Victoria Blokhina will make her return to Italian F4 for a sophomore campaign with PHM Racing, eyeing improvements after her rookie season in single-seaters.
Young driver Victoria Blokhina is set to enter her second season in Italian F4 - widely considered the most competitive junior formula in the world - returning to German team PHM Racing. "I am very glad that I will race the 2023 Italian F4 championship for PHM Racing" - stated Blokhina. "I know the team from last year and I am sure we will learn and improve together as a team.“ Blokhina, a Girls On Track - Rising Star finalist, made her single-seater debut last year, contesting a double program in the UAE-based series and in the Italian series. In her first races in the UAE, Blokhina learned the machinery and then made significant steps forward in the Italian championship, where she almost scored points at Red Bull Ring, in a 40-car field. She had six top-20 finishes and two top-15, with a personal best of 12th. In the female trophy, she finished three times ahead of Ferrari Driver Academy driver Maya Weug, who has this year stepped up to Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. Blokhina then returned to the UAE for the 2023 season, where she raced under the banner of local team R2Race Cavicel. In the non-championship trophy round, she secured her best finish in F4 to date with a sixth place in race 2, in a Xcel Motorsport entry. In the packed field of over 40 drivers during the points-paying rounds, Blokhina continued to make improvements, steadily recording her best finishes after each round. With two P22 finishes at the Yas Marina season finale, Blokhina battled mid-pack and was often the protagonist of great comebacks from difficult qualifyings. With one full season of F4 racing now under her belt, Victoria will be targeting more improvements in her second participation in the Italian F4 Championship. “PHM Racing is very happy to have Victoria Blokhina on board" - commented Mikhail Aleshin, team manager at PHM. "It is the second year for her with the team in the Italian Formula 4 championship. She has already improved a lot last year and we are sure that she will achieve promising results in the championship.” She joins Valentin Kluss for the opening round at Imola, on 22-23 April. The series will feature a 7-event calendar, with triple headers at each race meeting. The remaining race meetings will be held at Misano, Spa Francorchamps, Monza, Le Castellet, Mugello and Vallelunga. Blokhina is the third female driver to announce her participation in the 2023 series, joining Aurelia Nobels (Prema Racing) and Tina Hausmann (AKM Motorsport). It will be the season with the highest number of female participation since the start of the series in 2014.
2023 Italian F4 Calendar
R1: Imola, Italy / 22-23 April
R2: Misano, Italy / 5-7 May
R3: Spa Francorchamps, Belgium / 26-28 May
R4: Monza, Italy / 23-25 June
R5: Circuit Paul Ricard, France / 21-23 July
R6: Mugello, Italy / 22 Sep-1 Oct
R7: Vallelunga, Italy / 13-15 October