The second race was eventful from the outset. Dante Vinci (Van Amersfoort Racing) suffered a technical issue during the formation lap, forcing him to retire before the start and causing a short delay. The race duration was subsequently shortened to 28 minutes + 1 lap.
At the start, Nakamura-Berta defended his pole position from Andrija Kostic (US Racing) and Sebastian Wheldon to retain the lead in the opening phases. However, a first-chicane incident involving multiple cars, among them Jan Koller (US Racing), Oleksandr Bondarev and Salim Hanna (both Prema Racing) forced the trio into early retirement and brought out the safety car. Just before the neutralisation, Wheldon had managed to grab the lead, setting the stage for a renewed team battle.
That battle resumed at the restart, with Nakamura-Berta striking back immediately to retake the top spot. Behind them, US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez had climbed through the field from P10 to join the fight. The Brazilian eventually moved up to second and launched a late-race charge, echoing his strategy from Race 1.
Nakamura-Berta held firm until the chequered flag, helped in part by the appearance of double yellow flags at Turn 1, triggered by the contact between Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP) and Artem Severiukhin (Jenzer Motorsport) at the first chicane on the final lap, while battling within the top 10.
With that, Nakamura-Berta secured his sixth win of the season, while Gomez continued to rack up valuable points in the title race. Wheldon finished third. US Racing drivers Luka Sammalisto and Andrija Kostic followed in fourth and fifth respectively.
Mercedes junior driver Alex Powell from R-ace GP, delivered another combative drive to finish sixth.
Newman Chi (Prema Racing) crossed the line in seventh but, as in Race 1, was handed a post-race penalty that dropped him out of the Rookie win. The sanction of 10 seconds stemmed from contact with Maksimilian Popov (Van Amersfoort Racing) at Turn 2.
Marcus Saeter (Van Amersfoort Racing) was thus classified seventh and took the Rookie victory. Rounding out the class podium were Poland’s Aleksander Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing) in P11 overall, and David Cosma-Cristofor (PHM Racing), who finished twelfth.
Eighth and ninth places overall went to Enea Frey (Jenzer Motorsport) and Maxim Rehm (US Racing), while Oleksandr Savinkov (R-ace GP) claimed the final points-paying position in tenth.
In the Women’s Trophy, American driver Payton Westcott (Van Amersfoort Racing) secured her second consecutive class win, ahead of Poland’s Kornelia Olkucka (Maffi Racing) and the UK’s Emily Cotty (R-ace GP).
Further penalties were issued following a thorough review by the Panel of Stewards. Elia Weiss (Cram Motorsport) received two five-second time penalties: the first for overtaking several cars beyond track limits, the second for hitting the rear of Savinkov while cutting through the first chicane.
Ludovico Busso (Viola Formula Racing) was handed a 10-second penalty for overtaking Weiss under yellow flag conditions. His teammate Arthur Lorimier was also penalised, receiving a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Bart Harrison (Jenzer Motorsport) was given a five-second penalty for an especially aggressive move against Powell, who was forced off track.
Bader Al Sulaiti (Jenzer Motorsport) received a 20-second penalty for failing to slow down under yellow flags and overtaking two cars. Nathaniel Berreby (Maffi Racing) was penalised with 10 seconds for exceeding track limits while overtaking Lorimier, whom he subsequently forced off track.
Finally, Maksimilian Popov (Van Amersfoort Racing) incurred two penalties: 25 seconds for failing to follow pit lane rejoin procedures during the safety car period, and an additional five seconds for colliding with Salim Hanna (Prema Racing), who was proceeding slowly at the time due to a puncture.
Kean Nakamura-Berta: "It was a really, really tough race, leading at Monza is never easy. Starting from pole, I was just aiming for a top-three, to be honest. It’s always a bit of a gamble here, and today I think luck was on my side. I feel like I drove really well, even if I was losing a bit too much time on the straights. I knew it would be hard to break away, so once I managed to open a gap, I just tried to delay the battle as long as I could. Gabriel was coming fast, and the last lap would’ve been really hard to manage, but luckily the double yellows came out. The car was incredible, huge thanks to Prema. Tomorrow we’ll go again: it’ll be important to get a clean start and go. I’m really happy, as I said, huge thanks to Prema Racing for this rocket ship!"
The programme will continue tomorrow, Sunday 22 June, with Race 3, the grand finale of the Italian F4’s third weekend, scheduled to start at 10:20 for 30 minutes + 1 lap.
The race will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228, Tivùsat 52), and streamed on www.acisport.tv as well as the official ACI Sport TV social media channels. English-language commentary will be available via the championship's official profiles and distributed worldwide through media partners.
Admission to the circuit is free, with open access to grandstands and paddock. Full event information is available on the Autodromo Nazionale Monza website:
www.monzanet.it/evento/aci-racing-weekend-1-3/