The last race of the weekend was nothing short of spectacular, wrapping up the second round of the Italian F.4 Championship in style after a weekend packed with drama from the very start. After qualifying was disrupted by intermittent rain and the three qualifying races were won by Kean Nakamura-Berta (Race 1 and 2) and Sebastian Wheldon (Race 3), the final race delivered a twist: a clash between the top two contenders paved the way for Gabriel Gomez to take the win.
The lightning-fast Brazilian had already passed both of them on the inside to take the lead just before the incident, and he remained in front until the chequered flag, managing a restart after the safety car intervention as well. Gomez showed speed and skill throughout the weekend, stepping onto the podium in both his qualifying races with two third-place finishes, then closing with victory in the final. With 55 points scored, he was the most effective driver at Vallelunga, gaining five more than Kean Nakamura-Berta, who remains the championship leader with 125 points thanks to five wins. Gomez is now up to third in the standings with 78 points, behind Wheldon on 96.
Joining Gomez on the final podium were R-ace GP’s Italian driver Emanuele Olivieri, who finished second after a brilliant race, and Prema Racing’s Colombian talent Salim Hanna, who also claimed Rookie victory.
The race was marked by a chaotic first lap that delivered one last surprise to close out the round. In addition to the contact between Nakamura-Berta and Wheldon, there was an incident involving Dante Vinci (Van Amersfoort Racing), Andrija Kostic (US Racing), and Jan Koller (US Racing). Tomass Stolcermanis (Prema Racing) and Newman Chi (Prema Racing) were also forced to retire. The safety car was deployed to restore racing conditions, with Gomez leading the restart. Up front, a fierce battle for the podium unfolded between R-ace GP drivers Alex Powell and Emanuele Olivieri, with the Italian making a spectacular overtake on the Mercedes junior. Powell was then hunted down by Salim Hanna, who passed him in the final stages of the race to secure both the overall podium and Rookie class win.
Powell, who had returned to the podium for the first time this season with a second-place finish in Race 3, ended the final in fourth. Fifth went to the Norwegian Van Amersfoort Racing driver, the second-best Rookie in the final. Sixth place for Jenzer Motorsport’s British driver Harrison Bart, ahead of his teammate Artem Severiukhin, who completed the Rookie podium. Eighth place went to Poland’s Aleksandr Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing), followed by Finland’s Luka Sammalisto (US Racing) and Argentina’s Teo Schropp (Jenzer Motorsport).
Kean Nakamura-Berta was unable to break back into the top 10 after restarting from the back of the grid but pulled off a long string of overtakes to finish eleventh. After the race, penalties were handed to Kabir Anurag (US Racing), who received 25 seconds for an incident with Oleksandr Savinkov (R-ace GP) that also involved Newman Chi (Prema Racing), and to Bader Al Sulaiti (Jenzer Motorsport), who was penalised 10 seconds for improper conduct (“impeding/waving”) due to multiple changes of direction.
The next round of the season is set for 20–22 June at the Temple of Speed: the Autodromo Nazionale Monza will host Round 3 of the 2025 Italian F.4 Championship.
Gabriel Gomez: "It was a very tough race, difficult to handle. We managed to get a very good start from P4, and by Turn 4, we were already in the lead. After the safety car came in, there was a bit of tension at the restart, but we handled that well, too. The pace was extremely good and consistent, we built a nice gap, and in the final part, it was just about managing it and bringing the result home."
Emanuele Olivieri: "The race went very well, though the weekend a bit less so. A bit of bad luck prevented us from showing our real potential. I had a great start, moving up from tenth to third in just two sectors. Then the safety car came out, and I managed to overtake my teammate, but it took me a while. The tyres degraded a bit, and I couldn’t catch Gabriel, who was very fast. When I saw the gap was too big and there wasn’t much time left, I focused on tyre management and brought the car to the finish."
Salim Hanna: "We had a good start. After yesterday’s race, we understood that for u,s the start was crucial, so we focused a lot on that. I managed to pass several cars on the first lap and then stayed in P4 for most of the race. The car was feeling good, I tried to save tyres for a few laps in the final part, and I think that paid off. I made a good move on the driver in P3. Every week we are learning and improving, and that’s the most important thing."