Tiago Rodrigues shifts from China to UAE F4 Championship for 2024

In 2024, local racer Tiago Rodrigues will race at the Formula 4 (F4) UAE Championship, a five-round championship on two circuits: the Yas Marina Circuit; and the Dubai Autodrome.

The local teenager won the title in his rookie year at the 2023 F4 Chinese Championship.

He is ready to raise the bar by entering the full season of this competitive championship, he told the Times exclusively.

Rodrigues is as yet unsure how far he can go or what can he do in this championship, because the final entry list of drivers and teams has not yet been officially published.

Major motorsport teams will participate including Hitech Pulse-Eight, Prema, Agi Sport, PHM Racing, Pinnacle Motorsport and XCEL Motorsport.

The local racer told the Times he will be racing in XCEL Motorsport machinery this year, a UAE-based team managed by Paul Hardy.

The team has enormous experience in Karting and has been betting on transitioning young racers from the Karts to the Formulas.

The 2024 F4 UAE Championship will be the eighth season of this series and the last under this moniker before it rebrands as the F4 Middle East Championship from 2025.

This decision became public after the meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in mid-October last year.

The decision from the FIA Single-Seater Commission aims to improve interest in championship events and provide a better learning platform for young drivers by ensuring a greater variety of circuits.

The 2025 championship will also race in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Current FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem founded the series in 2016, to enable local and foreign drivers to compete over the (European) winter in a condensed and cost-effective format.

The regular season commences Jan. 12 at the Yas Marina Circuit and will conclude Feb. 18 at the Dubai Autodrome.

The format of five-rounds includes 15 races (three per weekend) raced on consecutive weekends.

The exception is the third round (first in the Dubai Autodrome) which will have a one week break after the first two at Yas Marina Circuit (Abu Dhabi).

The series uses the same cars as last November’s Macau F4 Grand Prix and races alongside other series such as the Formula Regional Middle East Championship (F3 specifications) and the Asian Le Mans Series.