Indian F4: Female rookies secure top ten finishes in season opener at Kari, Stiebleichinger claims sixth
- RACERS
- Aug 21
- 6 min read
At the 2025 Indian F4 season opener, rookies Clara Stiebleichinger, Annabel Kennedy, and Kareen Kaur all scored points on debut, with Stiebleichinger impressively finishing sixth in race two and all three showing strong progress in mixed conditions.
Indian F4, just like its bigger relative the Indian Racing League, has historically featured several female drivers on the grid.
From Shriya Lohia and Salva Marjan in the inaugural season, to 2024 when the series saw five women taking the start of at least one round: Aiva Anagnostiadis, Alba Hurup Larsen, Shriya Lohia, Esmee Kosterman and Mira Erda. Anagnostiadis and Larsen, both starting their first races in cars, went on to secure a spot on the F1 Academy grid. Kosterman is set to make her F1 Academy debut at the next round as a wildcard.
At the start of the 2025 season – the third in the Indian championship's history – three female drivers are on the grid, all making their F4 debuts: Clara Stiebleichinger from Austria, Annabel Kennedy from Australia, and Kareen Kaur from Singapore.
All three would score their first top-ten finish in their first weekend, in a shortened season opener at Kari Motor Speedway which saw two races on Sunday after a delayed schedule on Saturday.
Kareen Kaur, 15, from Singapore, made her single-seater debut on the weekend, stepping up from karting. It was a big moment for Kaur, the first female driver to race F4 from her country; she has been making strides in recent years and faces a busy season with both her learning campaign in Indian F4 as well as the highly competitive Champions Of The Future Academy programme, which is putting her on the F1 Academy radar.
Kaur’s passion for the sport started when she was nine and got to try a kart for the first time: from that moment she knew it was the sport she wanted to pursue. She began developing her skills in ROK Cup Asia, and also participated in the ROK Cup Super Finals in Italy, which features some of the most talented stars of the future. After starting to test F4 machinery, she stepped up to the Indian F4 Championship, joining the Chennai Turbo Riders squad.
Also making the step from karting is Australian Annabel Kennedy, 15. The young Australian began racing in 2019 and has competed in the Australian Karting Championship for the last two years, in both Junior and Senior categories with multiple podium finishes. In 2025 she was selected for the FIA Karting Academy Trophy in the senior class, tackling her first international campaign. With the goal of progressing to single-seaters, she is now building her first F4 experience and has joined the Indian F4 Championship grid with Hyderabad Blackbirds.
Last but not least, Austrian Clara Stiebleichinger, 20, piloted the #5 Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru machine in her first racing weekend in formulas, following a season of testing preparation in France in F4 machinery.
As the 2025 Indian F4 Championship got underway at Kari Motor Speedway, all three female rookies made significant progress over the weekend, each building vital experience.
Stiebleichinger was particularly impressive from the first testing sessions, running competitive times and making great improvements. Both Kennedy and Kaur also significantly closed the gaps and were battling in the pack during the races, despite facing extremely challenging mixed conditions.
Stiebleichinger was the fastest of the female drivers in testing – and was then seventh overall in the official practice session with a 1:13.202 lap. Annabel Kennedy set a 1:15.055 to go eleventh, followed by Kaur with a 1:18.918 as all drivers familiarized themselves with the car and the track.
Qualifying followed in a compressed racing schedule at Kari. Vasilis Apostolidis secured the first pole position of the year, while Stiebleichinger managed a 1:08.608 on her final attempt which put her ninth on the grid. Annabel Kennedy also improved to set a 1:09.764, slotting into P11, and Kareen Kaur was P13 as she faced electrical issues with her car that left her without a representative lap time.
The opening race started under the safety car due to rain, adding an extra challenge for the rookies.
As racing got underway, conditions were very tricky with everyone trying to keep the cars on track. Clara Stiebleichinger had a difficult start and dropped to P11, but stayed clean, while Annabel Kennedy passed Kareen Kaur on lap 4 for P13.
Several drivers struggled for grip and slid around in battles for positions around the top five; Stiebleichinger started to pick up pace, running in the 1:19s and passing Suviwe Sambudla, before also clearing Zakariya Mohammed to move up into ninth, the two trading places several times.
Sambudla dropped down the order, with Annabel Kennedy also getting past on lap 8.
When Motlekar also fell behind, Stiebleichinger climbed into eighth and began increasing her pace, running 1:18s and trying to pull away from the two cars battling behind. On lap 11 she set her personal best with a 1:17.2, as track conditions slightly improved.
Motlekar, however, recovered and after clearing Mohammed again, set the fastest lap of the race. Stiebleichinger found more time but was eventually overtaken by Motlekar on lap 15; she nevertheless held a healthy margin to the cars behind.
Kennedy also made good progress as the track dried, running in 12th ahead of Kaur, both finding more pace with each lap.
Vasilis Apostolidis won the opening race of the season, five seconds ahead of Shane Chandaria, who beat Ishaan Madesh by one tenth of a second across the line. Clara Stiebleichinger completed her first F4 race in the top ten with a ninth-place finish – a positive debut with strong pace in the wet.
Annabel Kennedy took P12, ahead of Kareen Kaur.
The second and final race of the weekend was later in the afternoon, this time starting in dry conditions.
Stiebleichinger had another good chance from ninth on the grid based on Race 1 finishing positions (with the top six reversed), while Kennedy lined up 12th and Kaur 13th.
When the lights went out, Stiebleichinger had again a tricky getaway and fell to P10, but ahead there was mayhem as Shane Chandaria was tagged into a spin, with several cars involved.
Clara skillfully avoided the chaos and was up into seventh by the end of the first lap.
Annabel Kennedy also had a strong first lap, climbing to P10, with Kaur in P11 as both picked up positions on Chandaria and Sambudla. At the front, Madesh battled for the lead with France’s Sachel Rotge, who had tried to go around the outside of Turn 1 at the start but eventually slotted in behind, with Mabunda defending third from Boshoff.
Stiebleichinger lost out to the recovering Apostolidis, but held eighth, keeping Zakariya Mohammed at bay. Kareen Kaur meanwhile passed Annabel Kennedy for P12, both having fallen behind Chandaria and Sambudla charging back from the lap 1 incident. Kennedy, however, fought back and re-passed Kaur on lap 5.
As drizzle returned and rain began to fall again, conditions became more challenging. When Sambudla hit trouble after a contact, the safety car was deployed with 16 minutes to go, promoting Kennedy back into 10th.
Under the safety car the rain picked up, before racing resumed with 13 minutes left. Rotge immediately attacked Madesh for the lead, with Boshoff also in the mix. Further behind, Stiebleichinger came under pressure from Shane Chandaria, who got past the Austrian into Turn 1 and demoted her to ninth.
A contact between Mabunda and Motlekar under braking sent both spinning, though they rejoined without terminal damage. Stiebleichinger closed in on this group, keeping close to Mohammed and running similar times.
Meanwhile Kennedy and Kaur, in 10th and 11th, were consistent and not under pressure. With only a handful of laps to go, Stiebleichinger found more speed and ran in the 1:08s. As the track became more slippery, the Austrian was once again competitive: she passed Mohammed for eighth, followed by Annabel Kennedy who also got through.
On the final lap disaster struck for Boshoff and Mabunda, as the two South African drivers collided after a long duel. Clara Stiebleichinger capitalized brilliantly, taking sixth with a superbly solid Race 2.
Annabel Kennedy secured her first top ten with eighth, and Kareen Kaur also claimed her first tenth-place finish. Ishaan Madesh won from Sachel Rotge and Vasilis Apostolidis.
After the season opener at Kari Motor Speedway, the three female drivers of the 2025 Indian Formula 4 all showed good progress and potential, significantly closing the gaps and battling to gain important racecraft.
Clara Stiebleichinger finished both races within the top ten – with an impressive sixth as her personal best – and now sits seventh in the standings with 10 points. Her drive in the rain was particularly notable, and she will aim to keep momentum. Annabel Kennedy recorded an eighth as her best finish in a positive Race 2, and Kareen Kaur fought back well in the second contest with P10. All three scored points on their debut weekend and will be aiming to build on the positives.
The series now heads straight to Madras International Circuit, where the second round is scheduled for 22–24 August in a few days' time.
