Emma Felbermayr clinches Italian F4 Female Trophy title in Mugello
Emma Felbermayr secured the 2026 Italian F4 Female Trophy title at Mugello, bringing her first season in the championship to a successful conclusion with a series of determined recovery drives including the season-ending Final in rainy conditions.
Emma Felbermayr secured the 2026 Italian F4 Female Trophy title at Mugello, bringing her first season in the championship to a successful conclusion with a series of determined recovery drives including the season-ending Final in rainy conditions.
The Austrian, who also competes in F1 Academy, finished the championship with 462 points, ahead of Payton Westcott on 380, after a weekend in which both drivers showed competitive pace and scored consistently. Westcott also ended the year on a high, recording her best Italian F4 result with a top-ten finish in Race 3, while Mathilda Paatz and Ginevra Panzeri both made progress across the weekend in their respective returns to the series.
Felbermayr arrived at Mugello leading the Female Trophy standings, having established herself as one of the most consistent female competitors in the field. Her season had run alongside her F1 Academy programme, where she was also fighting at the front of the championship, and she entered the finale with Westcott as her closest challenger. The American driver had likewise combined Italian F4 with her F1 Academy commitments, making the final round particularly important for the class title fight between the two.
Panzeri returned to Italian F4 after contesting a busy season across several championships, including French F4 and F4 CEZ. Mugello also marked her first event with Prema Racing, with the Italian team taking over the operation of her car for the final round. Meanwhile, Paatz made her first Italian F4 appearance of the year with her family-run Mathilda Racing outfit. The German driver had been one of the protagonists of the 2026 F1 Academy season, winning a race as the Aston Martin representative, and was looking to make the most of her return to the championship. Rafaela Ferreira, who had contested the full Italian F4 season with Cram Motorsport, was absent from the finale due to a scheduling clash with her NASCAR Brazil debut.
The four drivers showed encouraging signs in the opening practice sessions. Felbermayr and Panzeri were both competitive in the second group in FP1, placing inside the top 15, while Westcott made a particularly strong impression in FP2, finishing seventh. Panzeri, however, encountered an issue during the second session and was unable to complete representative laps, limiting her preparation ahead of qualifying.
Friday's qualifying sessions offered further encouragement for Westcott and Felbermayr, with both showing the potential to start towards the front of their respective groups. Westcott and Paatz were assigned to the first group, where the German initially set a 1:51.1 before continuing to search for improvements. Westcott encountered several deleted lap times early in the session, but eventually put together a strong lap of 1:50.059 to climb to ninth. She maintained that position to finish ninth in the group, repeating the top-ten qualifying performance she had achieved the previous weekend.
Paatz was unable to match that pace and eventually completed the session 22nd, having continued to push for an improvement. In the second group, Felbermayr and Panzeri initially moved towards the top ten as the times began to fall. Felbermayr set a 1:50.496 before improving to 1:50.444, while Panzeri briefly broke into the top ten with a 1:51.133. The Italian then dipped below the 1:51 barrier, first recording a 1:50.7 before improving again to 1:50.654. It was an encouraging first qualifying session with Prema, although she eventually finished 20th in the group. Felbermayr, meanwhile, was classified 18th.
With the overall Italian F4 championship already decided, attention turned to the Female Trophy, which remained open heading into the first race. Westcott was the highest-placed of the four women on the grid for Race 1, starting 12th, with Felbermayr lining up 23rd, Panzeri 25th and Paatz 28th.
The race began cleanly, although a Trident car spun through the second and third corners, forcing the field to take avoiding action. Westcott dropped one position to 13th, while Felbermayr made an encouraging start, gaining two places to move up to 21st. Paatz also gained ground, but Panzeri's race quickly unravelled. After receiving contact from Sun Yibei, she was spun around and then collected by another car, sustaining damage to her rear wing. She returned to the pits but was ultimately forced to retire, bringing an early end to a particularly unlucky first race with Prema. Sun was subsequently handed a penalty for the incident.
The race remained green, with Westcott becoming involved in a battle with Al Sulaiti for 13th before dropping behind the Qatari driver and Bansal. Felbermayr, meanwhile, was making steady progress through the field, moving up to 19th on the second lap before being passed by Chartier and settling into a close group of cars in 20th.
Paatz was also working her way forward after a difficult opening phase. Initially held up behind Orsini, she set a 1:51.322 and eventually found a way past on lap five. Once clear, she immediately showed stronger pace, closing on Pasquinetti and passing him shortly afterwards, with Simek next ahead. Paatz was gaining more than a second per lap on the cars in front and soon had Felbermayr within reach, as Simek moved ahead of the Austrian for 20th.
Westcott, meanwhile, was defending 15th against Pedro Lima, with the battle for the final points-paying positions intensifying as the race entered its closing stages. Paatz continued to push behind Felbermayr, who was running on older tyres, but the German was unable to find a way through. Further ahead, incidents involving Thomas Bearman and Al Sulaiti forced both drivers into the pits with damage, promoting Westcott to 14th, Felbermayr to 19th and Paatz to 20th with two minutes remaining.
Westcott then found herself in a six-car train fighting for position. Chartier managed to get ahead, dropping the American driver back to 15th, but she held on to take the final point-paying position and the Female Trophy victory in Race 1. Felbermayr and Paatz crossed the line 19th and 18th respectively, completing solid recovery drives after starting towards the back of the field.
Paatz was encouraged by the pace she had found once she was able to run in clear air, despite her difficult qualifying session and the close battles at the start.
“It's good to be back in the Italian F4. I know from last year it's much harder championship what I'm used to. Sadly in quali we just couldn't put the lap together,” she said.
“Made a mistake in my fastest lap and this track is just not forgiving at all. At the start I had some quite close fights almost being in the grass, and I just had to kind of stay alive on track. But when we were free we were catching people, overtaking them and closing quite well. So I'm happy that the pace is back and I hope to do the same in the second race and maybe be further up in the females standings.”
The second race of the weekend, held later on Friday with Group A and B, offered another opportunity for Felbermayr and Paatz to recover from their starting positions. Felbermayr lined up 23rd, while Paatz started 30th, with both looking to make further progress through the field.
The start was particularly chaotic, with several cars stalling on the grid and forcing others to take avoiding action. Felbermayr made a strong launch to move up to 22nd, while Paatz also gained a position. A couple of cars went off into the gravel, but the race remained green, and Felbermayr was already up to 20th before Ruykov briefly moved ahead towards the end of the opening lap.
Felbermayr soon reclaimed the position, while Paatz continued to gain ground and moved up to 28th as Ruykov went through the gravel. The Austrian then passed Hattemer to take 19th, closing on Chartier as she once again began to make progress through the midfield.
A six-car train developed ahead, but Felbermayr produced one of her strongest overtaking moves of the weekend, going three-wide into Turn 1 to gain two positions while holding off the cars alongside her. The move lifted her to 17th and demonstrated the improving racecraft she had been developing throughout the season.
The race was subsequently neutralised after contact between Chartier and Burnett at Turn 1, with the Safety Car deployed for the first time during the weekend. With nine minutes remaining, the field was brought back together before the green flag was shown with seven minutes to go.
Felbermayr found herself battling Bernoldi for 17th after the restart, although Hattemer briefly moved ahead of both drivers. The pair nevertheless managed to clear Bernoldi, while Paatz was also making progress further down the order. The German passed several cars to move up to 24th before overtaking Orsini for 23rd, completing another strong recovery drive.
Felbermayr continued to attack in the closing stages, passing Pedersen before taking the chequered flag in 17th. Paatz finished 23rd, having gained seven positions from her starting place, while Felbermayr secured another Female Trophy victory and strengthened her position in the title fight.
Reflecting on the race, Felbermayr was pleased with her overtaking and the progress made in the second half of the event, although she felt that the overall pace had been lacking compared with her expectations: “I think the racing was good, we are missing a bit of pace this weekend. But obviously in race one we had a bit of a disadvantage with the tyres, but more of an advantage this race. So you really felt the difference of having new tyres compared to old,” she explained.
“Obviously a bit gutted about the pace, but it wasn't awful. Obviously switching from F1 Academy to these cars is not always easy. But I think it's just an overall pace thing this weekend.”
“But hopefully we made it to the final. I think we need to wait for tomorrow's third race until we can see. But obviously the whole season was a bit of being on the edge - so I was hoping that this weekend would be a bit better.”
Sunday's third race took place in colder and windier conditions, with Westcott and Panzeri competing in Group A and C. Westcott started 12th, while Panzeri lined up 26th after her retirement in Race 1, knowing that she needed a strong result to secure a place in the Final.
Westcott made an excellent start, going three-wide into Turn 1 and gaining several positions to move into the top ten. Panzeri also made a solid launch further down the order, retaining 26th and staying with the pack through the opening laps. Westcott continued her progress, passing Zheng to climb to ninth and establish herself within the leading group.
The race was soon neutralised following a heavy crash for Simek at Turn 1. Panzeri remained 26th during the Safety Car period, while Westcott prepared to defend her position at the restart with 12 minutes remaining.
The R-Ace GP driver initially struggled to maintain her position as the field accelerated away, dropping to 13th after Zheng, Hattemer and Cortes moved ahead. However, Cortes and Hattemer then made contact, sending the Swiss driver through the gravel and allowing Westcott to recover to 12th. She subsequently set a 1:51.4 and continued to fight within the group, moving back up to 11th.
Panzeri was also determined to make progress, initially gaining a position before being shuffled down to 29th. She fought back through the field, returning to 28th and then 27th by lap 11, but the damage to her weekend from the opening race had left her with too much ground to recover.
Westcott, meanwhile, maintained her strong pace to finish 11th on the road, before being promoted to tenth. It was her best result of the Italian F4 season and gave her back-to-back points finishes, while Panzeri's 27th place was ultimately not enough to secure a place in the Final.
Despite missing out on the season-ending race, Panzeri took encouragement from her first weekend with Prema, particularly the performance she had shown in the opening practice session and the progress made after her early retirement.
“We started with free practice in the morning - it went very well, and I was among the top 13 - but then I didn't manage a single lap in the second session. Qualifying went okay; I was feeling a bit tired and not quite at my best, but I still managed to finish 20th in my group. In Race 1, unfortunately, my race ended early due to contact at Turn 6 on the first lap. Today, in Race 3, things went better, and I secured a P2 finish in the women’s category,” she said.
“I was right in the mix and had some good battles. The car was a bit of a handful in the final laps - it had a tendency to oversteer - but I managed it well and didn’t lose many positions. As for this event with Prema, it’s been truly excellent. It’s definitely a top-tier team, they are highly prepared, very technical, and very organized and they show you absolutely everything.”
The final race of the season brought together the top 36 drivers from the weekend, with three women making the cut. Westcott started 19th, Felbermayr lined up 29th and Paatz qualified 35th.
Conditions deteriorated significantly ahead of the Final, with heavy rain, low temperatures and strong winds making the circuit extremely challenging. The race therefore began behind the Safety Car, which remained on track for several laps as the rain intensified and grip remained extremely limited.
The field was finally released with 15 minutes remaining. Westcott initially held 19th, while Felbermayr was 20th and Paatz 35th. However, the American driver quickly began to lose ground in the difficult conditions, dropping to 24th, while Felbermayr moved up to 23rd and took the lead of the Female Trophy positions on track.
Several drivers continued to struggle for grip, with cars sliding through the gravel and further incidents developing around the circuit. Contact between Pedersen and Repetto brought out another Safety Car, with the field regrouping ahead of a restart with six minutes remaining. At that point, Felbermayr was 20th, Westcott 26th and Paatz 32nd.
Felbermayr negotiated the restart cleanly as more cars encountered trouble, moving up to 17th. Killion subsequently went into the gravel, triggering another Safety Car with four minutes remaining and setting up a final dash to the chequered flag.
With only one lap of green-flag running available, Felbermayr managed to bring her car home in 13th, her best finish of the season and her first points result in an Italian F4 Final. A five-second penalty subsequently dropped her to 19th in the classification, but it did not affect her Female Trophy campaign. Westcott crossed the line in 22nd, while Paatz completed the race in 26th.
Felbermayr was pleased to end the season with a strong performance in the challenging conditions: “The final race was really good, it's the first time I got into the points in a final, so obviously it's nice. I think it was all about surviving, it was really tricky conditions with heavy rain, you couldn't see a lot,” she said.
“All about surviving, which I did, I also did some nice overtakes. Now I just have to, I think, focus a bit more on the pace rather than on the racing, because the racecraft is getting better and better. I'm just happy to end the season like this.”
The Mugello finale confirmed Felbermayr as the 2026 Italian F4 Female Trophy champion, with 492 points to Westcott's 436. Panzeri finished third in the standings with 246 points, while Emily Cotty secured fourth despite contesting only four rounds, ending the year on 216 points. Ferreira, who missed the final event due to her NASCAR Brazil commitment, finished fifth on 204 points, followed by Rosanne Den Drijver on 78 and Zoe Florescu on 44, both having made one-off appearances during the season. Paatz, who competed only at Mugello, added 64 points.
A total of eight female drivers took part in the 2026 Italian F4 season, representing a clear increase compared with previous years and the highest figure in the series' history. For Felbermayr, the title provided a fitting reward for a campaign in which she combined two demanding championships.
