Home Formula 4Italian F4 Stroll clinches Italian F4 title with thrilling victory in race three

Stroll clinches Italian F4 title with thrilling victory in race three

by Aditya Banerjee
Lance Stroll

Photo: ACI Sport

Lance Stroll was secured the inaugural Italian F4 champion after winning a titanic tussle with teammate Brandon Maisano and claiming victory in the third race of the weekend at Vallelunga.

Stroll’s win, coupled with nearest championship rival Andrea Russo finishing only seventh, was enough for the Ferrari protege to clinch the championship.

The 15-year-old Canadian, starting alongside poleman Maisano, shadowed his teammate throughout the first few laps, briefly getting alongside on lap seven, but to no avail.

Maisano, then ran wide on lap 12, promoting Stroll into the lead. It was anything but a relaxing Sunday drive for the Ferrari junior?thereon, but he managed to hold on to take his second victory of the weekend.

Ineligible for the main championship due to his age, ex-FDA driver Maisano has now mathematically wrapped up the Trophy class for those born before 1996.

Euronova’s Leonardo Pulcini made a strong start from fifth and was up to third, but was under constant pressure from Mattia Drudi. The F & M racer made a late dive up the inside of Pulcini on lap 12 for the final podium spot, while Prema’s Takashi Kasai followed through, demoting Pulcini back to fifth.

Pulcini’s teammate Andrea Fontana had a similar race, moving up to sixth at the start, but struggled for pace and slipped back gradually. Antonelli duo of Joao Vieira and Russo finished sixth and seventh, ahead of Jenzer’s Alain Valente. SMP-backed driver Ivan Matveev finished ninth despite colliding with Mahaveer Raghunathan in the closing stages, with Fontana completing the top ten.

Race results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1 Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam 19 laps in 30:41.274
2 Brandon Maisano Prema Powerteam +0.517
3 Mattia Drudi F & M SRL +1.710
4 Takashi Kasai Prema Powerteam +4.071
5 Leonardo Pulcini Euronova Racing +5.566
6 Joao Vieira Antonelli Motorsport +13.737
7 Andrea Russo Antonelli Motorsport +13.971
8 Alain Valente Jenzer Motorsport +15.759
9 Ivan Matveev SMP Racing by Euronova +24.187
10 Andrea Fontana Euronova Racing +25.378
11 Keith Camilleri Malta Formula Racing +25.763
12 Matteo Desideri Antonelli Motorsport +27.382
13 Lucas Mauron Jenzer Motorsport +28.602
14 Giovanni Altoe F & M SRL +35.166
15 Mahaveer Raghunathan F & M SRL +52.298
16 Edi Haxhiu Cram Motorsport +1 lap
17 Zackary Dante Malta Formula Racing +2 laps
Not classified
Ali Al Khalifa Jenzer Motorsport +10 laps
Bar Baruch Israel F4 by Torino +18 laps
Nico Rindlisbacher Jenzer Motorsport +19 laps