The dust had barely settled on a thrilling four-way Formula Regional European Championship title fight at Hockenheim when teams returned to the German track for the first post-season test, offering an early glimpse of potential 2027 line-ups. Yuki Sano of R-ace GP and rookie Dries van Langendonck of MP Motorsport topped the two sessions on day one.
However, the proximity of F4 rounds in Italy and France at the weekend limited the number of drivers from those championships, with notable absentees including respective points leaders Luca Sammalisto and Guillaume Bouzar, although the Frenchman visited the FREC paddock over the weekend.
In the morning session, Sano was dominant. The Toyota-backed driver, a race winner at the Hungaroring in 2026, consistently improved his times and ended the session with the fastest lap of the day, a 1m35.025s. He also completed 89 laps, the second-most among all drivers. At reigning champions R-ace GP, Sano was joined by two F1 juniors: Mercedes' Kenzo Craigie and Williams' Oleksandr Bondarev. Craigie finished fifth overall, while Bondarev—who won on his debut with Van Amersfoort Racing at Imola last season—was one place behind, both setting their best times in the morning.
After the break, van Langendonck stole the show. The McLaren junior, who recently joined Max Verstappen's management stable, wasted no time in Sebastian Wheldon's race-winning car at MP Motorsport, setting a 1m35.301s early in the afternoon to lead the session and end the day third overall. At MP Motorsport, he will partner with Rocco Coronel—son of Dutch racing legend Tom Coronel—and Kasper Schormans, the current Spanish F4 leader. This combination promises fierce intra-team competition.
Meanwhile, Scott Lindblom of Van Amersfoort Racing was second overall. The Red Bull junior, currently sixth in British F4, set a 1m35.234s in the morning. He was joined by Pedro Lima and Fernando Rivera; Rivera completed 94 laps, the most of any driver. At Trident Motorsport, Ary Bansal completed the virtual podium with a 1m35.248s.
At Rodin Motorsport, Alisha Palmowski showed promising pace. She finished 15th, just 0.115s slower than teammate Alex Ninovic. David Cosma Cristofor, second in Italian F4, drove the team's third entry and finished 22nd. ART Grand Prix ran two of its 2026 drivers, Alexandre Munoz and Matteo Giaccardi, alongside rookie Thibaut Ramaekers, currently second in French F4. Prema Racing fielded only two cars for Saqer Almaosherji and Oleksandr Savinkov.
This post-season test is a crucial stepping stone towards 2027. With several drivers already securing seats, the battle for spots in top teams will only intensify. Hockenheim, which witnessed a dramatic title fight just days ago, now serves as the first stage for young talents to prove themselves.
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