Italian F4 Championship drivers returned to the track for the second free practice session at Vallelunga, the final opportunity to complete preparation work ahead of this evening’s qualifying sessions in the second round of the season. Track conditions were very different compared to the morning, with asphalt temperatures rising to 44.5°C, compared to the 26°C recorded earlier in the day.
David Cosma-Cristofor was the fastest among the 22 drivers competing in Session 1. The Romanian Prema Racing driver posted a best lap of 1:34.561, finishing just 0.066 seconds ahead of Germany’s Arjen Kraling (US Racing). Third fastest was Polish driver Alex Ruta of Van Amersfoort Racing, 0.121 behind.
Fourth place went to championship leader Alp Aksoy (Prema Racing), who ended the session 0.132 off the pace. Behind him was Noah Killion (US Racing) at 0.220, followed by Sicilian driver Ludovico Busso, among the frontrunners earlier in the morning, at 0.229.
Seventh was Christian Costoya (Prema Racing), part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, at 0.255. Completing the top 10 were Bader Al Sulaiti (Jenzer Motorsport) at 0.350, Maffi Racing’s David Walther at 0.
378 and Oleksandr Savinkov (US Racing) at 0.414.
In Session 2, Thomas Bearman topped the timesheets. The British Van Amersfoort Racing driver clocked a 1:34.602 lap, ahead of Kwan Ho Kingsley Zheng (Prema Racing), who finished 0.269 behind.
Third fastest was Artem Severiukhin (Jenzer Motorsport), once again among the quickest drivers, at 0.271. Fourth place went to Ferrari Driver Academy member Niccolò Maccagnani (Prema Racing), with a gap of 0.309. Edward Robinson (US Racing) was fifth at 0.341, ahead of Williams Driver Academy driver Oleksandr Bondarev (Prema Racing) at 0.356.
Seventh place went to Germany’s Elia Weiss (Jenzer Motorsport) at 0.508, ahead of Pedro Lima (Van Amersfoort Racing) at 0.510. Completing the top 10 in Session 2 were Mercedes junior Andy Consani (R-ace GP) at 0.557 and Evan Michelini of AKM Motorsport at 0.589.
The next key moment of the weekend will be qualifying, scheduled for this evening to decide the grids for the first three races of the weekend. Access to the Final, reserved for the top 36 drivers, will also be determined by the qualifying results.
Qualifying will take place this evening, Friday, May 22, with Session 1 scheduled from 6:10 PM to 6:30 PM, followed by Session 2 from 6:40 PM to 7:00 PM.
Based on the results, the three race groups will be formed. The fastest driver overall will be assigned to Group A and will start from pole position in two races, while the quickest driver from the other session will be placed in Group B and will start Race 1 from pole.
Race 1 (Groups B and C) will open the competitive programme of the ACI Racing Weekend at Vallelunga on Saturday, May 23 at 11:40 AM. Later that day, at 6:00 PM, the Italian F.4 Championship will close Saturday’s schedule with Race 2 (Groups A and B).
On Sunday, May 24, the single-seaters promoted by ACI Sport and WSK Promotion will once again open and close the day: Race 3 (Groups A and C) at 9:00 AM, followed by the Final at 3:45 PM, featuring the best 36 drivers from the first three races.
All races will last 25 minutes + 1 lap and will be broadcast live with Italian commentary on ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228, Tivùsat channel 52 and acisport.tv), as well as streamed on ACI Sport TV’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
English-language live coverage will instead be available on the Italian F4 Championship YouTube and Facebook channels, in addition to the championship’s international broadcast network.
Admission to the circuit will be free upon registration through the official circuit website: https://ticket.vallelunga.it/it/racing/aci-racing-weekend-21-24-maggio-2026/