Scarperia e San Piero (Florence) - The fourth round of the Italian F.4 Championship came to a close with a standout weekend for Alex Powell. The American-Jamaican driver from R-ace GP, part of the Mercedes junior program, had already impressed in qualifying by securing two pole positions. In Race 1, he climbed to the podium from fourth on the grid, finishing third, and then capped off the weekend with a double win in Race 2 and Race 3. The final race saw him cross the line with over five seconds of margin on his closest rival.
The battle for the remaining top ten positions was much tighter in the final race of the weekend. Reno Francot, representing PHM Racing, claimed second place on his return to the championship at Mugello after a full 2024 season. A highly successful comeback, as the Dutchman also took third place in Race 2 before finishing runner-up in Race 3. He got a strong start, overtaking Kean Nakamura-Berta, and then had to defend the position multiple times from the Prema Racing driver’s attacks.
Championship leader Nakamura-Berta finished third in a Race 3 that saw him involved in a fierce battle all the way to the final laps. After winning Race 1 from pole, the Prema driver had to settle for sixth in Race 2 due to a less-than-ideal second qualifying session, due to a track limit infringement, before returning to the podium in the closing race. His main challenger in the finale was Gabriel Gomez of US Racing, eager to repeat his podium result from Race 2. Despite several well-timed attacks, the Brazilian had to settle for fourth.
A spectacular move came from Maksimilian Popov, who snatched fifth place in style. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver made the most of the duel between Luka Sammalisto (US Racing) and Sebastian Wheldon (Prema Racing), overtaking both with a bold move down the inside. Sammalisto eventually finished sixth. Positions seven to nine also mirrored the Rookie podium, completed in order by Salim Hanna and Newman Chi of Prema Racing and Aleksander Ruta of Van Amersfoort Racing.
Completing the top 10 was Australian driver Dante Vinci, also a Rookie and also racing with Van Amersfoort Racing. The final points-paying positions were the scene of another heated battle, involving Kabir Anurag (US Racing), David Cosma-Cristofor (PHM Racing), Artem Severiukhin (Jenzer Motorsport), and Emanuele Olivieri. The R-ace GP driver clocked the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1’51.069, but his ambitions were thwarted by a puncture that forced him to pit. The final race of the Tuscan weekend was further complicated by track conditions, initially very slippery due to rain that had fallen shortly before the cars lined up on the grid. As the track gradually dried, all drivers opted for Pirelli slick tyres.
In the championship standings, Kean Nakamura-Berta retains the lead with 213 points. Sebastian Wheldon remains second despite a tough Race 3, finishing 14th after fighting for a podium spot. The Prema driver is now tied at 154 points with Gabriel Gomez. Thanks to his impressive weekend at Mugello, Alex Powell moves up to fourth with 113 points, followed by Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP) on 94.
Alex Powell: “It was an incredible race. It started to rain before the start, so we weren’t really sure what tyres to go for, but we chose slicks and that was definitely the right call. I think the whole grid was on slicks, so it was about managing the early part of the race and then the tyres. It’s already hard as is, considering there was water down on the surface at the beginning, it became so tricky. I think we handled it really well. I just have to thank the team and everyone around me, it’s their guidance that has got me here. I’m really looking forward to the start of the E4 Championship, especially with the momentum we’ve built this weekend. It’s awesome to be where we are, I’m so blessed to be in this position, I hope to be in the same place next week”
Reno Francot: “The start was tricky because it had rained a bit before the lights. I had to guess a little on where to go, but we had a great launch and made it into second. Then I tried to catch the leader, but then eventually my tyres went down and I just managed my P2. I’m really thankful to the team and really happy!”
Kean Nakamura-Berta: “It was a tough race. Starting from the left side, it was more damp and made it tricky. From there, I tried to manage the tyres as best as possible to have something left at the end. It was tough to expect more. In Race 1, we had really good pace, but in this one our pace was about what we expected. The team did a great job all weekend, and I’m confident we’ll come back strong in the next round. We would have been pretty strong in the rain, so in a sense, we were hoping for a bit more rain. In the end, it was a good weekend, point-wise we did a good job. We will be back strong in Imola.”
The next round of the Italian F.4 Championship is scheduled for 1–3 August at Imola, marking the fifth event of the season. Before that, however, the Tatuus cars will return to action on 18–20 July at Paul Ricard for the opening round of the 2025 E4 Championship.