It was a triumphant Saturday for the Trident team in the Formula Regional European by Alpine. At Montmeló, the circuit located in the outskirts of Barcelona, the team managed by Luca Zerbini scored a resounding victory in the first race of the weekend thanks to Matteo De Palo. Fastest in his group in Qualifying 1, the Roman driver started from the front row alongside poleman Slater, the championship leader and his only direct rival in the title chase. When the lights went out, De Palo made a sprint-like move alongside Slater along the long straight leading to the first braking point.
 

Skillfully fending off Nakamura, who had him on his right, De Palo remained focused, staying wheel-to-wheel with the Englishman and forcefully taking the lead. It was a perfect maneuver. De Palo gave his opponent nothing and pulled away lap after lap, taking the win by 3.859 seconds over Slater. With this win, his fourth of 2025, De Palo returns to the championship lead with a four-point advantage over the Briton.
 

Matteo's dominance was evident, and the Trident team's positive day was completed by Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi's impressive fifth-place finish. A brilliant third in his qualifying group, the Thai maintained a strong pace throughout the 20-lap race, taking fifth place, his best result in the category in the last two years. Ruiqi Liu, 18th on the grid, battled in the midfield to finish 16th.
 

Matteo De Palo: “It was a solid day. This morning, we had a one and a half tenths advantage over Clerot. I was a bit disappointed because Slater got pole. In the race, I passed him right at the start without any problems. He pushed me a little onto the grass, but I still managed to get past because I got a better start. After that, I managed the tyres and the pace well, and in the end we won with a good gap”.
 

Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi: “To be honest, this felt like a win for me. After such a chaotic Friday with some issues, today’s qualifying was really good and finishing fifth in the race was just the icing on the cake. I’m really happy, it means a lot to me”.
 

Ruiqi Liu: “The pace in free practice was pretty decent, and I think we maximised what I had in my pocket. Starting from a bad position made it really hard to overtake. I’d say the race showed some positive signs, but with the dirty air, it was really difficult to pass. I think I only managed two overtakes, even though I had a much better pace than the cars in front. So in Q2 and race 2, I definitely need to improve my starting position and fight for better places”.