Luviwe Sambudla takes F4 India lead at Chennai as Aaron Mehta, 15, wins and Shahan Ali Mohsin opens the IRL season

The Indian Racing Festival's Chennai weekend on 22 and 23 October turned the F4 Indian Championship on its head. Goa Aces JA Racing's Luviwe Sambudla arrived at the Madras International Circuit five points behind the leader and left with a 21-point cushion, while the Indian Racing League began its new season on the same bill.

Sambudla wins twice, Mehta makes history at 15

Sambudla won Race 1 from sixth on the grid and finished 9.606 seconds clear of Speed Demons Delhi's Ntiyiso Mabunda, also setting the fastest lap. Goa Aces team mate Aryan Narola completed the podium. In Race 2, run to a reverse grid, Sambudla won again, this time by 1.211 seconds over Mabunda, with Aris Kyriakou of Kichcha's Kings Bengaluru third.

Race 3 produced the weekend's standout story. Aaron Mehta, racing for Kolkata Royal Tigers, converted pole into his first win and became the youngest race winner in the championship's history at 15. The race was slippery and interrupted by a red flag and a safety car period, and Mehta held off Mabunda by 0.546 seconds. Sambudla took third. Mabunda's weekend reads second, second, second, three podiums without a win.

That leaves Sambudla on 138 points to Kyriakou's 117 going into the next round. Before Chennai, Kyriakou led on 93 to Sambudla's 88, with Hyderabad Blackbirds' Bhuvan Bonu third on 51, Mahlori Mabunda on 46 and Mehta on 42.

Shahan Ali Mohsin wins the IRL season opener

The Indian Racing League, the franchise series that runs alongside F4 India, opened its season at the same meeting. Shahan Ali Mohsin of Speed Demons Delhi took pole and converted it, holding off Goa Aces JA Racing's Raoul Hyman by 0.506 seconds over eight laps. Shane Chandaria finished third.

For Indian fans, that is the headline name of the weekend. Mohsin is one of the most recognisable Indian single-seater drivers of the past decade and he beat Hyman, a quick, experienced hand, in a straight fight at a circuit both know well.

Six city-based franchises are on the IRL grid this season: defending champions Goa Aces JA Racing, Chennai Turbo Riders, Kichcha's Kings Bengaluru, Hyderabad Blackbirds, Kolkata Royal Tigers and Speed Demons Delhi. Each squad fields women racers as part of its line-up, which the organisers describe as a gender-neutral format and which remains the league's clearest point of difference from any other four-wheel series run in India.

Next stop is Greater Noida, after 13 years away

The festival now moves to the Buddh International Circuit on 31 October and 1 November, where Round 4 of the F4 Indian Championship and Round 2 of the IRL will run. It is the Indian Racing Festival's first visit to the Greater Noida venue in 13 years, and for anyone in the Delhi NCR who has only seen the track on television since the Formula 1 era ended, this is the cheapest way to watch proper single-seater racing on it.

What to watch there: whether Sambudla's wet-weather pace at Chennai was a one-off or a pattern, whether Kyriakou can respond at a circuit with long straights and heavy braking zones, and whether Mehta's Chennai win was the start of a run. The BIC's layout rewards a car that is stable under braking, which is a very different test from the tight, low-speed Madras track.

Sources

• 2026 F4 India: Sambudla takes lead after Round 3, Autocar India
• 21-point advantage: Goa Aces's Luviwe Sambudla moves into clear lead, DT Next
• Goa Aces JA Racing's Luviwe Sambudla dominates F4 Indian Championship round 3 to take points lead, IANS
• Indian Racing Festival 2026: F4 title battle and IRL season opener head to Chennai, Telangana Today
• Indian Racing Festival 2026 returns to Buddh International Circuit after 13 years, Free Press Journal