The New Zealander's benchmark, however, did not survive the second session, as teammate Edward Robinson produced an even faster lap. Robinson improved his own best time right at the end of qualifying, stopping the clock at 1:52.080. Under the championship's qualifying format, which alternates driver groups across the four races of the weekend, Killion will start Race 1 from pole position, while Robinson will line up on pole for Race 2 and Race 3.
The opening session proved exceptionally competitive, with tiny margins separating the frontrunners. Romania's David Cosma-Cristofor (Prema Racing) finished second, just 0.025s behind Killion, followed by US Racing's Oleksandr Savinkov, only 0.029s off the pace. Williams Driver Academy member Oleksandr Bondarev was fourth, just 0.046s adrift.
Fifth overall, just over a tenth behind the leader, was Florentin Hattemer (Trident), who also emerged as the fastest Rookie (+0.105). He was followed by US Racing's Ary Bansal (+0.191), Alp Aksoy (Prema Racing, +0.210) and Knud Nielsen (Real Racing, +0.268).
Ferrari Driver Academy driver Niccolò Maccagnani finished ninth (+0.319), ahead of his Chinese teammate Kwan Zheng (+0.
444). The fastest female driver in the session was Emma Felbermayr (PHM Racing), 14th overall with a gap of 0.624s. She finished ahead of Emily Cotty and Payton Westcott, both representing R-ace GP, while Rafaela Ferreira, the Brazilian driver backed by the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Academy and racing for Cram Motorsport, ended further down the order.
Noah Killion: "It was a really good lap. When you're in the car you don't really feel the heat, but as soon as you get out it hits you pretty hard. We have systems to keep ourselves cool, so it's all good and we're just trying to enjoy it. Moving from the Australian championship to what is probably the most competitive Formula 4 series has been a big step, but I've adapted well and I'm happy with how things are going. I really enjoy working with the team, they're fantastic at what they do."
The second qualifying session was decided in the closing moments, with Edward Robinson setting the fastest lap overall and improving it again under the chequered flag. Finland's Luka Sammalisto finished second, 0.185s behind, followed by French Mercedes Junior Andy Consani (R-ace GP) at 0.253s.
Fourth was Sicily's Ludovico Busso (US Racing), who had topped the afternoon free practice session, 0.308s off Robinson's pace. He was followed by Britain's Thomas Bearman (Van Amersfoort Racing) at 0.550s. Sixth overall and fastest Rookie was the second Mercedes Junior driver from R-ace GP, Kenzo Craigie, with a gap of 0.592s.
US Racing's Arjen Kraling claimed seventh (+0.741), just one thousandth ahead of Elia Weiss (Jenzer Motorsport, +0.742). Augustus Toniolo (Trident) finished ninth (+0.752), while Roman Kamyab (Prema Racing) completed the top ten. The second qualifying group also featured the fifth female driver entered this weekend, Rosanne Den Drijver, making her Italian F4 debut with Maffi Racing.
Edward Robinson: "We knew we had the pace from testing, but Monza is the Temple of Speed and it can become a really chaotic track. Anything can happen because everyone's looking for a tow. Fortunately, I managed to put together a few good laps and, right at the end, I found the perfect slipstream to complete a great lap. I'm really happy to have taken pole position. Now the goal is to add another win after Vallelunga. A huge thank you to US Racing—none of this would have been possible without them. They're the best team you could ever ask for! Tomorrow I'll focus on making a good start, staying out of traffic and building a gap as early as possible."
The results will remain provisional until the completion of the post-session technical and sporting checks by the Stewards.
The first qualifying races get underway on Saturday, June 20, with Race 1 (Groups B-C) scheduled for 11:30 AM, followed by Race 2 (Groups A-B) at 5:30 PM. On Sunday, June 21, Race 3 (Groups A-C) will start at 9:30 AM. At the conclusion of the first three races, the top 36 classified drivers will qualify for the Final, scheduled for 2:00 PM. All races will run over 25 minutes plus one lap and will award championship points towards all standings.
All races will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV, the official social media channels of ACI Sport and the Italian F4 Championship, as well as through the extensive international broadcaster network covering the Italian Formula 4 series.