PREMA Racing claims Euro 4 Team Championship
PREMA Racing rounded out the 2024 Euro 4 Championship by winning the teams' title at Monza as the series lined up for its finale at the Italian venue. Kean Nakamura-Berta eventually secured the rookies' title.
The teams faced a challenging weekend, which transitioned from wet to dry. Qualifying was impacted by red flags. Both sessions had to be called early, and traffic, attrition and constant battling set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
In terms of the championship, Freddie Slater stayed in contention until the final stages and eventually finished as a runner-up in the title chase. The Briton rallied to fifth place in Race 1 after spinning early but then did not finish in the top-5 again. An incident in race 3 eventually cost him a shot at the overall title.
On the other hand, Nakamura-Berta posted one win and a third place overall to bring home the rookie honors, progressing to P3 in the overall drivers' classification. The 16-year-old Alpine Academy driver was able to maximize the weekend despite contact in Race 1.
Speaking of memorable wins, Alex Powell got his first overall F4 victory in Europe in Race 1, and it was a convincing one, having surged to the lead early and then controlled the pace. The Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Junior then finished sixth in Race 2, while contact hampered his performance in Race 3.
To confirm the team's high-level performance, Tomass Stolcermanis made three outstanding comebacks after being affected by the qualifying turmoil. The young Latvian secured an overall podium in Race 1, his second of the season in Euro 4, and then got a top-5 in Race 2 and P8 in Race 3.
Dion Gowda showed great promise despite being also hampered in his qualifying efforts by red flags. A penalty deprived him of achieving a points finish in Race 1. Attrition then impacted Race 2 and Race 3 for him. Still, he put up good recovery efforts.
The team will return to Monza for two days of testing before the Italian F4 finale later this month.
#27 - Freddie Slater
"A difficult weekend in Monza, not where we wanted to go. I had mega pace, but we faced a few unlucky moments and a few things that I did wrong that made my life hard for myself. Monza is always chaos in qualifying, which was a bit unfortunate, but we had great pace and I'm ready for the next one, which is in a few weeks back here. Hopefully, we can be a little bit stronger and finish a few more races without any penalties to get that win record."
#33 - Tomass Stolcermanis
"We were very quick in the two days in the rain on Thursday and Friday. We were fast as a team in all the sessions. However, Qualifying didn't go as planned for me. I couldn't adapt to the track in dry conditions as I had never driven here before. I didn't put everything together, plus the track position wasn't the best and there were red flags. We were great in all the races. We started from the back of the grid every time, finishing in the points as well. We finished third in Race 1, fifth in Race 2, and eighth in Race 3. I'm very happy about the pace and after a couple of days of testing here, we will be strong for the final round of the Italian Championship".
#50 - Dion Gowda
"The pace was really strong in the wet and it was strong in qualifying as well. However, we got a bit unlucky with the red flag and everything. The pace was super strong again in Race 1 and 2. We were in the top-5 but unfortunately, we picked up a penalty in Race 1 and had a bit of contact in Race 2, when we were P5 and dropped back. Race 3 was a bit of a challenge, starting further back due to qualifying. It was always going to be more difficult. I had a bit of contact early on, but I managed to fight back and make a good comeback to the top 20 from being last. Not the weekend we wanted but definitely a lot of positives to take from it as we look forward to the last round."
#51 - Kean Nakamura-Berta
"We have to be happy about the final round of Euro 4 here at Monza. Qualifying went really well for us. We were a bit unlucky in Q2, just missed out on pole position with the red flags. In Race 1, I got taken out. I was there for the win and I could have challenged, but we got a bit unlucky. Race 2 was a very good one, we started from P4 and made our way to P1. From there we just played the defensive game. It was really fun and a much better feeling coming from Race 1. I was happy to win again. In Race 3, mixed feelings. P3 is a good result. A last-minute safety car and a last-lap shootout made it difficult. I was leading the race and the restart was not the best so I was obliterated into T1. Unlucky, maybe, but I could have also done a bit more from my side. Overall, a good weekend, for which I thank the team for delivering a good car all weekend long. Hopefully, we will come back just as strong in three weeks."
#80 - Alex Powell
"It started as a reasonably successful weekend as the qualifying sessions went really well. Then we had a very good first win in European Formula 4 in Race 1, which was incredible. Unfortunately, Sunday was a bit more tough. Race 2 was challenging and I made a few errors here and there to end up P6. Not ideal, especially knowing that there was more on the table. Race 3 was unfortunate. I got the lead early on, and after some battling and a few mistakes here and there I lost my wing. I went back to last and I was able to recover in the few laps that we had without a safety car. As a whole, it's an up-and-down weekend, with a lot of promise and a lot to take out of it. Big thanks to PREMA for the car that they gave me this weekend, it was incredible. I know there is improvement to do from my end, we have another race here in three weeks so it's just about keeping our heads down, executing well, and I'm sure it will all come to us."