Photo: ACI Sport
Prema’s Freddie Slater took another lights-to-flag Italian Formula 4 win in the second race at Mugello.
Slater had to fend off team-mate Rashid Al Dhaheri at the start, with US Racing’s Akshay Bohra and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi almost making it four-wide into turn one for the first time.
The safety car was summoned at the end of lap one after US Racing’s Kabir Anurag, Cram Motorsport’s Filippo Fiorentino and AKM Motorsport’s Omar Aldereyaane collided at turn 12 and ended up stuck in the gravel.
US’s Maxim Rehm retired in the pits after going off through the gravel, while PHM Racing’s Davide Larini pitted to change his front wing.
Racing resumed on lap five, and Gustav Jonsson dived down the inside of team-mate Hiyu Yamakoshi for fourth at turn one. On the next lap Slater came under attack from Al Dhaheri though the first two corners, and held him off before the safety car returned due to Jenzer Motorsport’s Enea Frey spinning and being unable to get going again.
The next restart was on lap eight, and Slater left it late to return to racing speeds. Jonsson made another diving move at turn one, this time getting into third as Al Dhaheri fell behind him and Bohra.
Alex Powell passed Prema team-mate Dion Gowda for sixth, with US Racing’s Jack Beeton in eighth. Jenzer’s Reno Francot went around the outsie of Prema’s Tomass Stolcermanis for 10th at the final corner, but at the start of lap nine there was more drama and Francot dropped to 13th while further ahead Jonsson had a lock-up and was overtaken by Al Dhaheri who then went on to set the fastest lap.
Al Dhaheri hunted down the top two to set up a late three-way fight for the win. Slater went into the final lap 0.366s ahead of Bohra, and that gap reduced by a tenth of a second before the chequered flag but it was not close enough for Bohra to attempt going for the lead.
Jonsson was 4.4s back in fourth, and on the final lap Gowda was demoted to 11th by Stolcermanis and US’s Matheus Ferreira.
Prema’s Kean Nakamura Berta stalled at the start and fell to a lowly position, recovering back to 16th.
Race results (15 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freddie Slater | Prema | 33m05.952s |
| 2 | Akshay Bohra | US Racing | +0.263s |
| 3 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Prema | +1.030s |
| 4 | Gustav Jonsson | Van Amersfoort Racing | +4.458s |
| 5 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | Van Amersfoort Racing | +5.250 |
| 6 | Alex Powell | Prema | +7.440s |
| 7 | Ethan Ischer | Jenzer Motorsport | +8.157s |
| 8 | Gianmarco Pradel | US Racing | +10.444s |
| 9 | Tomass Stolcermanis | Prema | +15.915s |
| 10 | Matheus Ferreira | US Racing | +16.339s |
| 11 | Dion Gowda | Prema | +17.831s |
| 12 | Reno Francot | Jenzer Motorsport | +17.913s |
| 13 | Andrija Kostic | Van Amersfoort Racing | +18.028s |
| 14 | Jack Beeton | US Racing | +20.594s |
| 15 | Maximilian Popov | PHM Racing | +21.255s |
| 16 | Kean Nakamura Berta | Prema | +21.853s |
| 17 | Emanuele Olivieri | AKM Motorsport | +23.510s |
| 18 | Edu Robinson | AS Motorsport | +23.673s |
| 19 | Enzo Yeh | R-ace GP | +24.218s |
| 20 | Luca Viisoreanu | Real Racing Team | +28.452s |
| 21 | Andrej Petrovic | PHM Racing | +30.620s |
| 22 | Oscar Wurz | Jenzer Motorsport | +32.890s |
| 23 | Kamal Mrad | PHM Racing | +34.969s |
| 24 | Gabriel Holguin | Maffi Racing | +35.107s |
| 25 | Alexander Savinkov | AKM Motorsport | +36.224s |
| 26 | Everett Stack | PHM Racing | +36.272s |
| 27 | Nathanael Berreby | Maffi Racing | +36.616s |
| 28 | Lin Hodenius | Van Amersfoort Racing | +3 laps |
| 29 | Wiktor Dobrzanski | AS Motorsport | +5 laps |
| Ret | Alvise Rodella | Van Amersfoort Racing | |
| Ret | Davide Larini | PHM Racing | |
| Ret | Enea Frey | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| Ret | Maxim Rehm | US Racing | |
| Ret | Filipp Fiorentino | Cram Motorsport | |
| Ret | Omar Aldereyaane | AKM Motorsport | |
| Ret | Kabir Anurag | US Racing | |
| Fastest lap: Al Dhaheri, 1m49.090s
Championship standings |
|||