Photo: ACI Sport
Prema’s Brandon Maisano enjoyed a strong start to his weekend by topping both practice sessions in the fifth round of the Italian F4 season at Vallelunga.
The 21-year-old Frenchman, who leads the Trophy class standings, went quickest in the morning by 0.042 seconds?ahead of teammate, and main series championship leader Lance Stroll.
Italian Mattia Drudi was third quickest, ahead of Leonardo Pulcini, who was the top Euronova driver. Brazilian Joao Vieira, driving for Antonelli, made up the top five, with the third Prema driver Takashi Kasai in sixth place.
Matteo Desideri went seventh quickest, with Keith Camilleri, Andrea Russo and Alain Valente making up the top ten.
The second session saw track temperatures increase considerably, which prevented most drivers from improving on their first session times. Maisano was the one of the few drivers in the top ten in the morning to post a faster time, though his improvement was only eight-thousandths of a second.
Drudi pipped Stroll to second, while Russo and Ivan Matveev made up the top five, the Russian also improving on his lap time in the morning.?Camilleri was sixth fastest, ahead of Euronova duo Pulcini and Andrea Fontana. Kasai and Valente rounded out the top ten.
Practice results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | FP1 | FP2 |
| 1 | Brandon Maisano | Prema Powerteam | 1:35.407 | 1:35.399 |
| 2 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | 1:35.449 | 1:35.851 |
| 3 | Mattia Drudi | F & M SRL | 1:35.590 | 1:35.599 |
| 4 | Leonardo Pulcini | Euronova Racing | 1:35.679 | 1:36.352 |
| 5 | Joao Vieira | Antonelli Motorsport | 1:35.758 | 1:37.503 |
| 6 | Takashi Kasai | Prema Powerteam | 1:35.890 | 1:36.411 |
| 7 | Matteo Desideri | Antonelli Motorsport | 1:35.908 | 1:36.570 |
| 8 | Keith Camilleri | Malta Formula Racing | 1:35.957 | 1:36.287 |
| 9 | Andrea Russo | Diegi Motorsport | 1:35.967 | 1:36.012 |
| 10 | Alain Valente | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:36.100 | 1:36.414 |
| 11 | Ivan Matveev | SMP Racing by Euronova | 1:36.447 | 1:36.117 |
| 12 | Lucas Mauron | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:36.315 | 1:37.507 |
| 13 | Andrea Fontana | Euronova Racing | 1:36.412 | 1:36.377 |
| 14 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | F & M SRL | 1:36.551 | 1:36.943 |
| 15 | Nico Rindlisbacher | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:36.610 | 1:37.356 |
| 16 | Edi Haxhiu | Cram Motorsport | 1:36.648 | 1:36.807 |
| 17 | Gustavo Bandeira | DAV Racing | No time | 1:36.375 |
| 18 | Zackary Dante | Malta Formula Racing | 1:37.352 | 1:36.902 |
| 19 | Bar Baruch | Israel F4 by Torino | 1:37.116 | 1:37.280 |
| 20 | Giovanni Altoe | F & M SRL | 1:37.200 | 1:37.215 |
| 21 | Ali Al Khalifa | Antonelli Motorsport | 1:37.430 | 1:38.280 |
| 22 | Jonathan Giudice | Jenzer Motorsport | No time | 1:38.529 |