Dion Gowda on Italian F4 outing: Consistency more important than race wins

With Formula 1 capturing the imagination of new audiences worldwide, and young Indian racers like Kush Maini and Jehan Daruvala representing the Indian flag on global podiums, motorsport is starting to break into the mainstream in India. This has inspired a whole new generation of young Indians to pursue a career in racing, with several of them climbing the global single-seater ladder.

Dion Gowda, 16, is a part of this roster, and after an impressive debut season in British F4, he’s now gearing up to compete in the Italian F4 championship. We caught up with him to discuss working with junior single-seater titan Prema, lessons from his rookie British F4 season and more.

Rising through the ranks

Motorsport runs in Gowda’s family. His father, Santhosh, competed in the Indian National Rally Championship back in the 1990s, and Dion was bitten by the racing bug when he visited a karting track in Singapore at the age of nine. Recognising that in order to reach his F1 dreams, he’s going to have to be at the very heart of motorsport action, he moved to London in 2018. Since then, he’s steadily climbed the karting ladder in Asia and Europe, competing in the ROK Cup Singapore, X30 Championship and even the FIA Karting Academy Trophy.

He made his single-seater debut in the F4 UAE winter series last year. And while he only had two points-scoring finishes, it proved to be pivotal practice for his rookie British F4 season later in 2023.

“The move from karting to single-seaters is one of the biggest jumps you take in your entire career,” he says. “Obviously, you take a lot of learnings from karting, but in terms of driving, it’s almost completely different. But we did a lot of testing and practice before the F4 British Championship and that prepared me.”

British F4 debut

The British F4 Championship is one of the most prestigious junior racing series globally, with past participants including Lando Norris and Dan Ticktum. So, standing out and making your mark – for the right reasons – is important.

“The competition level is super high already at the F4 level. Sometimes you do the best that you can, but it’s just not quick enough. Or sometimes a lot of things are out of your control, especially when the margins are so tight,” Gowda explains.

“The smallest mistake on the lap could be the difference between being pole position and being P5. In terms of that, it’s a sport where there’s not much room for error.”

Gowda made an impressive debut, finishing fourth in his rookie season – collecting four wins, three pole positions and six podiums along the way. He even made a wildcard appearance in the Indian F4 championship, where he collected a win.

But it was also a year of hard lessons learned. At one point, Gowda was challenging Louis Sharp for the British F4 title, but that challenge faded towards the end of the season and he had to settle for fourth. “We were top two in the championship and then there were a couple of days where I just wasn’t as quick. Then you try a bit too hard and that’s when things get worse,” he admits.

In his first year of single-seater racing, Gowda says the most crucial lesson he’s learned is to be consistent. “Winning a championship is a lot more difficult than winning a race. The main thing is just to be consistent and to collect points,” he says. “Some days you’re not going to be the quickest or you’re not going to be up there. But on those days it’s just about maximising the points you can get, instead of losing your head.”

“In karting, normally I just want to win the race; you don’t normally think about a championship as a global thing, whereas in car racing, it is a huge thing,” he adds.

Gearing up for Italian F4 championship

Gowda has just wrapped up his sophomore season in the F4 UAE championship, where he finished 11th overall – an improvement on his 25th place standing in 2023. Moreover, it was his first time working with Prema, who provide technical support to Mumbai Falcons. He’ll be racing with Prema in the Italian F4 Championship later this year.

Some of the most well-known names in motorsport currently – including the likes of Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher and Pierre Gasly – spent their formative years training with Prema. “They’re by far the team that everyone wants to try to get in to,” Gowda points out.

Commenting on why they decided to sign Gowda, Prema team principal Angelo Rosin said, “Dion had a remarkable debut season in 2023 and ran well in different Formula 4 championships. I think he will make great progress to become a great contender.”

When it comes to racers, we often talk about their raw skill and pace, and their ability to help develop their machines. But an often overlooked quality is that of working well within a team. “Even though you’re the only one driving, motorsport is a team sport. A lot of factors need to go well to get a good result,” Gowda explains.

“[Your team] not only helps you to make the car better, but also to be in the right frame of mind. It’s a massive thing to work with the team and almost treat them like your family. I travel to Italy just to be with the team, to be in the factory.”

While he’s preparing for the F4 Italian Championship, which gets underway in May, he already his sights on graduating to F3 next year. The end goal, of course, is the pinnacle of motorsport – F1. But Gowda isn’t writing off endurance or sportscar racing entirely.

“I’m definitely quite close minded on getting to F1. That’s always been my goal and to be F1 world champion is a big dream for me. But I do 100 percent want to at some point have a feel of endurance racing because it looks really fun. Even if I do get to F1, I’d definitely do some endurance races and stuff like that.”

Round 1 of the Italian F4 championship kicks off at Misano on May 3-5.

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