A new Formula 4 Spanish Championship season got underway this weekend. GRS kicked off the campaign at home, at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, in a very difficult event marked by incidents and misfortune, but where the overall pace showed strong potential.
The opening round of the 2026 Formula 4 Spanish Championship took place on April 11–12. The series began its eleventh season, the eighth in which GRS will compete in full. Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia hosted the first event of the year.
GRS Team fielded a driver line-up consisting of Pablo Riccobono, who has been part of the team since the end of the 2025 season, and Alfons Miettinen. The young Finnish driver was recently confirmed by the team and was making his single-seater debut.
On-track activity began earlier in the week, with Tuesday and Wednesday dedicated to Official Collective Testing at the Valencia circuit. Riccobono showed competitive pace, continuing the positive trend from the end of the Spanish Winter Championship, while Miettinen was quick from day one despite limited experience in Formula 4 machinery.
After a rest day, action resumed on Friday with further testing and free practice sessions. Despite being the start of a new season, the day once again highlighted the extremely tight competition across the field, with most drivers separated by mere thousandths of a second. Any mistake would prove costly in qualifying. As is often the case at this circuit, track limits also played a crucial role, with numerous infringements observed.
The first qualifying session kicked off Saturday’s competitive action. It proved to be a challenging session, with extremely close margins throughout the field. Despite being just 1.1 seconds off pole position, Pablo had to settle for 28th place. Alfons, meanwhile, qualified P30 in his first-ever Formula 4 qualifying session.
In Race 1, Miettinen stalled at the start, but a Safety Car allowed him to catch the pack. He then spent several laps stuck behind a slower car, unable to overtake. Once he managed to pass, the Finnish driver pulled away and attempted to catch the next group, but ran out of time and ultimately finished 26th on debut. Riccobono, on the other hand, made a strong start and showed solid pace and racecraft, climbing into the Top 20 and running at a Top 15 level. Unfortunately, multiple track limits penalties dropped him from P19 at the chequered flag to 28th in the final classification.
Race 2 proved disastrous for the team. Riccobono was involved in a heavy crash after being unable to avoid an incident ahead, making contact with the cars involved. Fortunately, all drivers were unharmed, but the Spaniard’s car suffered significant damage. Miettinen retired shortly after due to a brake issue.
Sunday began with a strong effort from the team, who worked late into the night to repair Riccobono’s car and get it ready for action. In the second qualifying session, rain added a new challenge. Both drivers performed well under those conditions, with Pablo qualifying P20 and Alfons, who experienced wet conditions in Formula 4 for the first time, placing P33.
In Race 3, Pablo made an excellent start, climbing up to 15th place. Following a restart, the French-Spanish driver entered the fight for points. However, his race ended prematurely after contact with another driver forced him to retire once again. On the other side of the garage, Alfons delivered a strong performance, battling consistently in the lower group to secure his best result to date, finishing P24.
It was not an easy start to the season for the team. The weekend was heavily affected by incidents, and both drivers faced difficulties in fully showcasing their potential in qualifying. However, the team has demonstrated clear capacity for progression. Riccobono’s race pace was highly competitive, consistently matching Top 15 contenders, while Miettinen showed strong adaptability, and his results are expected to improve as he gains more experience.
The team will continue working to improve in key areas, with the goal of achieving better performance and results as the season progresses. The Formula 4 Spanish Championship now enters a break of nearly two months and will return on June 5–7 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
