The fourth round of the Italian Formula 4 Championship at Mugello was certainly not an easy weekend, and I return home with a bit of disappointment for how the races went.

The weekend had started quite positively in qualifying, where I set the tenth fastest time in my group on a grid of 48 drivers. It was a good base to start from, but unfortunately in the races we were not able to capitalize on it as we would have liked.

In Race 1, I started from thirteenth position, but in the first corners I lost several positions, finding myself further back in the group. The race was then affected by two Safety Cars, with the final restart coming only for the last lap. I tried to recover as much as possible and finished in P20.

Race 2 was even more complicated. I started from the seventh row, but during the first lap I found myself involved in some contacts in the middle of the group battles. I do not believe I had any particular responsibility, but the car was damaged and this compromised the rest of the race, making me lose several positions and making it difficult to recover rhythm.

The Final was also all uphill. Because of the contact in Race 2, the stewards gave me a six-place grid penalty and I started from the back of the field. I tried to recover some positions, but I remained stuck for a long time in the traffic at the back of the group, without being able to show the pace I wanted.

It was certainly not the weekend I expected. After a positive qualifying, I hoped to bring home something more, but the races were affected by episodes and situations that did not help us.

Now we will continue to analyse everything with the team to understand where we can improve. The season is still long and we need to keep working with determination, trying to turn even the most difficult weekends into useful experience.

Now there will be the summer break: a few days to rest, disconnect a little and recharge, before returning to the track more ready and motivated for the second part of the championship.

The next round will be on the first weekend of September at Imola, for the fifth round of the Italian Formula 4 Championship.

Beco Bernoldi