Autodromo Nazionale Monza - Luka Sammalisto claimed his third victory of the weekend, the seventh of his season. Once again, it was a perfect score: wins in every race he has taken part in, exactly as he did at Vallelunga.
The round also brought another change at the top of the drivers’ standings, with the Finnish driver already moving into the lead after Race 1 and then steadily extending his advantage. It was a more difficult day for the previous leader Alp Aksoy (Prema Racing), who was forced to retire from the final race following an incident with Arjen Kraling (US Racing) during a close fight inside the top ten. The Turkish driver had still managed to secure a podium earlier in the weekend, finishing third in Race 2, while in Race 1 he had received a penalty that dropped him out of the points.
Second place in the final race went to David Cosma-Cristofor (Prema Racing): the Romanian driver continues his strong run of results, having already scored multiple podiums in previous rounds and consistently running at the front in all races contested at Monza.
Third place went to Oleksandr Savinkov (US Racing), who had already finished third in Race 1. In the morning race, however, he had dropped out of the points after a contact while fighting for second place. Overall, despite the frustration of a result that slipped away through no fault of his own, his weekend remained very positive in terms of performance.
It was an extremely strong weekend for the entire US Racing squad. Among their standouts in the final race was Noah Killion, who finished fourth after winning Race 2 (the race in which Sammalisto did not take part due to the group rotation system).
Fifth overall and Rookie winner was Christian Costoya, driving for Prema Racing in McLaren Driver Development Programme papaya colours.
Sixth place went to Ary Bansal (US Racing), one of the main protagonists of the final race, who lost a few positions only in the closing stages following a gravel excursion. He was followed by Elia Weiss (Jenzer Motorsport) and Sicilian driver Ludovico Busso (US Racing). Edward Robinson (US Racing) finished ninth after a strong recovery drive from sixteenth on the grid.
Tenth overall and second in the Rookie classification was Simon Rechenmacher (Cram Motorsport), making his debut in the Italian championship at the Monza round. Eleventh was Alex Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing), ahead of Ferrari Driver Academy member Niccolò Maccagnani (Prema Racing). Thirteenth was David Walther (Maffi Racing), followed by Knud Nielsen (Real Racing), who once again finished on the Rookie podium for the third time in the third round of the Italian F4 Championship.
The final points-paying position went to Thomas Bearman, who recovered well after an off-track excursion in the gravel and rejoined the race while fighting inside the top ten. On Sunday, the British driver raced in front of his brother Oliver, a Formula 1 driver, who was in Monza to watch his brother compete in the championship he himself won in 2021. For Thomas Bearman, this marks his best result of the season in the series, with a second-place finish in Race 3.
In the Women’s Trophy, Emma Felbermayr completed a hat-trick, also scoring points in the overall classification for the second time this season by finishing 15th in Race 3. Behind her, Rosanne Den Drijver and Payton Westcott completed the women’s podium.
The four races at Monza delivered plenty of action, especially the final, which featured the best 36 drivers selected from the weekend out of a total of 49 entrants, all on track simultaneously. Results remain provisional pending the completion of technical and sporting scrutineering.
Update following post-race penalties
The Stewards' final review reshuffled the Final race classification. Luka Sammalisto (US Racing) retained his third victory of the weekend, while David Cosma-Cristofor (Prema Racing) received a five-second penalty for his battle with Ary Bansal (US Racing), dropping from second to eighth in the final results.
As a result, Oleksandr Savinkov and Noah Killion were both promoted by one position, completing an all-US Racing podium and underlining the German team's dominance throughout the weekend. Christian Costoya (Prema Racing) moves up to fourth, ahead of Ary Bansal, Elia Weiss (Jenzer Motorsport) and Ludovico Busso (US Racing).
Alp Aksoy (Prema Racing) will instead serve an eight-place grid penalty at the next round following his incident with Arjen Kraling (US Racing). Vittorio Orsini (AKM Motorsport) has also been handed a ten-place grid penalty after his clash with Pedro Lima (Van Amersfoort Racing).
Luka Sammalisto: "It's been really great for me again this weekend. Practice was a bit difficult on Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday, we managed to put together a good qualifying, finishing P2 in our group and starting from P2 in every race. From there, we just focused on moving forward in every race, staying calm and, above all, being consistent. That's the key here: consistency. We did a really good job, winning the first race, then the second one today, and now the Final as well. I'm really happy about it. After Vallelunga, I said I hoped we could do the same here, and now I have to say I hope we can do it again at the next round. We'll see."