The 2025 edition of the Italian F.4 Championship officially got underway last weekend at the Misano World Circuit, as part of the season-opening ACI Racing Weekend. It was an action-packed event that once again confirmed the championship’s leading role among equivalent single-seater series, with 41 drivers from around the world, representing 27 different nationalities and 12 teams, lining up on the grid.
Due to the high number of entries, the “over track capacity” race format was activated. Drivers were split into groups to contest three qualifying races, with only the top 36 advancing to the Final.
After Round 1, the overall standings are led by Kean Nakamura-Berta, racing for Prema Racing. The Anglo-Japanese driver set the fastest time in qualifying to claim pole position, then won both of his group races before sealing the perfect weekend with victory in the Final. He leaves Misano with the maximum possible score of 75 points.
In second place, 22 points behind, is fellow Prema Racing driver Sebastian Wheldon. The American won the opening race of the season—Qualifying Race 1, featuring Groups B and C—coming through from second on the grid.
He then finished runner-up in Race 2 after a thrilling head-to-head battle with Nakamura-Berta, and secured a fifth place in the Final, totalling 53 points.
Third overall is Maksimilian Popov, representing Van Amersfoort Racing. Popov secured two second-place finishes, first in Race 2 and then again in the Final. He also finished fourth in Race 3, scoring 48 points in total.
Colombian driver Salim Hanna also climbed the podium twice: second in Race 1 and third in the Final. Adding 12 points from his fourth-place finish in Race 3, he stands fourth overall with 45 points.
Close behind, with 42 points, is Italian driver Emanuele Olivieri. The R-ace GP talent, already a 2025 F4 Middle East champion and winner of the 2023 ACI Sport Supercorso Federale, impressed with two third-place finishes (in Race 2 and Race 3) and a strong fourth in the Final, narrowly missing the podium.
In the Rookie standings, reserved for first-year drivers, Salim Hanna leads with a perfect score: three class wins and 75 points. Behind him is his Chinese teammate Newman Chi, with 51 points from two second places and one third in class. Rounding out the top three is Jenzer Motorsport’s Artem Severiukhin, who scored 45 points thanks to two podium finishes (third in Race 1 and second in Race 2), plus a fourth in the Final. Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Bondarev (Prema Racing and a Williams Driver Academy member) also made his mark, winning the class in Race 3 and finishing second in the Final. With 43 points, he sits fourth among the rookies.
In the Woman Trophy standings, British driver Emily Cotty (R-ace GP) holds the lead with 50 points, just seven ahead of both Kornelia Olkcucka (Maffi Racing) and Payton Westcott (Van Amersfoort Racing), who are tied on 43 points.
Italian Prema Racing tops the Team standings with 163 points. Their closest rival is Germany’s US Racing with 53 points, followed by Van Amersfoort Racing from the Netherlands with 48. R-ace GP (France) is fourth with 46 points, while Jenzer Motorsport (Switzerland) rounds out the top five with 17 points.
The next round of the season will take place at the Autodromo Piero Taruffi in Vallelunga, from 23 to 25 May, promising another exciting weekend of racing.