Photo: F4 UAE
Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Luke Browning were the fastest drivers in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates’ track sessions ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.
In Friday testing, Antonelli went fastest by just 0.057 seconds ahead of Prema’s main team driver Charlie Wurz. Theire team-mates were close behind, with Abu Dhabi’s Aiden Neate 0.065s back and Rafael Camara 0.155s off the pace.
In the afternoon session it was Prema’s Camara who went fastest by setting a 2m00.905s to head Antonelli by 0.024s, but it was only drivers further down the order who actually improved on their morning laptimes.
PHM Racing’s Taylor Barnard was fastest of those, jumping from 13th to eighth overall in a session where the top 20 were covered by a second.
On Saturday morning laptimes got faster, with Hitech GP’s Browning becoming the only driver to break into the 1m59s with the new Tatuus T-421 car.
Neate was second and 0.099s slower in what was the only practice session, with Barnard and Camara next. MP Motorsport’s debuting Christian Ho, ninth in testing, improved his pace to be 13th fastest.
Test results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema | 2m00.530s | 51 |
| 2 | Charlie Wurz | Prema | +0.057s | 53 |
| 3 | Aiden Neate | Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema | +0.065s | 52 |
| 4 | Rafael Camara | Prema | +0.155s | 51 |
| 5 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | +0.158s | 51 |
| 6 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | MP Motorsport | +0.193s | 48 |
| 7 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | +0.248s | 55 |
| 8 | Taylor Barnard | PHM Racing | +0.538s | 48 |
| 9 | Christian Ho | MP Motorsport | +0.608s | 48 |
| 10 | Miron Pingasov | MP Motorsport | +0.642s | 48 |
| 11 | Martinius Stenshorne | 3Y by R-ace GP | +0.648s | 51 |
| 12 | Alex Dunne | Hitech GP | +0.689s | 48 |
| 13 | Valerio Rinicella | MP Motorsport | +0.806s | 47 |
| 14 | Ivan Domingues | Xcel Motorsport | +0.903s | 60 |
| 15 | Michael Shin | JHR Developments | +0.903s | 44 |
| 16 | Ricardo Escotto | Cram-Hitech GP | +1.116s | 59 |
| 17 | Victoria Blokhina | 3Y by R-ace GP | +1.119s | 53 |
| 18 | Anshul Gandhi | Cram-Hitech GP | +1.143s | 62 |
| 19 | Suleiman Zanfari | MP Motorsport | +1.144s | 47 |
| 20 | Vladislav Ryabov | GRS | +1.219s | 41 |
| 21 | Nikhil Bohra | 3Y by R-ace GP | +1.262s | 48 |
| 22 | Sohil Shah | Mumbai Falcons by Xcel | +1.336s | 58 |
| 23 | Brando Badoer | AKM Motorsport | +1.362s | 59 |
| 24 | Joseph Loake | JHR Developments | +1.365s | 49 |
| 25 | Jamie Day | Xcel Motorsport | +1.499s | 49 |
| 26 | Robert De Haan | Pinnacle Motorsport | +1.702s | 56 |
| 27 | Jonas Ried | PHM Racing | +1.884s | 55 |
| 28 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | Xcel Motorsport | +2.009s | 57 |
| 29 | Ismoilkhuja Akhmedkhodjaev | Xcel Motorsport | +2.938s | 62 |
| 30 | Yash Aradhya | Mumbai Falcons by Xcel | +2.940s | 63 |
| 31 | Jef Machiels | Pinnacle Motorsport | +3.434s | 37 |
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browning | Hitech GP | 1m59.945s | 9 |
| 2 | Neate | Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema | +0.099s | 9 |
| 3 | Barnard | PHM Racing | +0.163s | 8 |
| 4 | Camara | Prema | +0.218s | 9 |
| 5 | Bedrin | PHM Racing | +0.240s | 10 |
| 6 | Pingasov | MP Motorsport | +0.333s | 8 |
| 7 | Antonelli | Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema | +0.355s | 9 |
| 8 | Wurz | Prema | +0.448s | 8 |
| 9 | Stenshorne | 3Y by R-ace GP | +0.456s | 12 |
| 10 | Rinicella | MP Motorsport | +0.506s | 9 |
| 11 | Inthraphuvasak | MP Motorsport | +0.510s | 8 |
| 12 | Domingues | Xcel Motorsport | +0.666s | 10 |
| 13 | Ho | MP Motorsport | +0.731s | 8 |
| 14 | Dunne | Hitech GP | +0.753s | 8 |
| 15 | Zanfari | MP Motorsport | +0.893s | 9 |
| 16 | Ryabov | GRS | +0.940s | 10 |
| 17 | Bohra | 3Y by R-ace GP | +0.973s | 12 |
| 18 | Blokhina | 3Y by R-ace GP | +1.031s | 13 |
| 19 | Day | Xcel Motorsport | +1.045s | 10 |
| 20 | Badoer | AKM Motorsport | +1.219s | 12 |
| 21 | Gandhi | Cram-Hitech GP | +1.320s | 11 |
| 22 | De Haan | Pinnacle Motorsport | +1.345s | 10 |
| 23 | Bhirombhakdi | Xcel Motorsport | +1.690s | 10 |
| 24 | Shin | JHR Developments | +1.820s | 12 |
| 25 | Ried | PHM Racing | +1.841s | 8 |
| 26 | Loake | JHR Developments | +2.031s | 12 |
| 27 | Shah | Mumbai Falcons by Xcel | +2.068s | 6 |
| 28 | Escotto | Cram-Hitech GP | +2.252s | 11 |
| 29 | Machiels | Pinnacle Motorsport | +2.528s | 10 |
| 30 | Yash Aradhya | Mumbai Falcons by Xcel | +2.654s | 12 |
| 31 | Akhmedkhodjaev | Xcel Motorsport | +2.890s | 10 |