Gabriele Minì, Sebastian Montoya ,Gabriel Bortoleto and Dino Beganovic keep fighting at Monza
PREMA Powerteam didn't come home with a win in round 5 of the Italian Formula 4 Championship at Monza, but the team showed great potential and secured several podium finishes at the fast Italian venue. In addition, Gabriele Minì is still leading the series with a good margin.
In race 1, the young Italian was able to celebrate at the top of the rostrum but was later demoted to P10 by a track limits penalty. In race 2, he surged to a runner-up finish before being hit from behind in race 3. The DNF marked the first time for him outside the points in 2020.
Gabriel Bortoleto also delivered two brilliant podium finishes. The Brazilian scored third place in race 2 and was in scintillating form in race 3, moving from P22 on the grid to P2 at the end. He has now clinched the top-5 overall in points.
Sebastian Montoya put up an amazing pace since testing and practice, and although he wasn't the luckiest driver in the races, he still brought home three points finishes including a fifth place in race 1. Dino Beganovic paid the highest price for the disrupted qualifying sessions and could not maximize his potential which is still promising for the two final rounds of the championship.
#6 Sebastian Montoya
"In qualifying, it has been difficult with the red flags and everything. I could never put a lap together but the car was really good and I think we could have really competitive for pole. In all three races, we had an opportunity for the podium. It was a bit difficult though, but race 1 with the fastest lap of the race and the weekend showed our potential. In race 2 contact pushed us off and we didn't get the result we wanted after fighting for the lead. We were pretty consistent in all three races though despite the unpredictable circumstances that can happen at Monza."
Qualifying 1: P7 Fastest lap: 1'55.422
Qualifying 2: P8 Fastest lap: 1'55.516
Starting Grid Race 1: P7 Race 1: P5
Starting Grid Race 2: P8 Race 2: P8
Starting Grid Race 3: P7 Race 3: P6
#7 Dino Beganovic
"We learned a lot this weekend. We didn't have the best qualy but still put up good recoveries in the races showing great speed. We were unlucky in some situations, and some mistakes cost us good points. Overall a very tough weekend, but we showed great speed like in the previous race. We recovered very well from the back to P7 in race 3 with the fastest lap. I'm happy with how the weekend ended, and I'm sure we will be back stronger in Imola."
Qualifying 1: P14 Fastest lap: 1'55"639
Qualifying 2: P12 Fastest lap: 1'56.064
Starting Grid Race 1: P14 Race 1: P17
Starting Grid Race 2: P12 Race 2: P15
Starting Grid Race 3: P20 Race 3: P7
#46 Gabriele Minì
"It hasn't been the weekend we wanted for sure. Qualifying was a bit messy and with a lot of traffic it was important to set two good laps and I eventually ended up in P4, P2 and P1. In race 1 I had a good start and managed to fight for the lead. In the penultimate lap I got up to P2 from third place, and I took the lead on the outside of the last corner. I ended up first, but I was penalized for that pass. In race 2, I had another good start, got a little bit of margin, but a small mistake forced me to content with second place. In race 3, the start was great again hading me a great advantage. I was caught right back with the slipstream, and on lap 2, I reclaimed the lead. Unfortunately, another car crashed into me at the first corner so I had to retire..."
Qualifying 1: P4 Fastest lap: 1'54.869
Qualifying 2: P2 Fastest lap: 1'54.720
Starting Grid Race 1: P4 Race 1: P10
Starting Grid Race 2: P2 Race 2: P2
Starting Grid Race 3: P1 Race 3: DNF
#85 Gabriel Bortoleto
"I'm really happy about my performance this weekend. The car was amazing, but in qualy, we didn't manage to get good starting positions for all three races. I started race 1 in P5, my best position of this round, but had to retire due to contact. In race 2 I finished P3 starting from P15 and it was a great recovery. The last one was even better though. I started from P22 and I finished P2. It was one of the best performances I ever had. Everything was perfect. I want to thank everyone for this weekend, the team, my engineer, mechanics, and coach. We hope to carry this form into the final part of the year."
Qualifying 1: P5 Fastest lap: 1'54.908
Qualifying 2: P15 Fastest lap: 1'56.285
Starting Grid Race 1: P5 Race 1: P18
Starting Grid Race 2: P15 Race 2: P3
Starting Grid Race 3: P22 Race 3: P2