Home News Mercedes junior Antonelli makes it three F4 UAE wins from three

Mercedes junior Antonelli makes it three F4 UAE wins from three

by Craig Woollard

Photo: F4 UAE

Prema’s Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli remains unbeaten in the Formula 4 UAE championship after winning his third race of the opening Yas Marina weekend.

Despite one of the backmarkers initially stalling on the grid, the 25-minute race got underway with Antonelli, a late call-up for this weekend, on pole.

He led Prema stablemates James Wharton and Aiden Neate – the latter leaping from fifth on the grid – in the early stages before the safety car was brought out due to debris from a collision involving PHM Racing’s Nikita Bedrin.

On the restart, Wharton got a good run but locked a brake battling Antonelli. Shortly after, the safety car returned due to a collision between Mumbai Falcons’ Sohil Shah, now a full-season entry in his Xcel Motorsport-run car, and 3Y Technology by R-ace GP’s Nikhil Bohra – the latter being put firmly into the barriers.

The race resumed with 10 minutes remaining, and Wharton was caught napping by Neate. The pair battled into the fast turn nine (the first after F4’s start line), allowing the fourth Prema entry of Charlie Wurz into the mix, but all held position.

In the latter stages, Wurz lost fourth to MP Motorsport’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. There was more contact as 3Y by R-ace’s Martinius Stenshorne was tagged by Hitech GP’s Alex Dunne, who had a slow start and proceeded to only drop further in the order. Dunne lost his front wing, while Stenshorne was left stationary. He managed to reverse and park in a safe spot, meaning the safety car didn’t return.

Out front, Wharton was denied second late on by what appeared to be a mechanical issue, and Antonelli won by a more than comfortable 5.8 seconds over Neate.

Inthraphuvasak’s move meant he rounded out the podium, ahead of Wurz and MP’s Rik Koen.

Global Racing Service’s Vladislav Ryabov was sixth, ahead of hard-charging Taylor Barnard (PHM Racing) and Xcel’s Jamie Day. While Wharton was able to get his car going again, he finished 23rd.

Race results (12 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Prema 26m26.833s
2 Aiden Neate Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +5.849s
3 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak MP Motorsport +8.482s
4 Charlie Wurz Prema +8.724s
5 Rik Koen MP Motorsport +12.068s
6 Vladislav Ryabov GRS +12.438s
7 Jamie Day Xcel Motorsport +13.240s
8 Taylor Barnard PHM Racing +14.318s
9 Oliver Gray Hitech GP +15.676s
10 Miron Pingasov MP Motorsport +17.236s
11 Suleiman Zanfari MP Motorsport +20.367s
12 Ivan Domingues Xcel Motorsport +21.408s
13 Jonas Ried PHM Racing +23.346s
14 Brando Badoer AKM Motorsport +23.933s
15 Jules Castro Pinnacle Motorsport +24.830s
16 Ricardo Escotto Cram-Hitech GP +25.688s
17 Sohil Shah Mumbai Falcons by Xcel +25.946s
18 Anshul Gandhi Cram-Hitech GP +32.791s
19 Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi Xcel Motorsport +32.831s
20 Ismail Akhmedkhodjaev Xcel Motorsport +34.081s
21 Michael Shin JHR Developments +35.174s
22 Victoria Blokhina 3Y by R-ace GP +35.968s
23 James Wharton Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +1m01.655s
24 Alex Dunne Hitech GP +1m04.449s
Ret Martinius Stenshorne 3Y by R-ace GP
Ret Nikhil Bohra 3Y by R-ace GP
Ret Nikita Bedrin PHM Racing
Fastest lap: Wharton, 1m55.162s

Championship standings
Antonelli 75   2 Neate 54   3 Inthraphuvasak 27   4 Wharton 25   5 Koen 24   6 Gray 17   7 Wurz 17   8 Ryabov 16   9 Dunne 14    8 Shah 9