Misano Adriatico (RN) - Everything is set for the start of a new and spectacular season of the Italian F.4 Championship. The series, promoted by ACI Sport and WSK Promotion, promises to keep the excitement level high once again in 2025, with record numbers already in its first round.
From May 2nd to 4th, at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli,” there will be 41 drivers on track, representing 13 teams, in a weekend that once again places the Italian championship at the center of the international spotlight. A total of 27 nations will be represented on the grid for the four races scheduled, with young talents from around the world ready to battle for victory in the first race of the season. It’s not just about quantity, but also quality: many of the drivers lining up have already showcased their potential in the previous season or in the F4 series held earlier this year.
The teams and the drivers
Prema Racing and US Racing will be the teams with the highest number of cars on the grid, six each. The Italian team will bring to the track the Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev, the Chinese Chi Newman, the Latvian Tomass Stolcermanis, the Japanese Kean Nakamura Berta, the Colombian Salim Hanna, and the American Sebastian Wheldon, the son of racing legend.
US Racing, the Kerpen-based team led by Gerhard Ungar and Ralf Schumacher, will compete with Serbian Andrija Kostic, Finn Luka Sammalisto, Singaporean Kabir Anurag, Czech Jan Koller, German Maxim Rehm, and Brazilian Gabriel Gomez, the latter being the recent Formula Winter Series champion.
Five drivers will compete for R-ace GP: Emanuele Olivieri, winner of the ACI Sport Federal School 2023 and newly crowned F4 Middle East Champion, will be joined by Jamaican-American Alex Powell, British Emily Cotty, Israeli Guy Albag, and Ukrainian Oleksandr Savinkov.
Van Amersfoort Racing will also line up five cars with Maksimilian Popov, Polish Aleksander Ruta, Australian Dante Vinci, Norwegian Marcus Saeter, and American Payton Westcott.
Jenzer Motorsport will field five cars for the Misano weekend, with Swiss Enea Frey, Argentine Teo Schopp, Artem Severiukhin, Qatari Bader Al Sulaiti, and Englishman Bart Harrison.
Maffi Racing will present four drivers: alongside returning Nathaniel Berreby and Kirill Kutsov, Polish Kornelia Olkucka and Danish David Walther will make their debut. Viola Formula Racing will return to the championship with three drivers: Italian Ludovico Busso, Turkish Emir Tanju, and French Arthur Lorimier.
PHM AIX Racing and Real Racing will each field two cars: for PHM AIX Racing, French Andrea Dupe and Romanian David Cosma-Cristofor will compete, while Real Racing will rely on Luca Viisoreanu and Andrei Duna, also from Romania.
Cram Motorsport will have just one representative, German Luis Elia Weiss; Technorace Competition will field Italian Francesco Pio Coppola; AS Motorsport will put its faith in German Phil Colin Strenge. The numbers and names that define the first round of the Championship, just days before the start of the season, suggest a year full of high-level excitement.
Despite the high number of participants, which will require the implementation of the four-race format as per the regulations, further entries are expected throughout the season.
Weekend schedule
The Misano weekend will begin on Thursday, May 1st, with two collective test sessions: the first from 09:00 to 11:00, and the second from 14:15 to 16:15.
Friday, May 2nd, will kick off with free practice (08:30-09:10 and 13:25-14:05), followed by qualifying, divided into two series:
• Series 1 from 17:30 to 17:50
• Series 2 from 18:00 to 18:20
Based on qualifying results, drivers will be divided into three groups (A, B, and C).
Race schedule:
Saturday, May 3rd:
o Race 1 (Group B vs Group C) at 11:15
o Race 2 (Group A vs Group B) at 17:10
Sunday, May 4th:
o Race 3 (Group A vs Group C) at 10:55
o Final race with the top 36 drivers at 19:30
All races will last 25 minutes + 1 lap and will count toward the championship standings.
Where to follow the event
The four races of the Italian F4 Championship will be broadcast live. It will also be possible to follow the races in English via live streaming on the Italian F4 Championship YouTube and Facebook pages, as well as through the extensive network of international broadcasters that partner with the series.
For those who wish to experience the action live, entry to the Misano World Circuit will be free, with open access to the paddock.