The Italian Formula 4 Championship is ready to return to the track for the fourth of seven rounds this season and, in doing so, write another page in its history. The Mugello round of the ACI Racing Weekend, scheduled for July 24-26 at the iconic Tuscan circuit, will see the championship reach a new milestone. After attracting 49 entries at Monza for Round 3 last month, the grid has now grown to 50 drivers, setting a new all-time record for the category.
A total of 14 teams will line up on the grid, while the number of nations represented rises to 27. Among the largest entries is US Racing. The Kerpen-based squad fields championship leader Luka Sammalisto. The flying Finn has already claimed seven victories this season and arrives in Tuscany on the back of two consecutive hat-tricks. Joining him will be Spanish-British driver Edward Robinson, Australian Noah Killion, who secured his first win of the season at Monza, as well as Oleksandr Savinkov, Sicilian Ludovico Busso, India's Ary Bansal and Germany's Arjen Kraling.
Matching US Racing with seven cars is Prema Racing. The Vicenza-based outfit will be led by Romanian David Cosma-Cristofor, currently second in the drivers' standings. Although still chasing his first victory of the season, he has built his campaign on remarkable consistency, finishing on the podium in almost every race he has contested. He will be joined by Roman Kamyab, Turkish driver Alp Aksoy, China's Kwan Ho Kingsley Zheng and Rome-born Ferrari Driver Academy driver Niccolò Maccagnani. Also representing Formula 1 junior programmes are Christian Costoya (McLaren) and Oleksandr Bondarev (Williams).
Four teams will field five cars each.
Italian squad Trident Motorsport arrives at Mugello with its well-established line-up of Florentin Hattemer, Brazilians Augustus Toniolo and Bernardo "Beco" Bernoldi, alongside Dominik Simek and Lyuboslav Ruykov.
PHM Racing will field ACI Team Italia driver Iacopo Martinese, Monaco's Oscar Repetto, Estonian Roland Kuklane, Canadian Alexander Chartier and Austrian Emma Felbermayr.
Swiss outfit Jenzer Motorsport will line up with Teo Borenstein, Levi Arn, Elia Weiss, Mexican Nicolas Cortes and Qatari driver Bader Al Sulaiti.
Five cars will also be entered by French team R-ace GP. The line-up includes Mercedes Junior drivers Andy Consani and Kenzo Craigie, both coming off a brilliant performance at Paul Ricard in the E4 Championship. Craigie, in particular, enjoyed an outstanding weekend, taking over the championship lead and looking to carry that momentum into Tuscany. The team is completed by Hungary's Tamas Gender, Californian Payton Westcott and New Zealand-British driver Emily Cotty.
Three Tatuus F4 cars will be entered by Dutch outfit Van Amersfoort Racing, with Thomas Bearman, brother of Formula 1 driver and 2021 Italian F4 champion Oliver Bearman, joined by Poland's Alexander Ruta and Brazil's Pedro Lima.
Maffi Racing will also field three cars. The Swiss team of Eritrean origin brings David Walther, who has already impressed in the opening rounds with multiple podium finishes. He will be joined by Poland's Igor Polak and Swiss driver Andreas Lo Bue, making his first appearance of the season.
Among the newcomers is Zoe Florescu Potolea, who returns to Formula 4 with Real Racing, the team with which she took her first steps in motorsport during a karting event several years ago. Alongside her will be Denmark's Knud Nielsen, another promising young driver looking to make his mark.
Italian outfit Cram Motorsport enters two cars for Brazilian Rafaela Ferreira, a Visa Cash App Racing Bulls junior driver, and Germany's Simon Rechenmacher.
Argentine team Alpha 54 Racing will also be represented, fielding local driver Federico Diaz Quaglia alongside Kirill Kutskov.
AKM Motorsport also enters two cars, with ACI Team Italia representative Vittorio Orsini joined by Brazilian Fabricio Fogaca.
Argentina will also be represented by Scuderia Buell, which fields Joaquin Rubino, while PA Racing enters the sixth driver competing for the Women's Trophy, Italy's Ginevra Panzeri.
The weekend will feature four races under the championship's split-grid format. Drivers will be divided into three groups based on qualifying results, with the groups rotating across the opening three races. At the end of those races, only the top 36 drivers will qualify for the Final.
Each race will be contested over 25 minutes plus one lap, with championship points awarded to the top 15 finishers.
The on-track action begins on Friday, July 24, with two 40-minute free practice sessions at 8:30 and 12:50. Qualifying follows later in the day, with the first division on track from 17:15 to 17:35 and the second division from 17:45 to 18:05.
Saturday, July 25, opens the racing programme with Race 1, featuring Groups B and C, at 11:10, followed by Race 2 for Groups A and B at 17:10.
On Sunday, July 26, Race 3 for Groups A and C gets underway at 9:00, before the Final, featuring the top 36 drivers, starts at 15:50.
All races will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV, on the ACI Sport and Italian F4 Championship social media channels, as well as through the championship's extensive international broadcast network.