January 27, 2026 | News | Formula Winter Series
Young talents with Formula One backing were among the headliners on the entry. Dries Van Langendonck joined the returning Rodin Motorsport team, wearing the famed Papaya as part of McLaren’s Driver Development Programme. Van Amersfoort Racing’s line-up featured the Red Bull Junior Team’s latest Dutch prodigy Rocco Coronel, while Campos Racing entered Red Bull F1 Academy representatives Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira, alongside Red Bull Junior Team member Chiara Bättig.
Returning drivers such as Aleksander Ruta, Thomas Bearman (Van Amersfoort Racing), Teo Borenstein (Jenzer Motorsport) and Oleksandr Savinkov (US Racing) would be looking to fight for the title. Meanwhile, highly-touted rookies including Levi Arn, Alfie Slater, Ethan Lennon and Vittorio Orsini would all be looking to make a flying start in the Formula Winter Series.
The pair of Saturday qualifying sessions were heavily disrupted by rain, and this would leave all three races with starting orders that didn’t match the anticipated form book.
Ahead of the first race of the 2026 season, a deluge beset the Circuito Estoril. As a consequence, the race began under Safety Car. Teo Borenstein – who was fourth on the grid for Jenzer Motorsport – had a spin on the opening lap, drilling home the point that the conditions were not yet raceable.
After several laps behind the Safety Car, the cars were brought to the pits under a red flag. Marginal improvements to the conditions saw the cars roll again, however, further rain fell in the moments before the race finally saw green flags for the first time. In just a sector of racing, the likes of Aleksander Ruta, Viktor Poulsen, Ethan Lennon and Ary Bansal all had issues, forcing another Safety Car; one which would ultimately conclude the race.
The driver that started from pole, Dries Van Langendonck, ultimately only had to keep the car pointed straight to claim his first win of the season in the overall and rookie standings. He was followed home by fellow Rodin driver Alfie Slater and Jenzer’s Levi Arn, while Alisha Palmowski finished fourth overall for Campos Racing, winning the Female Trophy.
Race two:
The race two grid is typically formed by the second best times from Qualifying 1. However, owing to heavy red flag disruption in the session, only three drivers set a second flying lap; Alisha Palmowski, and AKM Motorsport’s Felipe Reijs and Vittorio Orsini. Therefore, those drivers made up the first three grid positions.
The remainder of the field was set by the fastest times from Thursday and Friday’s collective tests, placing Aleksander Ruta fourth, Dries Van Langendonck fifth and Rocco Coronel sixth. The race would be held in greasy conditions, with the field on wet tyres.
As the race began, both parties from row three got a fantastic start, and Rocco Coronel was already challenging Palmowski for the race lead by turn two. As the field rounded turn four, Coronel was firmly into the lead, and Dries Van Langendonck followed him through into second place. The top two broke away from the pack, while the likes of Palmowski, Aleksander Ruta, Thomas Bearman, Ethan Lennon and Alfie Slater were all fighting for third place.
Unfortunately, Slater and Bearman would collide at the exit of the Gancho chicane, spinning Slater out of the points as Bearman continued unabated. Another incident at Gancho damaged Viktor Poulsen’s AS Motorsport entry, triggering a Safety Car.
With approximately ten minutes remaining, the race resumed, but would shortly back out after a gravel excursion for Abdullah Kamel. With one lap to go, the field was released once more, and through all of the stops and starts, Rocco Coronel had retained his lead. The Dutch talent crossed the line to his first-ever Formula 4 race, ahead of Van Langendonck and Thomas Bearman. His first embrace after exiting the car was with his proud father, Tom.
After a race spent fighting for every position, Alisha Palmowski narrowly missed out on the top ten, but still won the Female Trophy from 11th.
Race three:
The third race would prove to be the most dramatic of the weekend, thanks in large part to rain, which began to fall on the grid as the drivers awaited the formation lap. With the entire field on slicks, and increasingly damp conditions, it was a tentative race start for all.
Pole-sitter Dries Van Langendonck held the lead in the early stages, holding off his Rodin teammates Ethan Lennon and Alfie Slater as well as Rocco Coronel. Further back, the likes of Teo Borenstein, Viktor Poulsen, Ginevra Panzeri and Markas Silkunas were involved in a tangle at the second corner, and the Safety Car was scrambled.
As conditions continued to deteriorate, many drivers elected to pit to switch to wet tyres. By the time the Safety Car left the circuit, a majority of the field had switched to wets; however, Rodin’s trio of drivers were among those still on slicks, while Rocco Coronel only switched as the green flag flew.
Oleksandr Savinkov was the first of the drivers who had switched to wets during the Safety Car, however, the US Racing driver was directly behind Campos’ Chiara Bättig, who started the race from the pits on what were clearly now the correct tyres.
Van Langendonck, Lennon, Slater and the other slick holdouts quickly fell through the field as the race resumed. Soon, Savinkov, Bättig and Ary Bansal were the top three, with the latter driver sliding into the race lead ahead of Savinkov. The two US Racing drivers broke away from Bättig, but were embroiled in their own fight. At turn seven, Savinkov committed to the outside line, finding the grip to draw alongside, and then sweep by at the following right-hand flick.
Bättig passed Bansal shortly thereafter, as the Indian racer appeared to struggle with his car’s balance.
The fastest driver in the top ten for chunks of the race was Mathilda Racing’s eponymous driver Mathilda Paatz, who worked her way up to third position. She would ultimately finish the race behind Bättig, marking a historic double female podium, and the first overall FWS podium appearances for a female driver since 2023.
However, it was ultimately a dominant win for Oleksandr Savinkov. The US Racing driver had finally won his first F4 race, in year three of his tenure in the category. With this result, Savinkov propelled himself to second in the championship, behind Dries Van Langendonck, who finished a frustrating third race in 22nd.
Ary Bansal remained in fourth place in race three, ahead of rookie class winner Vittorio Orsini (AKM Motorsport).
Over the course of a dramatic, intense weekend, some 24 drivers scored points. 22 competitors scored points across the entirety of the 2025 Formula Winter Series, highlighting the unpredictable and topsy-turvy nature of the Estoril event.
The Formula Winter Series will remain in Portugal for its next stop on the calendar, as the grid takes to Portimão’s Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on the 7th and 8th of February.
22 – 25 JAN ESTORIL /P
5 – 8 FEB PORTIMAO /P
12 – 15 FEB VALENCIA /E
5 – 8 MAR ARAGÓN /E
12 – 15 MAR BARCELONA /E
