In Italian F4, a first win for Job van Uitert was largely overshadowed after Mick Schumacher threw away an easy victory with a jump start in race one. Van Uitert would benefit holding off his rivals around the famous Imola circuit.
The field made a clean start with pole sitter Schumacher racing off after only the first lap. He’d already built up a 2.7 second advantage from Marcos Siebert in second.
A number of the front runners were forced down the order early on, with Artem Petrov and Juan Manuel Correa pitting and ending their race after only a lap. Back at the front, Juri Vips had initially got the jump on van Uitert, but the Dutch driver was back up to third just a lap later.
By lap four, van Uitert was up another position, taking second from Siebert and putting Schumacher in a position to draw level for the championship lead. Fortunately for the Prema Powerteam driver, he was already 4.5 seconds up when van Uitert made the move.
The race was about to dramatically change though, as Schumacher was given a drive through penalty. Both Siebert and himself had been investigated for a jump start with the German the only one paying the price. Schumacher would eventually finish down in thirteenth.
This ultimately allowed van Uitert into the lead. He was joined at the front by Vips as Siebert dropped yet another position. The battle for the lead would continue all race though Vips was unable to make his way past.
Van Uitert crossed the line to take his maiden victory around the Imola circuit. The result was the perfect way to return to form after a disaster in the last round saw the Jenzer Motorsport driver come away with nothing. He was joined on the podium by Vips and Siebert.
Behind them was Simone Cunati. Having avoided the mess in the opening laps, he jumped to fourth, in front of Lorenzo Colombo who had initially started ahead. The two Italian’s spent the race squabbling, allowing Diego Ciantini to close up.
A late safety car would transform the lower reaches of the points. As the race was concluded, Kush Maini took seventh from Marino Sato and the returning Ye Yifei. The final point would go the way of outside championship contender, Raul Guzman, who had struggled in qualifying.