Photo: F4 UAE
Alex Powell was fastest in Italian Formula 4 testing at Mugello this week, his latest appearance with R-ace GP.
The Jamaican has exclusively raced in Prema-run cars since making his single-seater debut last year, but has recently done several F4 tests with R-ace as he evaluates his plans for 2025.
Powell kicked off 2024 by coming sixth in F4 United Arab Emirates, winning one race, then came fifth in Italian F4 and ninth in Euro 4. He took a win in the latter, achieved in slightly unusual circumstances at Monza.
Teams had morning and afternoon sessions at Mugello on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, with Powell fastest in the two morning sessions while CL Motorsport’s Newman Chi led the way in the afternoon both times.
A 1m47.707s lap put Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Powell on top by 0.42 seconds over team-mate Emanuele Olivieri in the opening portion of track action, with US Racing’s Maxim Rehm in third ahead of Chi and US’s Kabir Anurag.
Laptimes were slower in the afternoon, with Chi setting a 1m48.439s to lead Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov by 0.226s. Powell was a further 0.064s back in third, with Olivieri in fourth place.
Personal bests were achieved by almost all on Wednesday morning, and three drivers were able to lap sub-1m48s. Powell’s 1m47.603s effort put him on top by 0.279s over the driver of US Racing’s #12 car, and it was close from there down to fifth place.
Rehm was 0.329s off Powell’s pace, and just 0.083s ahead of Chi. Olivieri was only 0.026s slower than him, and Popov was sixth. AS Motorsport’s Sebastian Bach was also within a second of Powell’s new benchmark laptime.
Chi moved up to second place overall by setting a 1m47.748s in session four, as he spent far more time on track than his rivals. He did over 40 laps, and his test total of 178 laps was 20 more than anyone else.
Popov was second fastest in the session, 0.477s slower than Chi, with the driver of AKM Motorsport’s #52 car in third ahead of Olivieri, VAR’s Alp Hasan Aksoy, powell, Rehm and VAR’s Dante Vinci. A second covered the top nine in the test’s combined timesheet.
Test results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Powell | R-ace GP | 1m47.603s | 152 | |
| 2 | Newman Chi | CL Motorsport | 1m47.748s | +0.145s | 178 |
| 3 | #12 | US Racing | 1m47.882s | +0.279s | 155 |
| 4 | Maxim Rehm | US Racing | 1m47.932s | +0.329s | 147 |
| 5 | Emanuele Olivieri | R-ace GP | 1m48.041s | +0.438s | 146 |
| 6 | Maximilian Popov | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.194s | +0.591s | 110 |
| 7 | Sebastian Bach | AS Motorsport | 1m48.342s | +0.739s | 105 |
| 8 | #52 | AKM Motorsport | 1m48.385s | +0.782s | 144 |
| 9 | Kabir Anurag | US Racing | 1m48.560s | +0.957s | 66 |
| 10 | Alp Hasan Aksoy | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.639s | +1.036s | 127 |
| 11 | Dante Vinci | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.658s | +1.055s | 124 |
| 12 | #24 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m48.905s | +1.302s | 115 |
| 13 | Cot | PHM Racing | 1m48.928s | +1.325s | 143 |
| 14 | #21 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m48.980s | +1.377s | 138 |
| 15 | Alexander Savinkov | PHM Racing | 1m49.035s | +1.432s | 137 |
| 16 | Nie | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m49.086s | +1.483s | 125 |
| 17 | #31 | US Racing | 1m49.126s | +1.523s | 129 |
| 18 | #5 | AKM Motorsport | 1m49.262s | +1.659s | 140 |
| 19 | Jimmy Helias | R-ace GP | 1m49.571s | +1.968s | 143 |
| 20 | #61 | AS Motorsport | 1m49.612s | +2.009s | 115 |
| 21 | #26 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m50.305s | +2.702s | 124 |
| 22 | Payton Westcott | PHM Racing | 1m50.337s | +2.734s | 158 |
| 23 | #23 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m51.220s | +3.617s | 123 |
| 24 | #99 | Cram Motorsport | 1m51.514s | +3.911s | 69 |
| 25 | #95 | AKM Motorsport | 1m52.757s | +5.154s | 131 |
| 26 | Ginevra Panzeri | AKM Motorsport | 1m54.455s | +6.852s | 114 |