LOS ARCOS (October 11, 2026) – Rocco Coronel clearly had the pace during the sixth and penultimate race weekend of the Spanish Formula 4 Championship at the Circuito de Navarra in Los Arcos. In the first two races of the weekend, the MP Motorsport driver finished second. He was also in contention for a podium finish in the third race, but was bumped off the track in the opening laps and fell back to the rear of the field. He then made up 17 positions and still managed to finish eighth. With this result, the TeamNL talent keeps his title hopes alive. “The most important thing is that we’ve made good progress,” said the Red Bull junior. With his results, he also contributed to MP Motorsport clinching the team championship ahead of schedule.
“We mostly used the same setup we had during the previous races in Jerez, because it just felt right.”
Rocco Coronel – Formula 4 driver at MP Motorsport (Red Bull junior talent)
In the week leading up to the race weekend, testing took place on Tuesday, during which Coronel consistently ranked in the top three. He continued this trend during the official program, starting strong with the third-fastest time out of a total of 36 riders during Friday morning’s test, followed by sixth and fifth fastest times in both free practice sessions later that day. “We mostly used the same setup we had during the previous races in Jerez, because it just felt right,” he said.
In Saturday morning’s qualifying session, Coronel finished third, which was his starting position for the opening race, while he was ranked second in the standings based on the second-fastest lap times—which determined the starting grid for the second race. “The drivers ahead of me were able to complete an extra lap and thus had the advantage of carrying less fuel and, as a result, a lighter car, but in the end I was satisfied with the pace I had.”
The first race started behind the safety car because the starting lights above the straight were not functioning properly. After the race was released, Coronel managed to hold onto his third-place position. In the second half of the race, he put increasing pressure on the driver ahead of him but didn’t take any unnecessary risks, especially since the driver in front of him strayed outside the white lines marking the track on several occasions. Coronel crossed the finish line in third place but was classified second because the driver who finished ahead of him received a time penalty totaling 15 seconds for repeatedly exceeding the “track limits.” “I could already see that he was frequently driving off the track, so I assumed a penalty would follow—I did try to push a bit, but not too hard,” said Coronel.
The second race, the shorter sprint race, also started behind the safety car. Coronel managed to hold onto second place. Following an incident on the third lap, there was a long neutralization period and a red-flag interruption, after which the race resumed behind the safety car and five minutes of free racing were ultimately allowed. During that time, Coronel defended his second-place position, which he then held all the way to the finish line, earning him a podium finish for the second time that weekend and the fifth time this season.
For Sunday’s qualifying session, Coronel, in consultation with the team, left the car’s setup as it was. With that setup, he posted the third-fastest time. This time, the race started normally, and Coronel managed to defend his position well. Later in the first lap, however, things went wrong: a competitor experienced some oversteer on the curb and hit Coronel’s car, causing him to spin out. “I did a 360-degree spin—it was pretty spectacular—but of course, that dropped me way back,” Coronel reported afterward. Starting from 25th position, he began his comeback and had already made up nine places after one and a half laps. He then continued to move up the field, eventually crossing the finish line in ninth place and, following a penalty imposed on the driver ahead of him, was classified eighth. “Still managed to score some points and had a fun race catching up,” he said.
With one race weekend remaining—November 6–8 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya—Coronel is in third place in the championship and still has a shot at the title. “I don’t think about that too much; I’m just going to try to score as many points as possible again, and we’ll see how the rest plays out,” he says matter-of-factly. Thanks to the combined results of Coronel and his teammate Kasper Schormans—who won all three races in Navarra—MP Motorsport has already clinched the team championship ahead of schedule.
