23 June 2025 – The third round of the Italian Formula 4 championship was held this weekend at the legendary ‘Temple of Speed’ at Monza. Despite a good pace in the race, the mixed qualifying results were detrimental to R-ace GP and its five cars. The team left Monza with four top 10 finishes and a win for Emily Cotty in the women’s category.
Free practice
The weekend kicked off on Friday morning with the first free practice session. Alex Powell (#41) finished 20th, followed by Emanuele Olivieri (#68) in 21st position. Oleksandr Savinkov (#52), Guy Albag (#44) and Emily Cotty (#42) were 24th, 36th and 38th respectively.
The second session saw a slight improvement for Emanuele Olivieri, who set the 16th fastest time. Alex Powell finished 25th, while Emily Cotty and Guy Albag remained at the back of the grid. Oleksandr Savinkov did not take part in the session due to a mechanical problem.
Qualifying
The two qualifying sessions did not go in R-ace GP’s favour. In Q1, Emanuele Olivieri set a modest 11th fastest time, Alex Powell was 18th, and the other drivers were relegated to better than 25th place.
In Q2, Emanuele Olivieri remained close to the top 10 with a 12th place, while Alex Powell, Emily Cotty and Oleksandr Savinkov were still some way off (P27, P29 and P34). An electronic problem prevented Guy Albag from taking part in the session.
Race 1: Emanuele Olivieri in the top 10
The first race got underway on Saturday morning. Emanuele Olivieri lost a few places, while Alex Powell made a fine comeback to finish 5th. Unfortunately, the Jamaican driver was pushed by a competitor during a restart. Emanuele Olivieri (#68) finished 9th, Savinkov (#52) 14th, Powell (#41) 16th, Cotty (#42) 23rd (2nd in the women’s category), and Albag (#44) 25th.
Race 2: 6th place for Powell, disappointment for Olivieri and first points for Savinkov
Alex Powell made an excellent start to Race 2 and gained eight places. The race was disturbed by several incidents and yellow flags. By the second restart, Emanuele Olivieri was firmly in 8th place and gradually closing in on the top 5. Alex Powell was close behind in 10th position. As Olivieri battled for 4th place, the Italian made contact with another competitor and stopped on the track, putting an end to his hopes of a podium finish.
Alex Powell finished 6th, while Oleksandr Savinkov came 10th and scored his first points this season in Italian F4 (after starting from 34th place). Guy Albag was 20th, Emily Cotty 30th (3rd in the women’s category) and Emanuele Olivieri 34th.
Race 3: impressive comeback by Emanuele Olivieri
After starting 20th, Emanuele Olivieri (#68) finished 5th on Sunday in the final race of the weekend. Alex Powell (#41) finished 18th, while Emily Cotty (#42) climbed 10 places to finish 24th and take victory in the women’s category. Guy Albag finished 29th, while Oleksandr Savinkov (#52) was forced to retire after being hit by a competitor.
The Monza weekend left a taste of unfinished business. Although the pace shown in the race showed great potential, poor qualifying and a number of race incidents weighed heavily on the overall results.
Nevertheless, there were some positive notes: a first points finish for Savinkov, some impressive comebacks, and another win in the women’s category for Emily Cotty.
See you at Mugello on July 13 for round 4 of the championship.
To watch the races, go to the championship’s Youtube channel.
You can read about the previous round here.
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