Following a strong start of the F4 Middle East season, rookie Emily Cotty added two top-20 finishes to her tally at the Abu Dhabi Corkscrew circuit layout. Young Saudi Farah Al Yousef continued her learning process in F4, showcasing improved pace.

Formula 4 Middle East Championship hosted its second round of the 2025 season at Yas Marina Circuit, a few days after the curtain raiser at the same venue, albeit on the full GP layout. In a mid-week round, the 29 drivers of the highly competitive field tackled the shorter 4.572 km Corkscrew layout, which features a shortened first sector.
Both Emily Cotty (R-Ace GP) and Farah Al Yousef (Evans GP) returned to the track, while Hamda Al Qubaisi, who had been announced for her fourth season in the championship, pulled out of the remaining rounds after completing only one race in Round 1, with technical issues preventing her from starting the second and third race.
Cotty, who had made her F4 debut in British F4 before taking part in the F4 UAE Trophy Series at the end of 2024, enjoyed a widely positive first round of the F4 Middle East Championship, securing her personal best in F4 with a P14 in race 2, where she battled solidly in the mid-pack.
Young Saudi driver Farah Al Yousef made her single seater debut, stepping up from karting on home soil and after representing her country in the Formula Woman Nations Cup, in a Radical prototype. It was a big step forward for AL Yousef, who used all the available track time to find confidence with the car, consistently reducing the gaps. The second round was another opportunity for Farah to continue the learning process.
Pre-event testing started on Tuesday, with Cotty running again close to the top-15, in a very tight field. Al Yousef found almost three seconds in between sessions, bringing the gap close to 10 seconds.
In the official practice session on Wednesday, Cotty set a 1:49.242 that placed the British driver P24, ahead of qualifying.
In the first qualifying session, Emily improved and clocked a 1:49.120 which was enough for P21. Al Yousef's 2:00.454 placed the #4 Tatuus in P29.
Q2 followed shortly after; Emily Cotty found a few more tenths and improved to a 1:48.749, which secured her 24th on the grid. Farah Al Yousef managed to record her best time of the weekend, in 1:57.143 in her first laps under the 2 minute barrier since testing.

The first race of the weekend got underway on Wednesday afternoon on the Corkscrew layout, with Emily Cotty starting from P21 and Farah Al Yousef from P29. Emanuele Olivieri led the field at lights out but had to defend against Nakamura-Berta, who challenged for the lead but ultimately had to back out, coming under pressure from teammate Stolcermanis.
Cotty had a good initial getaway, gaining one position; however, she was caught in the melee and dropped to P25 on the first lap, with Tameem and Taha Hassiba also encountered trouble. Farah Al Yousef, on the other hand, had a clean start, moving up to P26 and gaining positions, including on Sebastian Wheldon, who had to start from the pits.
The Safety Car was deployed at the end of lap 1, allowing Cotty to regroup. On the lap 3 restart, Olivieri maintained the lead, despite having to weave to break the tow as Nakamura-Berta attempted a move but overshot the braking point at Turn 6 and had to slot back behind the race leader.
Emily Cotty lost out to the recovering Wheldon but managed to get ahead of Seth Gilmore. Lapping at a 1:53 pace, she then set her sights on Arjun Chheda, who was at that point slower. Al Yousef settled into her rhythm, working to break the 2-minute mark.
The race was again neutralized shortly after when Bader Al Sulaiti collided with Yuta Suzuki, sending Suzuki airborne and into the barriers at Turn 12 in the hotel section. Emily Cotty had moved up to P24.
On the lap 9 restart, Cotty gained another position, moving to P23 amidst intense battles just behind the leading group. Al Yousef set her best laps at 2:02 and then improved to 2:00.
Cotty continued to find a way past Chheda, setting her best lap at 1:49.3 but couldn’t quite make the move stick initially. She eventually advanced to P22 when Wheldon encountered further issues and pitted on lap 13.
At the front, Emanuele Olivieri checked out, building a 5-second gap. Meanwhile, an incredible battle for second unfolded between Nakamura-Berta and Stolcermanis, with the duo trading positions until the chequered flag. Stolcermanis secured second place, crossing the line just 0.015 seconds ahead.
In a strong final effort, Cotty overtook Chheda on the last lap and gained additional positions as Rodrigues dropped down. She claimed a top-20 finish with P20 and set her personal best lap of 1:49.1 on the final lap. The British driver closed the gap to Yuzhe Wang by almost a second, but finished just half a second behind.
Farah Al Yousef also gained a position from Salim Hanna, who had clashed with Reno Francot. The Saudi driver crossed the finish line in P26, delivering some of her best laps of the weekend.

On Thursday afternoon, the reverse grid race took place just after sunset, offering scenic conditions at Yas Marina. August Raber started from reverse grid pole position, ahead of Oleksandr Savinkov and Oleksandr Bondarev, with Martin Molnar completing the second row. Emily Cotty lined up in P19, sharing the tenth row with Arjun Chheda, while Farah Al Yousef lined up in P29, aiming for further improvement.
When the lights went out, Raber held the lead ahead of Bondarev and Reno Francot, who made his way through the pack, followed closely by Kean Nakamura-Berta. Emily Cotty had a challenging first lap, dropping to P25 and engaging in a battle with Bader Al Sulaiti.
Farah Al Yousef made a clean start from the back of the grid, progressively improving her pace and edging closer to the low 2-minute mark.
Cotty worked to recover, with both she and Al Sulaiti gaining ground on the cars ahead. The Qatari overtook Seth Gilmore, leaving Cotty to contend with the EvansGP driver. Emily improved her personal best to 1:49.5; however, on lap 5, Cotty would be forced to pit with damage. She rejoined the race in P27, while the Safety Car was deployed, bunching up the field.
The neutralization allowed Al Yousef to catch up with the pack, restarting from P28.
When the green flag waved on lap 8, a fierce battle for second place ensued between Francot and Bondarev, with Bondarev narrowly holding his position. Meanwhile, behind them, Nakamura-Berta and Emanuele Olivieri joined the fray, with the latter making two passes within a few corners to claim fourth.
Cotty began her recovery again, successfully overtaking Taha Hassiba. Next, she targeted Tameem Hassiba, catching and passing the #18 QMMF machine within a few corners.
Emily, maintaining her 1:49 pace, soon cleared Tameem Hassiba and, in clear air, started hunting down Yuta Suzuki.
Farah Al Yousef pitted at the end of lap 9 but also rejoined the race.
On lap 11, Al Yousef ran her personal best with a 1:59.246, marking her first lap under the 2-minute barrier in racing conditions. She continued building confidence, later setting a 1:57.5 and maintaining consistent performance over the following laps.
Up front, Raber couldn’t drive away from Francot, while Alex Powell and Emanuele Olivieri traded places for third, with the Italian delivering another impressive performance.
August Raber survived a last-lap attack from Francot to secure his first win for Yas Heat Racing.
As Suzuki and Sulaiti battled ahead, Cotty sought a last-lap opportunity to gain positions but ran out of time, finishing in P25.
Farah Al Yousef crossed the line in P28, showcasing much-improved pace.

The final race of the second round took place under the night sky, with lower temperatures adding an extra layer of challenge for the drivers. Championship leader Emanuele Olivieri lined up on pole position, ahead of Kean Nakamura-Berta, Tomass Stolcermanis, and Salim Hanna. Emily Cotty started from P24, looking to move up the order, while Farah Al Yousef aimed to gain valuable track time from P29.
When the lights went out, August Raber stalled on the grid and was collected by Nathan Lee, Aqil Alibhai, and Bader Al Sulaiti. The incident triggered an immediate safety car, followed by a red flag to clear the debris from the main straight.
Cotty had made a strong start, moving up to P21, while Al Yousef avoided the chaos ahead and climbed to P24.
The race restarted under the safety car with 17 minutes remaining. Olivieri managed the restart flawlessly and retained the lead into Turn 1. Cotty, meanwhile, found herself behind the Hassiba brothers, setting her sights on another top-20 finish.
She capitalized on incidents ahead, gaining positions as Stolcermanis and Martin Molnar dropped down the order—the latter spinning at Turn 4, which brought out another safety car.
After the next green flag, Nakamura-Berta executed a perfect restart and launched an attack on Olivieri, with Alex Powell also joining the battle. However, the Italian defended skillfully and maintained his lead.
Cotty also had a sharp restart, gaining a position to move into P19 but was soon under pressure from a recovering Stolcermanis. Another safety car was at that point deployed following a crash by Tiago Rodrigues.
With just three minutes remaining, Olivieri faced yet another restart; Powell and Nakamura-Berta’s battle for second however gave the Italian some breathing room, allowing him to extend his lead.
Cotty lost a position to Yuta Suzuki but held on to finish in P20, matching her best result of the weekend.
Farah Al Yousef showed improved confidence after the final restart, briefly overtaking Abdullah Ayman Kamel for P22. Although she eventually fell back behind Kamel, she ran a clean race and achieved her best F4 finish to date in P23.
At the front, Emanuele Olivieri secured another victory in the F4 Middle East Championship, extending his championship lead. He was followed by his Mumbai Falcons teammates Kean Nakamura-Berta and Alex Powell.
With two top-20 finishes in the second round, Emily Cotty continued to collect valuable experience in the busy midfield battles. The next round is scheduled for 8-9 February at Dubai Autodrome.

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