Slater completes Italian F4 hat-trick at Mugello

Photo: ACI Sport

Prema’s Freddie Slater made it three Italian Formula 4 wins out of three at Mugello to grow his championship lead to 64 points.

Slater started on pole, and had US Racing’s Jack Beeton chasing him on lap one after he passed Van Amersfoort Racing duo Gustav Jonsson and Hiyu Yamakoshi.

Beeton was able to match Slater’s pace, bringing the gap between them down to 0.446 seconds at the end of lap seven, which prompted Slater to push on lap nine to move a second clear. The safety car came out a lap later due to Jenzer Motorsport’s Reno Francot and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Alvise Rodella colliding and going into the barriers, and when racing resumed on lap 13 there were four laps left to run.

Slater could not shake off Beeton, but also did not let him get close enough to attempt an overtake and he finished 0.547s ahead for his 10th win of 2024.

Jonsson and Yamakoshi were two seconds behind, Prema’s Kean Nakamura Berta was fifth and US Racing’s Akshay Bohra was sixth after he passed Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri on lap nine.

Prema’s Alex Powell, Tomass Stolcermanis and Dion Gowda rounded out the points positions, with US’s Maxim Rehm missing out on scoring in 11th place.

There was little overtaking in the race, and most of the drama occurred way down the order. Jenzer’s Oscar Wurz had to retire after an off-track moment on lap three, and US’s Matheus Ferreira had car trouble that meant his race ended at the side of the track.

Race results (16 laps)