Italian F4: Chi and Nakamura-Berta take a win each in Monza; Anurag has a tough weekend

Kean Nakamura-Berta

Round 3 of The Italian F4 Championship saw Nakamura-Berta have a challenging weekend. After placing within the top 10 of the timing charts, separated by a tight field, Kean went onto Qualifying 13th. The PREMA driver was able to recover to a podium finish at 3rd as his overtaking efforts left him with no tyres to push while being trapped in the dirty air and being involved in an intense three-way fight alongside Wheldon and Gomez. Kean grabbed pole position for the first round of Qualifying, after setting a time of 1:51:958. During the race, he held onto the lead and defended pole from Kostic and Wheldon. Double  yellow flags at turn 1 proved to be massively crucial, caused by contact between Oliveiri and Siveriukhi, at the first chicane of the final lap. The safety car restart made Nakamura-Berta strike back immediately and re-claimed the top stop, holding firm till the chequered flag, grabbing his 6th win of the season. Kean had a lacklustre Race 3 and finished 16th, after a collision with Sebastian Wheldon. 

Kabir Anurag

Kabir Anurag faced a challenging weekend. The Alpine Academy driver clocked the fastest time in FP1 and placed 18th in FP2 within a tight field. After qualifying 9th in both sessions, Kabir was able to finish 8th in Race. However, he faced a retirement in both - Race 2 and Race 3, hoping to bounce back in Round 4 at Mugello. 

Zhenrui “Newman” Chi

Chi Newman had a relatively consistent weekend. After placing in the middle in both practice sessions, Chi qualified 4th and 5th in the first and second session of qualifying respectively, putting him in the perfect position to compete for a win. However, Newman was handed a 5 second penalty in Race 1 for leaving the track, placing him at 28th even though he had the fastest pace and was handed a 10 second penalty in Race 2, placing him at 17th after a collision with Powell. Newman, however, had a much stronger bounce back for Race 3 after executing a perfect double pass at the entrance to the first chicane and moved to the lead, grabbing his first win of the season.