Slater wins F4 UAE race three but faces track limits inquiry

Photo: F4 UAE

Mumbai Falcons’ Freddie Slater won the third Formula 4 United Arab Emirates race at Yas Marina Circuit, although he must meet stewards post-race to look at suspected track limits abuse.

Keanu Al Azhari and Slater shared the front row, with a stronger start on the inside line enabling Slater to get alongside poleman Al Azhari as they entered the opening corner. They ran side-by-side until the exit where Al Azhari went off the track.

He rejoined right in front of Slater at the next corner, who did not have an opportunity to try passing again as the safety car was called out due to PHM Racing’s Everett Stack and Sainteloc Racing’s Maxi Restrepo having a big crash.

Race control however told Al Azhari to give up the lead to Slater before the restart took place on lap four. PHM’s Nikita Bedrin and Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri ran third and fourth, followed by Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough and the Mumbai Falcons trio of Alex Powell, Kean Nakamura Berta and Dion Gowda.

Hitech’s Gabriel Stilp passed Prema’s Doriane Pin to join the back of that pack on the restart lap, but would later get into trouble.

Lap six began with Bedrin, Al Dhaheri and Fairclough going three-wide into the opening corner. Fairclough had the grip on the outside to pass both but Al Dhaheri, who was in the middle, squeezed him at the apex so he could turn in tighter and tuck in on the inside of Bedrin at the exit.

Al Dhaheri got the move done, then Fairclough followed him past Bedrin a few corners later. The top two had already pulled away by too much to be able to hunt them down for victory, although Slater and Al Azhari remained split by only 0.4 seconds until lap 10 when the leader finally broke a second clear.

Slater had a gap of 1.5s on lap 13 when Pinnnacle Motorsport’s Kai Daryanani crashed out and the safety car was summoned. There was no time for a restart, meaning Slater provisionally secured victory (with his steward summoning coming just after he crossed the line to win) ahead of local racers Al Azhari and Al Dhaheri.

Nakamura passed team-mate Powell mid-race to finish fifth, while Gowda dropped out of seventh place when he collided with Stilp at turn one on lap seven. He coasted his damaged car back to the pits, while Stilp dropped to ninth place then got a 10s penalty for the crash that dropped him way down the order.

Profiting from the incident, and the penalty, were Pin, Bedrin, Sainteloc’s Matteo Quintarelli and Yas Heat Academy’s Zack Scoular who filled the final points positions.

Race results (16 laps)