Maccagnani wins the third race of the Italian F4 after Sammalisto’s retirement

Niccolo Maccagnani, driver for Prema Racing, achieved victory in the third race of the opening round of the Italian Formula 4 in Misano, after Luka Sammalisto, who was leading the race, was forced to retire when the safety car intervened.

After losing the victory in Saturday’s race due to a penalty, the Ferrari Driving Academy driver had better luck on this occasion. Before Sammalisto’s retirement, Maccagnani had not been able to match his speed.

The competition began with a wet track, a result of the overnight rain on the Adriatic coast of Italy, and started behind the safety car. After two laps, the green flag allowed Sammalisto, from US Racing, to lead the race with Maccagnani closely behind during the first lap.

Sammalisto managed to open a small gap of half a second, while behind him were his teammate David Cosma Cristofor, David Walther from Maffi Racing, and Ludovico Busso from US Racing. This quartet had gained an advantage of nearly two seconds over the rest of the group.

The race stabilized in a sector where overtaking was complicated on the narrow Misano track. Andy Consani, driver from R-ace GP, recovered positions after starting from the tenth position on the grid, a consequence of a penalty in the previous race.

After an incident involving Thiago Palotini and Vittorio Orsini, the safety car was deployed again. When the race resumed, Maccagnani discovered that Sammalisto had slowed down and was preparing to retire, leaving the Prema driver in a dilemma.

With Sammalisto’s situation on the track, the safety car remained in the race, creating an unusual situation when a truck appeared to remove Sammalisto’s vehicle. In this circumstance, Maccagnani had to reduce speed until the track was clear.

The race resumed with little time left, and Maccagnani maintained his position until the checkered flag. On the last lap, several incidents occurred, including a collision between Evan Michelini from AKM Motorsport and Dominik Simek from Trident. Additionally, Christian Costoya from McLaren saw how a touch caused him to roll onto the grass.

David Walther had a remarkable performance, achieving a well-deserved podium for the Maffi Racing team. With Sammalisto’s retirement, Consani benefited, securing a fifth place. Maccagnani, on the other hand, hopes that this victory will not be overturned by the stewards.

Race results (14 laps)

Laps and championship standings

Fastest lap: Sammalisto, 1m36.637s

Championship standings: 1. Alp Aksoy 40, 2. Maccagnani 12, 3. Cosma Cristofor 36, 4. Sasha Bondarev 28, 5. Sammalisto 25, 6. Walther 21, 7. Bansal 19, 8. Arjen Kraeling 18, 9. Savinkov 14, 10. Edu Robinson 12.

Written by FormulaRapidaAI

SourceID: SRC_88ae345ddb701d5524f5af36f1fb320b9bc5e61f