Sammalisto takes Mugello F4 hat-trick with last corner move on Weiss

Photo: ACI Sport

US Racing’s Luka Sammalisto finished his Italian Formula 4 title-winning season with a dramatic last corner win in pouring rain at Mugello. After a late safety car had released the field for a one-lap shootout, Jenzer Motorsport’s Elia Weiss held the advantage but ran slightly wide at Bucine, the final corner of the lap, allowing Sammalisto to power through to claim victory by 0.110s.

With heavy rain falling, the race started behind the safety car. When the field was released after three laps, polesitter Sammalisto had his work cut out to hold off a determined Weiss into the first corner. The pair quickly pulled a gap on Prema’s David Cosma-Cristofor, the R-ace GP duo of Kenzo Craigie and Andy Consani, US Racing’s Ludovico Busso and Prema’s Christian Costoya, who was defending from Trident’s Augustus Toniolo.

However, the safety car was back out after just over a lap of green flag running with Oscar Repetto and Dean Pedersen stuck in the gravel after executing a perfect synchronised pirouette off the track.

At the restart, Weiss was tucked up right under Sammalisto’s gearbox as they crossed the line with just over six minutes still on the clock. Sammalisto defended the inside but Weiss had the momentum to sweep round the otuside, wisely giving his rival racing room at Turn 1 but hanging on around the outside to emerge in the lead.

Weiss looked to have the race in his pocket but a third safety car, called after an incident involving the US Racing pair of Ary Bansal and Noah Killion, bunched the field up once more. Rather than letting the season finish limply under yellow, the race director called the safety car in to allow a single lap shoot-out to the flag.

Weiss went early but Sammalisto was right with him under braking for San Donato, looking outside and then inside as Weiss stuck to his customary wider line which gave him the momentum to hold the lead on the exit. Sammalisto was not about to give up the fight, holding onto Weiss as he battled to see through the heavy spray.

Weiss led Sammalisto into the final corner on the final lap of the final race of the final weekend. Weiss went for a wider line to aid traction to the line but ran too far out onto the kerbs, allowing Sammalisto to hold the tighter line and get the drive out of the corner to emerge in front and cross the line to claim his 12th Italian F4 win of the year.

Cosma-Cristofor came home a distant third, having lost 5.6s to the leaders in one lap of racing. Craigie and Consani took fourth and fifth ahead of Toniolo in sixth.  Van Amersfoort Racing’s Alex Ruta took seventh ahead of Alp Aksoy, who had endured a rather anonymous weekend. Despite this, he still did enough to clinch second place in the championship by three points from Cosma-Cristofor. The consistent Romanian lost out on dropped points due to the championship only counting a driver’s best 16 results.

Having run seventh in the early stages, Costoya dropped back to 16th at the flag, gaining three places on the last lap as Jensen Burnett spun in the middle of the pack before VAR team-mates Pedro Lima and Thomas Bearman lost places with an off-track excursion.

If there had been doubts about Sammalisto’s ability in wet conditions, he truly dispelled them with this masterful performance, although the weekend’s other stand-out performer, Weiss, made him work for his win.

Race results (10 laps)

Fastest lap: Weiss, 2m17.190s

Championship standings
1 Sammalisto 452  2 Aksoy 330  3 Cosma-Cristofor 327 4 Craigie 326  5 Robinson 306  6 Bansal 292  7 Costoya 230  8 Savinkov 227 9 Bearman 215  10 Busso 207