Monza - Kean Nakamura-Berta delivered a perfect weekend in the final round of the E4 Championship. Already leading the standings ahead of the round, the Japanese-Slovakian Prema Racing driver left no room for rivals, claiming three wins out of three races over the weekend. The E4 Championship title was only decided at the final checkered flag, thanks to main rival Gabriel Gomez (US Racing), who fought hard to keep the contest alive until the very end. Nakamura-Berta finished the season with 181 points, including four wins, three second places, one third, and one fourth. Celebrating with him were the Vicenza-based team, who had already secured the team title after Race 2, and teammate Oleksandr Bondarev, who also won the Rookie class after Race 2. In Race 3, the women’s title was also decided, with Emily Cotty (R-ace GP) overtaking Ginevra Panzeri (AKM Motorsport) at the very end to claim the championship by a single point in a closely contested battle.
In the race that brought the 2025 E4 Championship to a close, the new champion started from pole position, as he had in the previous races of the weekend, but Prema Racing drivers Zhenrui Chi and Salim Hanna overtook him in the early stages, forcing him into a comeback. Nakamura-Berta regained the lead from his rivals. Sebastian Wheldon (Prema Racing) and Reno Francot (PHM Racing) also put on a show, battling for the top positions. Taking advantage of their duel, Gabriel Gomez (US Racing) tried to join the fight after skillfully climbing from thirteenth on the starting grid.
The season finale was full of spectacular action, with one of the race highlights provided by Singaporean driver Kabir Anurag (US Racing), who used the double slipstream of Wheldon and Francot to overtake them both simultaneously. The finishing order saw Hanna second and first among the Rookies in Race 3, followed by Anurag, who overtook Gomez in the final stages. Fourth across the line, the Brazilian was later handed a 5-second penalty that dropped him to ninth. The same fate befell the driver behind him, Sebastian Wheldon (Prema Racing), who slipped to tenth.
Fourth place went to Reno Francot, ahead of Alex Powell (R-ace GP), who was involved in a close duel with teammate Andy Consani. Between the two Mercedes junior drivers, race control even recorded a contact during the most intense phases of the race. Powell secured his position thanks to a final-lap overtake on Niccolò Maccagnani (BVM Racing). The young Italian talent finished sixth, also taking second place on the Rookie podium. Behind him, Arjen Kraling (US Racing) claimed third on the Rookie podium, while eighth place overall went to Dante Vinci (Van Amersfoort Racing).
The action and level of spectacle in the final E4 Championship race lived up to expectations. Drama unfolded from the first lap, with an incident between Aleksandr Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Nicolas Cortes (Jenzer Motorsport) forcing a safety car. The restart was led by Zhenrui Chi, then in the lead. The Chinese Prema driver was later eliminated from the top battle after damaging his front wing at the first corner. Contact between Andrija Kostic (US Racing) and Elia Weiss (Jenzer Motorsport) allowed Chi to make a pit stop under the safety car, but he could not recover the lost ground.
The women’s race saw Mathilda Paatz (Mathilda Racing by AS Motorsport) claim her second victory of the weekend, finishing eighteenth overall, with Emily Cotty (R-ace GP, twentieth overall) and Payton Westcott (Van Amersfoort Racing, twenty-first overall) completing the category podium.
Kean Nakamura-Berta: “Last year was a good learning year, and this year we gave everything. We ended it just as we started: a triple win. It’s even more memorable because it happened in Monza. It’s always so difficult to win one race here, let alone three—it’s crazy. The team has been incredible all year. I’ve said this many times already: they’ve done an amazing job every time we’ve been on track. I’m forever grateful for all the effort, work, and trust they’ve put in me this year. I’m really happy to take both titles.”
Salim Hanna: “Honestly, I’m happy about the whole year. There was a lot to learn, a lot of ups and downs. This race was really good; from the start, I gave it my all, I had nothing to lose. The Rookie Championship was gone, but I focused on going all in for this race. The first laps weren’t easy; I needed to be smart. The rest of the race went well—P2, so close. I don’t give up. Next year, I don’t know what I’ll be doing, but whatever it is, I’ll make sure to prepare really well.”
Kabir Anurag: “It’s really good to end the season with two P3s and a P6. It definitely shows the work we’ve been putting in all year. Achieving this in the final weekend is great, and I have to give big thanks to the team, and to Gabriel as well, for the teamwork during the race. It’s a fantastic way to end the season, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ll be racing in the Formula Regional European Championship next year. I can’t say with whom yet, but I’ll be back with ACI Sport, and I’m really looking forward to it.”