travels to Lédenon.
Drivers’ Championship
- Guillaume Bouzar — 186 points
- Thibaut Ramaekers — 147
- Lilian Soares — 92
- Hugo Herrouin — 89
- Kota Tsuchihashi — 88
- Matthéo Dauvergne — 69
- Tom Dussol — 52
- Jack Iliffe — 47
- Maverick McKenna — 41
- Oscar Goudchaux — 38
- Yuval Rosen — 33
- Lewis Francis — 30
- Jules Avril — 23
- Shane Chandaria — 16
- Nicolas Pasquier — 11
- Jimmy Hélias — 9
- Arthur Eschalier — 8
- Thomas Senecloze — 3
- Clara Stiebleichinger — 1
- Wojciech Woda — 1
Women’s Championship
- Annabelle Brian — 175 points
- Clara Stiebleichinger — 166
- Angelina Proenca — 140
- Sofia Zanfari — 121
- Héloïse Goldberg — 118
- Isabella Abreu — 43
- Autumn Fisher — 23
Conclusion: Bouzar responds as Ramaekers reignites the title contest
Magny-Cours reshaped the French F4 title picture without removing Bouzar from control. His Race 1 difficulties presented Ramaekers with an opportunity, and the Belgian maximised it through a victory and two further podium finishes.
McKenna became the season’s latest maiden winner after controlling the reverse-grid race under pressure from Soares. Meanwhile, Dussol reached the podium twice, Tsuchihashi continued his consistent campaign and Soares moved into third in the standings.
Dauvergne demonstrated exceptional one-lap pace by claiming both pole positions, but his inability to convert either start into victory left him further behind the leading championship pair.
Bouzar ultimately delivered the response that he needed. His move past Ramaekers and Dauvergne in Race 3 secured another victory and ensured that he will enter the penultimate round with a 39-point advantage.
French F4 will resume at Lédenon from 18–20 September before concluding at Circuit Paul Ricard in October. Bouzar remains the clear favourite, but Ramaekers’ Magny-Cours performance ensured that the championship remains open heading into its final six races.
