The 2026 season of the Italian F4 Championship officially kicked off this Friday morning with the opening free practice sessions. The 47 drivers entered at Misano were divided by draw into two series for both free practice and the evening qualifying sessions, which will determine the composition of the three race groups.
In the first session, reserved for Series 1, the fastest time was set by Thomas Bearman of Van Amersfoort Racing, younger brother of Formula 1 driver Oliver Bearman, who dominated the Italian series and claimed the title with the Dutch team in 2021. The young British driver stopped the clock at 1’36.057.
Second fastest was Oleksandr Bondarev, representing the Williams Driver Academy with Prema Racing, just 0.049 seconds behind. The gap was even smaller for Noah Killion of US Racing, third at 0.099. Three different teams therefore placed a car inside the top three within less than a tenth of a second, immediately highlighting the extremely close competition expected throughout the weekend.
Fourth place went to Edward Robinson of US Racing at 0.201, followed by Florentin Hattemer of Trident Motorsport at 0.230. David Walther of Maffi Racing was sixth at 0.273, ahead of Ferrari Driver Academy member Niccolò Maccagnani of Prema Racing, seventh at 0.324 from the top.
Behind him was teammate Christian Costoya, the McLaren junior in papaya colours, eighth at 0.369. Just a few thousandths further back came Arn Levi of Jenzer Motorsport in ninth at 0.386, followed by teammate Elia Weiss, who completed the top ten with a gap of 0.409 seconds.
The fastest lap of the morning, however, came in the second session, where Alp Aksoy of Prema Racing posted an impressive 1’35.354. Behind him were Arjen Kräling of US Racing and Romanian driver David Cosma-Cristofor, also racing for Prema Racing, respectively 0.106 and 0.135 seconds adrift.
Fourth fastest was Ary Bansal of US Racing at 0.182, followed by Mercedes junior Andy Consani of R-ace GP at 0.299. Sicilian driver Ludovico Busso of US Racing was sixth at 0.375, ahead of the other Mercedes-backed R-ace GP driver Kenzo Craigie in seventh at 0.483. Completing the top ten were Andre Rodriguez of CRAM Motorsport at 0.657, Dominik Simek of Trident Motorsport at 0.665, and Oscar Repetto of PHM Racing at 0.761.
The programme will continue this afternoon with the second free practice sessions: Series 1 will return to the track from 1:30 PM to 1:50 PM, while Series 2 will run from 2:00 PM to 2:20 PM. Qualifying will take place later in the evening, with Series 1 scheduled from 5:55 PM to 6:15 PM and Series 2 from 6:55 PM to 7:20 PM. The results will determine the composition of the three race groups (A, B, and C): the fastest overall driver will join Group A and secure pole position for Race 2 and Race 3, while the fastest driver from the other series will start from pole position in Race 1 with Group B.
Race 1 will take place on Saturday, May 9 at 11:30 AM, followed by Race 2 at 5:10 PM. On Sunday, May 10, the programme will begin with Race 3 at 8:30 AM. At the end of the qualifying heats, a combined classification will determine the 36 drivers admitted to the Final, scheduled for 1:50 PM. All races during the weekend will last 25 minutes plus one lap and will award points towards the championship standings.
All races throughout the weekend will be broadcast live on the Italian F4 Championship social media channels and on ACI Sport TV, available on Sky channel 228, Tivùsat channel 52, and streaming on acisport.tv. Admission to the event will be free, with the paddock open to the public.