Emily Cotty delivered her strongest F4 Middle East weekend yet in Abu Dhabi, securing points, back-to-back rookie podiums, and consistently improving her pace in a highly competitive field.
Farah Al Yousef continued her steady progress in Abu Dhabi, setting personal best lap times in each session, gaining valuable race experience, and further closing the gap to the midfield in her first full season of single-seaters.
At the end of another strong showing in the F4 Middle East Championship, British rookie Emily Cotty achieved her personal best finish in F4 with an 11th place at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit, adding more points to her tally and securing a spot on the Rookie class podium for the second time in two weeks.
Cotty had a breakthrough round one week ago at the Dubai Autodrome, where she scored her first points in the series with a 12th-place finish in the second race of the weekend—an achievement that also earned her a first Rookie podium in an ultra-competitive field featuring some of the world's top F4 racers.
Competing in her first full-time F4 campaign after a one-off appearance in the British F4 Championship in 2024, supported by an extensive testing program, Cotty has been building the foundations for a strong rookie season.
After joining R-Ace GP for the Formula Trophy UAE series—where she secured her first top-15 finish—she returned for a full season in the newly rebranded F4 Middle East Championship. Over the opening rounds, she made significant progress, steadily climbing the order until her point-scoring finish in Dubai. Returning to Abu Dhabi for the fourth round, Emily aimed to carry that momentum and continue the development process that has seen her closing in on the top ten.
Saudi driver Farah Al Yousef, making her transition from karting to single-seaters, has been using the F4 Middle East season as a learning opportunity. She has shown steady improvement each weekend aboard the Evans GP Tatuus F4 car. At Abu Dhabi, Farah aimed to continue narrowing the gap to the front-runners and gain more valuable experience.
The weekend started with pre-event testing, where Emily Cotty once again showed the pace to contend for the top 15. Al Yousef recorded her best practice time in the final session, setting a 2:05.485 lap as she returned to the Yas Marina Grand Prix layout after her single-seater debut earlier in January.
However, official practice took place at night, making conditions quite different from the rest of the weekend and limiting its relevance for race preparations.
With Q1 setting the grid for the first race, Cotty quickly showed strong pace. Midway through the session, she briefly held second place after her first representative lap. As times continued to tumble, she broke the two-minute barrier with a 1:57.4, positioning herself in 16th. Farah Al Yousef posted a 2:08.3 early in the session, temporarily placing her in 25th.
In the final minute, Cotty improved to a 1:56.866, securing a solid midfield position in 16th. Meanwhile, Farah made a big improvement, bringing her time down to 2:04.107.
On her final attempt, Cotty delivered a strong second sector but couldn't improve her overall lap time, ultimately taking the checkered flag in 18th. Al Yousef would start from 27th.
The second 15-minute qualifying session saw all drivers fitting fresh tyres. Farah Al Yousef set an early 2:02.6 lap, briefly placing her in second with eight minutes to go—another big step forward in her progress.
Emily Cotty posted a 1:46.7, placing her inside the top 15 with five minutes remaining. She improved again on the following lap, moving back up to 16th before ultimately finishing 18th when time ran out.
Al Yousef was unable to match her earlier time in the final laps and remained in 27th for the second qualifying session as well. Pole positions went to championship leader Emanuele Olivieri and Alex Powell.
RACE 1
A few hours later, the first race of the weekend got underway in very warm conditions.
At lights out, Tomass Stolcermanis fired into the lead, beating Olivieri off the line. However, he ran deep at Turn 6, allowing Olivieri and Nakamura-Berta to move back ahead.
Emily Cotty had a strong start, climbing to P17 as Sebastian Wheldon struggled off the line.
Farah Al Yousef overtook Yuta Suzuki and completed the first lap in P26.
Cotty found herself in close battles in the busy midfield; Wheldon managed to reclaim his position, and Martin Molnar also slipped past, dropping Cotty to 19th.
She continued improving her lap times and maintained a competitive pace, working to fight back against the cars ahead while also keeping Taha Hassiba behind. Meanwhile, Al Yousef ran consistent 2:05s, holding steady in 26th.
By lap 6, Cotty improved to a 1:57.5—top-10-worthy pace at that point—and was now chasing Chheda and Hewetson, both of whom had lost positions to the recovering Wheldon and Molnar.
On lap 9, Cotty passed Hewetson and gained another spot when Oleksandr Savinkov dropped down the order. Now up to 17th, she moved ahead of Bader Al Sulaiti after the latter picked up front wing damage—securing fourth place among the rookies.
Just ahead, Arjun Chheda and Tiago Rodrigues were trading positions, and Cotty looked to capitalize on their battle.
On the same lap, Cotty set her personal best lap at 1:57.448, keeping within one second of the cars ahead. She made a final push, closing the gap, but ultimately took the checkered flag in P16—completing a strong run, gaining two positions from the start in a caution-free race.
Al Yousef’s pace continued to improve, running in the 2:03.8 range by lap 12. She picked up one more place on the final lap, passing compatriot Abdullah Ayman Kamel to finish P24.
At the front, Emanuele Olivieri claimed victory, finishing 2.8 seconds ahead of Kean Nakamura-Berta and Alex Powell, who had cleared Stolcermanis in the opening stages.
RACE 2
Following a very positive first race, Emily Cotty lined up in 16th place, aiming to maintain momentum and continue her forward progress. Farah Al Yousef started from 24th.
At the front, Fu Yuhao retained the lead from reverse-grid pole from Reno Francot and Chi Zhenrui, who had a strong start, demoting Stolcermanis and Al Azhari. Cotty held her position safely off the line, while Al Yousef also had a clean start, maintaining P24. Oleksandr Savinkov pitted at the end of the first lap for a new front wing.
Francot made a move for the lead at the end of the opening lap; meanwhile, championship leader Olivieri, along with Stolcermanis and Al Azhari, was forced to pit after early incidents.
Cotty had an incredible first lap, gaining six positions to move into tenth place and third among the rookies.
She then found herself battling Martin Molnar, who overtook her for P11, leaving Cotty to defend against Tiago Rodrigues.
Meanwhile, Farah Al Yousef managed to get back ahead of the recovering Bondarev, moving up to P23 by lap 4. She set her best lap in 2:05s and then improved to 2:04s by lap 5, though Bondarev eventually found a way back through.
Cotty was running highly competitive 1:57s lap times. By lap 6, she improved her personal best and worked to create a gap between herself and Rodrigues. While Emily held on well, the Macanese driver stayed within half a second, keeping the pressure on.
Al Yousef dropped to 25th but continued improving her lap times significantly, clocking a 2:02.8—close to her personal best from Q2 and showing steady progress.
By lap 13, Farah recorded a 2:02.325—topping her best lap of the weekend.
On lap 10, Nakamura-Berta, fighting in the top five, damaged his front wing and was forced to pit, allowing Cotty to re-enter the top ten. Lap after lap, she and Rodrigues were almost identical in pace, but she managed to keep him behind. David Cosma also looked to join the battle for tenth, with the fast-approaching Tomass Stolcermanis closing in as well.
On the final lap, Stolcermanis made his way past both Cosma and Rodrigues before launching an attack on Cotty. In the very last corners, he found a way through, snatching tenth place.
After 28 minutes of intense action, Reno Francot took victory ahead of Salim Hanna and Alex Powell. After one of her best F4 races to date, Emily Cotty crossed the line in P11, scoring points once again and securing a spot on the rookie podium for the second consecutive weekend, following her breakthrough in Dubai. It was another strong finish for the R-Ace GP driver, further demonstrating her impressive development throughout the F4 Middle East season.
Farah Al Yousef finished P26 in a clean race across the field and set a 2:01.5 on the final lap—her personal best around Yas Marina, in an improvement of over four seconds from the first practice session.
RACE 3
The final race of the weekend saw Emily Cotty starting from P18 on the grid, while Farah Al Yousef lined up in 26th.
At the front, Alex Powell led Stolcermanis and Olivieri off the line, with a clean getaway across the field. Cotty aimed to push towards the top 15, but with older tyres compared to some of her rivals, it was set to be a more challenging race.
Emily had a tricky start, dropping behind Raber and Taha Hassiba on the first lap. Meanwhile, with David Cosma retiring, Al Yousef retained 26th place.
Cotty then had to defend against Yuta Suzuki in P21 but fought back a lap later, settling into a solid rhythm in the 1:58s and focusing on catching Abdullah Ayman Kamel ahead.
Al Yousef made progress on lap 3, passing Tameem Hassiba and later overtaking Wang Yuzhe to climb to P24. Despite running on older tyres, she quickly settled into a 2:03s pace and held her ground well.
The race was neutralized on lap 5 following crashes for Tameem Hassiba and Seth Gilmore, bringing out the safety car. At the restart on lap 7, Emily resumed in P21, with Farah in P24.
Cotty defended well but the worn tyres meant that she struggled against Suzuki, who was on fresher rubber. She dropped behind the Japanese driver on lap 9 but continued improving her pace, running 1:58.4s while maintaining a safe gap to Wang behind.
She then battled Arjun Chheda, with the two trading positions before Emily settled the duel in her favor. She continued to improve her lap times, running 1:58.2s and staying within striking distance of Suzuki, who couldn’t pull away. On lap 13, Cotty broke into the 1:57s, launching a final charge towards Suzuki.
Meanwhile, Al Yousef continued her positive progress, recording a 2:02.2 in another clean race.
In the closing laps, Suzuki managed to overtake Taha Hassiba, and Cotty ultimately had to settle for P21. Nevertheless, it was another extremely strong weekend for the R-ace GP driver.
"Despite feeling ill, it was a solid weekend with good pace, a P3 Rookie finish, and more points in the bag", Cotty commented. "I’ve learned a lot and can’t wait to bring that momentum to the final round in Qatar."
Across Round 4, the British/New Zealander almost secured her first top-10 finish in F4 and scored points again—a real breakthrough in an ultra-competitive field—along with her second rookie podium.
Farah Al Yousef completed the third race in P24 but showed improved pace once again, as she continues to close the gap to the pack in her first full season of motor racing.
F4 Middle East will wrap up its 2025 season in two weeks' time at Lusail Circuit, Qatar, as the series will support the FIA WEC season opener.
It's great to see Emily Cotty doing her best and consistently making it to the rookie podium! If you want to add some excitement, try Sprunki Modded for some fun new mods!