Freddie Slater shines in Monza free practice

The 2024 champion has twice set the fastest lap in the early sessions of the day, with qualifying sessions scheduled for the evening.

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At the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, during the final round of the Italian F.4 Championship, it was once again Prema Racing’s British driver Freddie Slater who clocked the fastest lap. After setting the morning's best time, the 2024 Italian Champion repeated his success in the second session, recording a best lap of 1’52.596. Close behind was his teammate Kean Nakamura-Berta, trailing by 0.210 seconds. The Japanese-British driver, sporting the Alpine Academy colors, demonstrated strong form in the wet Monza conditions, edging out Reno Francot. The Jenzer Motorsport Dutchman kept pace with the front runners, taking third place with a gap of 0.299 seconds. Just one thousandth of a second behind Francot, US Racing's Gianmarco Pradel secured fourth, 0.300 seconds off Slater’s pace. Fifth place went to another US Racing driver, Germany’s Maxim Rehm, with a 0.687-second gap. Prema Racing’s Tomass Stolcermanis was the last to remain within a second of Slater, finishing sixth, 0.710 behind the leader. Seventh place went to Van Amersfoort Racing’s Swedish driver Gustav Jonsson, with a time 1.078 seconds off the fastest lap. Following closely was Dutchman Lin Hodenius, also from Van Amersfoort Racing, setting his best lap at 1.163 seconds behind Slater. Rounding off the top 10 were Mercedes Junior driver Alex Powell of Prema Racing, ninth with a 1.179-second gap, and Jenzer Motorsport’s Swiss driver Enea Frey, 1.281 seconds off the pace.

Attention now turns to the day’s main event, as the qualifying sessions are set to provide a crucial advantage for the remainder of the weekend. 

The cars will return to the track this evening, Friday, October 25, with the first qualifying session from 16:40 to 16:55, followed by the second session from 17:05 to 17:20. The starting grid for Race 1 will be determined by the first qualifying session, while Race 2’s grid will be set by the second. The grid for the third race, the season finale, will be based on the drivers’ second-best lap times across both qualifying sessions.

Race 1 is scheduled for Saturday, October 26 at 9:25, followed by Race 2 at 14:20. The grand finale, Race 3, is set for Sunday, October 27 at 10:25.

Each race, lasting 30 minutes plus one lap, will be broadcast live on the YouTube and Facebook channels of the Italian F.4 Championship, ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228, Tivùsat channel 52, and streaming on www.acisport.it), as well as on DAZN and other platforms across the championship’s international network.