Consani closes gap in UAE4 Series title battle ahead of season finale showdown

• Andy Consani heads home points leader Oleksandr Bondarev all the way from pole
• Alp Aksoy claims first UAE4 Series podium in third – scooping Rookie victory
• Kenzo Craigie on the verge of being crowned Rookie champion with strong points haul

Qatar, February 12, 2026: A second victory of the UAE4 Series season for Andy Consani at Qatar’s Lusail International Circuit means that his title fight with Oleksandr Bondarev will go down to a thrilling final day of action with two races on Friday.

The 16-year-old French talent, a protégé of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, held on in the face of attack from Williams junior Bondarev, but Consani was able to calmly steer his R-ace GP car to the chequered flag after a race disrupted by two safety car appearances and a red flag. Bondarev, the 16-year-old Ukrainian driving for the Prema-run Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited team, has now seen his points advantage eroded to 17 overnight. This pair are now the only drivers left in the title fight.

Another Mumbai Falcons driver, Turkish talent Alp Aksoy, secured his first podium of the UAE4 Series campaign thanks to third place. Aksoy also took victory in the Rookie classification, narrowly beating Kenzo Craigie. The young Briton, another Mercedes prospect from the R-ace GP stable, ended the day requiring just one point from Friday’s pair of races to become the 2026 Rookie champion.

In the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy (FRME), as a result of delays brought about by technical issues considered as a case of force majeure, officials took the decision to cancel the scheduled race in the interests of maintaining competition integrity and fairness, and in accordance with the Sporting Regulations. Per the revised schedule, one free practice, two qualifying sessions, and two races will be run on Friday, February 13.

UAE4 Series

Race 1

Oleksandr Bondarev was on provisional pole position as the chequered flag fell to end the opening qualifying session, but a blistering final lap from Andy Consani eclipsed that effort and put the Frenchman on pole position by 0.176 seconds.

Consani got away well at the start, but Bondarev tried to go around the outside of him at Turn 1. Then the Ukrainian got onto the kerb on the exit of the corner, and tucked back in to second place. However, Adam Al Azhari had failed to get away from fifth on the grid when the lights went out. Remarkably he was hit by no one, but the jostling away from the start resulted in damage being inflicted upon the car of Platon Kostin, who came to rest in the gravel trap at Turn 1. This meant the first appearance for the safety car.

While the recovery crew made its way towards the stricken car, there was disappointment for David Cosma-Cristofor, whose car came to a halt on the circuit. The race was then red-flagged, while Cosma-Cristofor, fourth in the points standings, would add none to his tally.

Once the race restarted, Consani judged things to perfection and had already built up a gap of around one second to Bondarev within one lap. Further down the order, an incident at Turn 16 plunged Zakaria Doleh into the gravel, and the safety car was called once again. Sun Anzhe was held responsible for this and given a three-place grid penalty for race two.

There was time for just one lap of action once Doleh’s car had been recovered, and this time Bondarev anticipated Consani’s restart much better than before. He again tried to pass around the outside of Turn 1, but once more Consani held firm, keeping Bondarev at bay to win by 0.736 seconds.

Alp Aksoy held off Kenzo Craigie for third place and the Rookie honours, although Craigie had to keep his wits about him to defend from Swedish Red Bull Junior Scott Kin Lindblom. The Hitech driver tried a bold move on Craigie at Turn 2 on the final lap, but had to settle for fifth ahead of his British-Emirati team-mate, Theo Palmer.

Palmer had come under attack from PHM Racing’s Iacopo Martinese at the first restart, the Italian getting ahead briefly before Palmer repassed. Martinese finished seventh ahead of the Prema Racing car of Spanish McLaren junior Christian Costoya. That also gave Martinese third in the Rookie class. Rounding out the points were ninth-placed Tomass Štolcermanis, the Latvian having his first race of the season with PHM Racing, and R-ace GP’s German youngster Elia Weiss in 10th. Thanks to placing 11th and 12th, Italian Ferrari Driver Academy prospect Niccolò Maccagnani (Mumbai Falcons) and Briton Joseph Smith (Xcel Motorsport) will start Friday’s first race from the front row of the reversed grid.