Mugello - The second round of the E4 Championship at Mugello Circuit ended with one final twist. After Kean Nakamura-Berta’s success in Race 1 and Alex Powell’s victory in Race 2 (following the 5-second penalty handed to Nakamura-Berta, first under the checkered flag), the last race of the weekend went to Sebastian Wheldon.
The Andretti junior driver of Prema Racing took the lead with a spectacular move at the restart after the safety car, which had been deployed due to a collision between Andrea Charles Dupe (Prema Racing) and Andrija Kostic (US Racing). With a textbook multiple overtake, he jumped from third to first, then started to build a gap while also setting the fastest lap of the race. Wheldon eventually crossed the finish line with a margin of over 2.6 seconds.
In second place came Alex Powell, already runner-up in Race 1 and winner in Race 2: the Jamaican-American driver of R-ace GP collected the most points of the weekend and will arrive at the season finale in Monza – his adopted home circuit – with full title ambitions. Powell was leading the race by more than a second before the safety car erased his advantage.
On the third step of the podium was Reno Francot (PHM Racing), who repeated his Race 2 result with an overtake on Nakamura-Berta. The Japanese driver, while trying to respond to Wheldon for P1, made a small mistake, putting two wheels in the gravel and leaving the door open for the Dutchman.
Sebastian Wheldon: “It was a good race. We weren’t too quick in Quali or in Races 1 and 2, but we managed the tyres well for Race 3. I drove a pretty smart race: I waited for the restart, got ahead of both Alex and Kean, and then built a gap. I tried to push a bit at the beginning, but I didn’t get the drive out of the last corner. I was also a bit lucky with the safety car, which gave me the chance to make that move on both of them.”
Alex Powell: “It’s crazy to think we’re back in the Championship fight. Of course, we wanted to win today. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I think this weekend we were the best team, and I’m super proud of them. We were controlling the race, then the safety car came out and disrupted everything. Racing is like that sometimes, we can’t be disappointed with second place. Of course, we would have loved to win, I think we deserved to, but we take the victory from yesterday. Overall, I’m really happy: one win and two second places mean a big points haul, and somehow we’re back in the Championship fight. I can’t thank my team enough, they really deserve it. I’m sure we’ll have a strong run of races soon. I can feel we are very strong.”
Reno Francot: “I would have expected to get more podiums, or even a race win, because I knew the pace was there. I had a little problem with the tyres, like in the previous race, but I managed them a bit better and that helped my pace. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take P2, but after some good racecraft, I still managed to finish P3. Overall, I’m quite happy about the weekend. I had an unfortunate incident in Race 1, but I bounced back quite strong. I’m looking forward to the next race weekend.”
Nakamura-Berta, who finished fourth in Race 3, still took the lead in the drivers’ standings, already moving ahead of Gabriel Gomez after Race 2. The Brazilian driver of US Racing, despite never starting from the very front, limited the damage with good consistency. In Race 3, he finished fifth, keeping himself fully in contention for the title heading to Monza.
The race started behind the safety car due to uneven track dampness on the grid. Powell (R-ace GP) led the actual start two laps later, but immediately behind there was contact involving Javier Herrera (AKM Motorsport) and Payton Westcott (Van Amersfoort Racing), which forced Westcott to retire. The incident was triggered by Guy Albag (R-ace GP), who was later handed a 25-second penalty.
The race soon came alive with several battles inside the top 10, especially among Salim Hanna (Prema Racing), Dante Vinci and Maksimilian Popov (both Van Amersfoort Racing). Popov was handed a 10-second penalty for contact. Kostic was also penalized for the incident with Dupe, which caused the safety car and ended what had been an excellent race for the Frenchman of Prema Racing.
At the flag, Hanna finished sixth while also claiming his third Rookie win of the weekend, after a tough finale with Gomez chasing him. Seventh place went to Tomas Stolcermanis (AKM Motorsport), after a strong comeback filled with overtakes. Eighth was Zenhrui Chi (Prema Racing), ahead of Aleksandr Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing), the two completing the Rookie podium. Tenth place went to Vinci (Van Amersfoort Racing).
In the female classification, Mathilda Paatz doubled up after her Race 2 win, with the support of her family team Mathilda Racing and AS Motorsport. Joining her on the podium were Aurelia Nobels (AS Motorsport) and Emily Cotty (R-ace GP). Fourth came Ginevra Panzeri, who had won the female classification in Race 1.
Mathilda Paatz: “In the first race, we had some difficulties, unfortunately, starting from the very back. But I had a nice recovery and moved up quickly. I’m happy to be again the first on the female podium and I hope to keep going like this. It was a very interesting experience, very different from the other championships where I have raced. I loved the battles, you never get bored and there’s always something happening. You have to be smart, and I think we did a really good job this weekend.”
Drivers’ standings after Mugello (top 5):
Kean Nakamura-Berta – 106 points
Gabriel Gomez – 96 points
Alex Powell – 75 points
Reno Francot – 73 points
Sebastian Wheldon – 71 points
The next round of the E4 Championship will be the grand finale in Monza, on the weekend of October 26. Before that, however, Formula 4 made in Italy will already be back in action next week, September 19-21, in Barcelona, for the sixth and penultimate round of the Italian F.4 Championship.