The championship's origins lie in a 2013 FIA Single Seat Commission initiative to create a new entry-level single-seater category bridging karting and Formula 3. The ATCUAE spent two years developing a suitable framework for the UAE, and appointed Dubai-based AUH Motorsports to manage operations, drawing on the company's prior experience running the regional Radical Sportscars series.
The public launch took place in February 2016 in front of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. HH Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the ATCUAE, unveiled the car. The first public test was conducted at the Dubai Autodrome by Dubai-born Indy Lights driver Ed Jones.
The inaugural 2016–17 season featured eighteen races across six weekends. Four of those weekends were held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, with the remaining two at the Dubai Autodrome. Between 2019 and 2022 the season expanded to twenty races across five rounds.
Race weekend formats have evolved over the years. In the original format, two qualifying sessions determined the grids for races one and three, while race two was set by the second-fastest lap from Qualifying 1 and race four reversed the top eight from race three. From 2023 a streamlined three-race format was adopted, with qualifying setting grids for races one and three, and race two decided by reversing the top ten finishers from race one.
The series has raced at multiple circuits across the UAE, with the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Autodrome serving as the primary venues throughout the championship's history.
The series has used Tatuus-designed and -built cars throughout its existence. Tatuus cars feature a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and conform to FIA Formula 4 safety standards.
From the inaugural 2016–17 season through to 2021, the series used the Tatuus F4-T014 chassis powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged Abarth engine — the same combination employed in the Italian F4 Championship, F4 Spanish Championship, ADAC Formula 4, and SMP F4 Championship. The 2022 season marked an important milestone when the series hosted the global debut of the second-generation Tatuus F4-T421 chassis.
In 2025 the championship's promoters (Top Speed China) renamed the series the F4 Middle East Championship, reflecting a planned long-term expansion to other countries in the Middle East region. In 2026 the series lost its FIA certification and was renamed once more as the UAE4 Series.
A companion series, the Formula Trophy (formerly Formula Trophy UAE), was introduced in 2024 as an extended version of the main championship's trophy round. Rather than a single round, the Formula Trophy spans two rounds at the Yas Marina Circuit and one round at the Dubai Autodrome. The inaugural 2024 edition was won by Kai Daryanani driving for Evans GP, with Alp Aksoy of Mumbai Falcons taking the 2025 title.
The Formula 4 UAE Championship established the Middle East as a viable destination for entry-level single-seater competition, providing a developmental pathway for young drivers from the region and beyond during the winter months. Its winter calendar made it attractive to European junior drivers seeking additional mileage between seasons, contributing to the series' growing international profile during its operational years under the FIA Formula 4 framework.