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From April to September, the F4 Central European Zone championship offered a contest between aspiring drivers, dreaming of reaching the highest levels in motorsport and aiming to make racing their profession. As usual, it was a spectacular season, with the title fight crystallizing between two teammates. So how did their battle unfold?

In case you missed it, the 2025 F4 CEZ champion is Gino Trappa from Argentina, who beat his teammate Max Karhan from the Czech Republic. Both drove for the Swiss team Jenzer Motorsport.

The championship battle went down to the wire, all the way to the last race of the final round in Brno. In the end, Trappa defeated his teammate by just nine points.

“To finish my first year in Europe with a title is more than I could have imagined last year. I’m super grateful to the whole team that gave me an opportunity and also to my family. Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible,” said Trappa after clinching the title.

He opened the season with a series of second places at the Red Bull Ring and when he returned to the F1 track for the second round, he added two victories. That put him into the lead of the drivers’ standings, a lead he never lost. Trappa held first place until the end of the year, sometimes extending his advantage over Karhan, sometimes losing ground.

Trappa won six races and stood on the podium on five other occasions. In Brno, however, he never finished in the top three, but he knew he had to be cautious and focus on bringing enough points home.

“We always approached with a more or less aggressive strategy,” Trappa explained. “Even with 35 points before the last race weekend, it can disappear quickly. One crash, one disqualification, and you’re out. We tried to manage that risk. We were also careful with the tyres, because that can end your race. But honestly, I came to Brno not very comfortable, because they took away 30 points from me in Slovakia. I think I was super unlucky with the penalties I received,” he added.

The penultimate round at the Slovakia Ring was crucial for Karhan, as he outscored Trappa and went to Brno with a realistic shot at the title, trailing his teammate by 35 points.

Although Karhan won only two races compared to Trappa’s six, he managed an impressive streak of thirteen consecutive podiums, which kept him in contention. He reduced the gap significantly, but eventually lost the championship by nine points. Three straight second places in Brno were not enough.

“I did everything I could, but it wasn’t enough. Overall, though, I can be happy with a successful season,” Karhan said in Brno. “I had no testing, very little track time, and such a limited budget that I couldn’t even afford a crash.”

Over the Brno weekend, Karhan was faster than Trappa, beating him in qualifying and in all three races. Yet when he looked in the mirrors, he could almost always see Trappa close behind, running safely in the group fighting for third to sixth place. This was especially true in the final race, which was red-flagged, forcing all drivers to wait in the pit lane.

“I didn’t really like red flag and waiting, but it was maybe a chance for me to attack for first place or hope something happened behind that could change the points. So I wasn’t exactly angry, but yeah, I don’t like sitting in the car and waiting,” said Karhan.

The fight between the two teammates lasted the whole season. But as Karhan noted, while they could battle hard, they also had to keep in mind that they drove for the same team and any collision would not have pleased team boss Andreas Jenzer.

“You can fight, but not too hard. You still have to be on track together in the following races, so you must think about not upsetting the team or disturbing the atmosphere. But that’s no problem for me, I never put another driver off the track. That’s not my style,” Karhan added.

In the end, Trappa became the third F4 CEZ champion, following Ethan Ischer and last year’s winner Oscar Wurz. But compared to his predecessors, Trappa faced one personal disadvantage: he had come to Formula 4 racing all the way from Argentina.

“That’s something people don’t always see, but it’s a really big part of the story. Not only for me, but for all the South American drivers. This year was very difficult. I had to learn a lot, not only about racing but also about life. I moved from Argentina, I left my family and friends, and I’ve been living alone. For a long time, I didn’t even see my family. It’s not only the racing that’s tough, it’s the whole experience of living in Europe, which is the pinnacle of motorsport.”

So what does the future hold for the champion and vice-champion of F4 CEZ 2025?

Trappa will finish the season in F4 Spain, is set to race in Macau, and plans to move further up the single-seater ladder next year.

“I don’t really know yet,” Karhan said about his future. “F4 CEZ is nice racing when you can afford it, but I’d really like to move up into cars, into GTs—I like that kind of racing. We’ll see.”

And that’s the story of this year’s champion and the runner-up.

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