The last two races of the 2021 season were hotly contested and went to Alessandro Giusti, who was crowned Junior Champion, and to the Australian Hugh Barter. Subject to appeal, Esteban Masson has won the title of French F4 Champion.
The final of the French F4 Championship was as intense as the season itself. All the drivers gave their all to obtain the best possible place in the general ranking, leading to duels at all levels of the field. The rigorous preparation of the F4 single-seaters by the FFSA Academy actively contributed to an exciting year.
Second victory for Alessandro Giusti
The start of Race 2 was given in the reverse order of the Race 1 ranking for the top 10 drivers and Pierre-Alexandre Provost retained his lead at the end of the first lap. Behind him, a collision shook up the initial hierarchy. Owen Tangavelou was in the wheel tracks of the leader, taking Macéo Capietto and Alessandro Giusti in his wake. On the other hand, Noah Andy and Esteban Masson had to retire, while Enzo Geraci and Hugh Barter were left behind.
The duel for the victory didn’t decrease in intensity. Tangavelou lost several places after bumping into the leader, leaving Capietto and Giusti to lead the chase behind Provost. On the seventh lap everything changed. Giusti managed the situation perfectly and made some great overtaking moves to emerge in front of Capietto and Provost. In the end it was a photo finish under the chequered flag. A four second penalty pushed Owen Tangavelou back to 9th position, after setting the fastest lap in the race. Gaël Julien took 4th place ahead of Elliott Vayron, who came up brilliantly from 12th place. Hugh Barter, Enzo Peugeot and Enzo Geraci had good attacking runs and came back to 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively.
The last race goes to Barter
At the start of Race 3, the stakes were high and anything was possible. Gaël Julien was stuck on the grid and was hit by Angelina Favario. After this double retirement and the return to the pits of the safety car, poleman Esteban Masson took the lead in the first corner, immediately followed by the Australian Hugh Barter and Macéo Capietto. The protagonists of this Championship once again confirmed their speed and determination. Alessandro Giusti, who had performed very well during this weekend in the Nivernais region, managed to stay in contact with the leading trio, as did Daniel Ligier.
The positions were not likely to change in the top five, until a late race incident leading to the simultaneous retirement of Esteban Masson and Macéo Capietto. The Australian Barter came back to win, with the young Frenchman Giusti in his wake. “I’m very happy to finish my first season in single-seaters with such a great day,” said Giusti. “I went for the win in Race 2 when I only started 8th and I confirmed this with 2nd place in Race 3. Moreover, this new victory in Junior allows me to win the title in this category!“
Daniel Ligier ended his season with another podium, while Elliott Vayron had another strong race to move up from 10th to 4th. He was ahead of Owen Tangavelou and Enzo Geraci. Until the end, Dario Cabanelas resisted the pressure from Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Enzo Peugeot, who made an excellent debut in F4. Just behind, Andy Noah kept the ascendancy until the end over Luciano Morano and Enzo Richer, who diligently continued their apprenticeship in single-seaters.
After examining the incident with Esteban Masson, the stewards decided to exclude Macéo Capietto from the meeting. Subject to his appeal, Esteban Masson has won the 2021 French F4 Championship ahead of Hugh Barter.
Race 2 standings
1 Alessandro Giusti (France) after 10 laps
2 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 2″479
3 Gaël Julien (France) at 2″720
4 Elliott Vayron (France) at 5″542
5 Hugh Barter (Australia) at 5″888
6 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 6″406
7 Enzo Geraci (France) at 7″200
8 Owen Tangavelou (France) at 7″328
9 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) at 7″560
10 Enzo Richer (France) at 8″653
11 Angélina Favario (France) at 20″970
12 Daniel Ligier (France) at 3 laps
13 Luciano Morano (USA) at 4 laps
14 Noah Andy (France) at 10 laps
15 Esteban Masson (France) at 10 laps
16 Macéo Capietto (France), excluded from the meeting
Fastest lap: Tangavelou in 1’40″405 (avg. 158,1 km/h)
Race 3 ranking
1 Hugh Barter (Australia) after 10 laps
2 Alessandro Giusti (France) at 0″755
3 Daniel Ligier (France) at 1″819
4 Elliott Vayron (France) at 4″439
5 Owen Tangavelou (France) at 6″581
6 Enzo Geraci (France) at 7″157
7 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) at 9″160
8 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 9″873
9 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 10″300
10 Noah Andy (France) at 15″374
11 Luciano Morano (USA) at 18″779
12 Enzo Richer (France) at 19″141
13 Esteban Masson (France) at 1t
14 Gaël Julien (France) at 10 laps
15 Angélina Favario (France) at 10 laps
16 Macéo Capietto (France), excluded from the meeting
Fastest lap: Barter in 1’40″367 (avg. 158,2 km/h)
Provisional ranking of the 2021 French F4 Championship, subject to the decision of the appeal commission
1 Esteban Masson (France) 238 pts
2 Hugh Barter (Australia) 213 pts
3 Macéo Capietto (France) 203 pts
4 Daniel Ligier (France) 178 pts
5 Owen Tangavelou (France) 160 pts
6 Alessandro Giusti (France) 147 pts
7 Gaël Julien (France) 141 pts
8 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) 93 pts
9 Enzo Geraci (France) 65 pts
10 Noah Andy (France) 51 pts
11 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) 50 pts
12 Aiden Neate (United Kingdom) 30 pts
13 Angélina Favario (France) 9 pts
14 Adam Szydlowski (Poland) 2 pts
15 Vignesh Kadarabad (India) 0 pts
16 Thanapongpan Sutumno (Thailand) 0 pt
Final ranking of the 2021 French Junior F4 Championship
1 Alessandro Giusti (France) 311 pts
2 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) 268 pts
3 Enzo Geraci (France) 214 pts
4 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) 201 pts
5 Aiden Neate (United Kingdom) 62 pts
