In a weekend that could have seen the 15-year-old extend his points advantage Victor Martins won the opening French F4 Championship encounter only to be excluded in the final race of the weekend. Elsewhere, Pierre-Alexandre Jean and Charles Milesi recorded the other two victories.
Surprisingly though, it was Arthur Rougier, collecting 40 points, more than anyone this weekend, who moves into second in the standings thanks to two podiums and being the only driver in the top five to score in all three races at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Race 1
Winner: #29 – Victor Martins (J)
Another strong performance from Martins had seen him take another pole position and consolidate his qualifying domination. Sadly for the championship leader, his start was less fruitful, dropping back in the opening lap.
This allowed rookie driver Florian Venturi to take the early lead, securing the place ahead of a charging Arthur Rougier. Martins though was not one to sit on his heels and over the coming laps fought back to secure the race win and fastest lap, pulling out a gap to the opposition.
Venturi would be forced to settle for second as Christian Munoz jumped four places to round out the podium. Excessive tyre wear hounded Rougier in the closing laps with the Frenchman dropping to fifth behind Pierre-Alexandre Jean.
Race 2
Winner: #5 – Pierre-Alexandre Jean
With the top ten reversed it was Javier Gonzalez on the front row, ahead of Marvin Klien. The pair had been up in arms during race one and Klien was determined to get ahead, leading for the majority of the race. While Klien appeared to have the pace of those around him, ultimately he could not defend from the superior Pierre-Alexandre Jean.
Having started sixth, Jean was quick off the line and spent the race closing the gap to the leader, eventually jumping into the lead on the penultimate lap. Sadly for Klien, he failed to hold on, dropping to fifth.
As for the remaining podium slots, Arthur Rougier and Florian Venturi continued their superb form with Venturi securing his second trophy of the weekend. Victor Martins had struggled for much of the race, but as tyre wear set in, leaped up to fourth in the closing laps, ahead of Klien.
Race 3
Winner: #6 – Charles Milesi
As per tradition, the grid for race three would be determined by the fastest times in qualifying once again putting Martins on the front foot. Another poor start saw him drop positions as the lights went out, as his promising weekend was cut short after a collision on the eleventh lap.
With Florian Venturi having already retired and Pierre-Alexandre Jean picking up a post-race penalty, it was a comfortable win for Charles Milesi who left Sunday in a much more positive position than Saturday where he collected 1 point over the two races.
Arthur Rougier once again collected a second place during an eventful final race moving him into second in the standings. Joining him would be Stuart White who recorded his first podium in a weekend that saw him also pick up two other sixth places.
Like Martins, Marvin Klien had had a poor start, but pulled back towards the end of the race leading the gaggle of cars that battled over fourth position. Jean would finish in fifth, but his later penalty promoted Jean-Baptise Mela and Casper Roes to complete the top six.