Mugello Circuit - Freddie Slater's dominance in the 2024 Italian F4 Championship continues unabated. The British driver from Prema Racing secured all three wins in the fourth round at Mugello Circuit. This brings his total to 10 wins, 7 consecutive wins, and 240 points in the standings for the driver from Stratford-upon-Avon. In the last race of the weekend, he was followed on the podium by a fierce Jack Beeton, the Australian driver from US Racing. Beeton took P2 a few corners after the start in an exciting initial battle with Gustav Jonsson and Hiyu Yamakoshi of Van Amersfoort Racing, and chased his maiden victory in the Italian Championship until the end. He also set the fastest lap of the race, but ultimately had to settle for a podium finish, his second of the weekend, after also securing P2 in Race 1, making it his most fruitful weekend to date. Third place went to the Swede Gustav Jonsson, who delivered an extremely positive performance in the fourth round, starting with an excellent qualification that rewarded him for the rest of the weekend, marking what seems to be a turning point in his season.
Hiyu Yamakoshi finished fourth, consistently scoring points throughout the weekend, bringing his total to 161 and remaining the closest rival in the drivers' standings to the British Slater. Following him in the final race order of the Mugello weekend was his fellow national driver, the Japanese Alpine Academy driver for Prema Racing, Kean Nakamura Berta, who claimed victory in the Rookie class with his fifth-place finish. Indian-New Yorker Akshay Bohra finished the weekend in sixth place. The US Racing driver had been on the podium twice over the weekend, first third, then second, earning 41 points from the Tuscan round, bringing his total to 134, securing third place in the standings. Seventh place went to the unstoppable Rashid Al Dhaheri, the Emirati driver from Prema Racing, who also during the weekend got to celebrate from the third step of the podium his feat in Race 2. Bohra and Al Dhaheri provided an exciting show with an intense battle in the race, culminating in the Indian driver overtaking the Emirati in a spectacular move initiated with an attempt on the inside of San Donato.
Eighth place went to the US-Jamaican Mercedes junior Alex Powell, the Prema Racing driver also stood on the second step of the Rookie podium, reinforcing the lead in the class standings at the end of a weekend that saw him win twice in the race dedicated to first-year drivers in the category. Behind him was his direct class rival Tomass Stolcermanis, the Latvian driver and Prema Racing teammate, confirming his steady presence within the points zone. The final point was claimed by another driver from the Grisignano di Zocco Team, Indian Dion Gowda.
Race 3 was a fitting conclusion to an extremely exciting weekend, thrilling fans who braved the heat of the Tuscan summer. There were several on-track battles in a race where the leader could not escape in solitary but was ardently contested from the outset. The final stages were intense, with a safety car on track due to an incident between Alvise Rodella (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Reno Francot (Jenzer Motorsport), leading to a restart with 5 minutes plus one lap remaining. The fight for the points zone was characterized by close gaps and spectacular overtakes, particularly involving the German Maxim Rehm (US Racing), the Italian Emanuele Olivieri (AKM Motorsport), and Tuscan Nicola Larini (PHM AIX Racing). The three provided a great show on the fringes of the top 10, finishing just shy of the points-paying positions.
There will be no break for the Teams and drivers, who are already focused on round 5 of the Italian F4 Championship, the first of the European tour, starting next weekend (July 20-21) at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, France.
Freddie Slater: "This track is so hard on the tyres, we have to manage over three races, we only have a certain amount. I had to make sure I was consistent, I’m looking after my tyres. They are in the right place in Race 1 and Race 2. Mega weekend, massive thank you to Prema. They gave me an amazing car. It’s been tough conditions with this track, and how hot it is, just a massive thank you to them. Looking forward to Paul Ricard. I’m here to win the Championship and win as many races as I can, the job is not over. The job is not over until the end of the Italian F4 Championship and Euro 4 Championship. It’s still a long way to go and I’ve got to keep my head down."
Jack Beeton: "My best weekend so far for sure, coming home with 2 P2s. Obviously, no P1, but both Race 1 and Race 3, where I got the P2, were very close. It shows that we are on the right step forward, I’m sure we’ll get that win soon. Hopefully, I’m just looking to carry the momentum from this round to the next round and try to make it even better. Paul Ricard is similar, where there is a lot of tyre wear on the circuit, hopefully, I can use what I’ve learned from this weekend."
Gustav Jonsson: "it was definitely a big step forward. I think we had the pace in the qualy as well. Race 1 was really good, we had really good pace. In Race 2 and 3, we struggled quite a lot; I couldn’t keep up with Slater and Beeton. It was quite tough defending the podium at least, but we managed to do that and that was quite nice. We are looking to be a bit stronger in the race. We had a couple of bad rounds, I’d say, where we were struggling a lot with the speed. This one is a good step in the right direction. We go to Paul Ricard next week, I think we will also be strong there. Now we are just looking forward and keep working, and hopefully, we can be up on the podium in every race."