HOT NEWS - F4 - The first of the three races on schedule for the inaugural round of the Italian F4 Championship powered by Abarth goes to Prema Power team driver Lance Stroll, already double poleman of the weekend.

Canadian driver Lance Stroll (Prema Power Team) imposes his absolute domination in Race 1 (9:00 am - Sunday June 8) of the first round of the Italian Formula 4 series.

The Canadian starts from pole position, doesn't fold under the pressure of the inaugural season start and manages to keep at bay his more experienced French teammate Brandon Maisano at bay. Stroll even authors the best lap of the race at 1'15.818, 2 tenths better than Maisano.

At the end of the race (28 minutes + 1 lap long for a total of 24 laps), Stroll crosses the finish line with an advnatage of over 7 seconds and a perfect line. Maisano is glued behind him: he is not contending the Championship title (open to drivers 15 to 17 years old), but rather to the F4 Trophy (dedicated for 18 and over entries).

This means that rivals following behind him gain a position in the race as far as F4 Championship results are concerned. Andrea Russo, third in order of arrival at the finish, thus stands second behind Stroll, with a delay of 11.469 seconds.

The Diegi Motorsport driver does a skillful dash off of place six on grid and immediately claims third place in the race behind Maisano. At first he has to fend off the heat of competition, but eventually he builds a comfortable gap, keeping Matteo Cairoli close to 3 seconds behind.

On his hand Cairoli, who races with Antonelli Motorsport, initially has to tag along behind Ukyo Sasahara (Euronova Racing by Fortec), but then he manages to overtake the Japanese rival and crosses the finish line fourth. Considering that Maisano doesn't count towards the Championship results, Ciaroli de facto climbs on the third step of the podium.

The provisional Championship standings after Round 1/Race 1 are:
1.   Stroll 25 points
2.   Russo  18 p.
3.   Cairoli 15 p.
4.   Sasahara 12 p.
5.   Drudi 10 p.
6.   Valente 8 p.
7.   Pulcini 6 p.
8.   Bandeira 4 p.
9.   Matveev 2 p.
10.  Defourny 1 p.

Here is the full order of arrival in Race 1:

You can follow the next events of the day in livestreaming on www.f4championship.com and with live TV coverage on Rai Sport 2:

12:45 pm - race 2 - 18 min + 1 lap (start grid = Race 1 arrival, with inversion of Top 10 positions)

5:00 pm - race 3 - 28 minuti + 1 lap (start grid = Q2 arrival)