Italian F4: Emma Felbermayr access final at Mugello, leads Female Trophy as Florescu makes convincing debut
- MARCO ALBERTINI
- Jul 27
- 7 min read
Emma Felbermayr secured the lead in the Italian F4 Female Trophy with three victories in the female classification and a place in the Final, while debutant Zoe Florescu Potolea impressed with a spectacular wet-weather charge in the Mugello weekend.
The fourth round of the 2026 Italian Formula 4 Championship at Mugello saw one of the strongest female entries of the season, with six drivers taking to the grid in a 49-car field that matched the championship record.
Among them were a combination of established contenders, F1 Academy drivers gaining valuable experience and a series newcomer, with Emma Felbermayr emerging as the top female entry after taking three Women Trophy victories, scoring points twice and becoming the only woman to qualify for the weekend's Final.
The Austrian driver, who is contesting a partial Italian F4 campaign with PHM Racing alongside her title challenge in F1 Academy, arrived at Mugello having already scored points at both Misano and Monza, where she had recorded a personal-best 14th-place finish.
Emily Cotty, meanwhile, continued her second season with R-Ace GP after finishing as the top female driver in the championship last year. Although the British-New Zealand racer had shown strong pace, including scoring overall points at the season opener, a series of incidents and misfortune had prevented her from building the results her speed deserved so far.
Cotty was joined at R-Ace GP by American Payton Westcott, who is combining her Italian F4 campaign with a full season in F1 Academy and had already scored points at Monza. Rafaela Ferreira brought further F1 Academy experience to the field, the Brazilian racing for the first time in Italian F4 after winning races in Brazilian F4 and joining the championship as part of her VCARB-supported development programme. Ginevra Panzeri continued her first full Italian F4 campaign with PA Racing, while Romanian Zoe Florescu Potolea, a Spanish F4 regular, made her series debut with Real Racing ahead of her upcoming F1 Academy wild-card appearance.
The weekend began positively for Cotty, who led the female drivers in the opening practice session with a 1:51.796, ahead of Felbermayr and Westcott. She then produced one of the most impressive laps of the weekend in FP2, setting a 1:50.111 to finish inside the overall top ten and demonstrate the pace that had been evident throughout her rookie campaign.
Westcott was 22nd, while Felbermayr finished 38th as she worked to find the optimum setup. Florescu Potolea, meanwhile, was still adapting to the Italian F4 car after primarily competing in Spanish F4, with the differences between the cars' setups and regulations adding to the learning curve.
Cotty was the fastest female driver in the first qualifying group, placing 14th overall with a 1:50.328. Felbermayr was close behind in 16th with a 1:50.504, while Westcott improved to 18th in the final minutes. Florescu Potolea qualified 22nd in her first ever Italian F4 qualifying session.
Ferreira was the fastest driver in the second group, improving significantly in the closing stages to set a 1:50.569 and qualify 19th, while Panzeri placed 23rd in the group with a 1:51.424.
Cotty started Race 1 from 20th overall as the leading female driver, with Westcott 21st and Ferreira 24th. While the field made it safely through the opening corners, Cotty immediately moved up one position, while Westcott remained in the top 25. Ferreira, however, lost several positions during the opening lap and ended the first tour in 31st.
Cotty settled into the midfield battles and remained closely involved in the fight for positions, while Westcott began to recover ground, moving up to 24th after passing Tamas Gender. Ferreira's race was compromised at the end of the second lap when she was forced to pit with damage, dropping more than 40 seconds behind the field.
Cotty continued to run strongly inside the top 20, but her progress was ultimately cut short when she was hit by Savinkov and forced into the gravel, sustaining rear-end damage and retiring from the race. The incident was particularly frustrating given her strong pace and the fact that she had been running solidly inside the top 20.
Westcott, meanwhile, continued to make progress through the field. She moved ahead of Polak and Lo Bue before gaining another position when Levi Arn went off track, placing her 21st as the race was neutralized.
The safety car allowed Ferreira to close back up to the field, but the race was interrupted again shortly after the restart when David Walther went off track. The final lap was therefore completed under caution, with Westcott taking 20th place and securing the female trophy. Ferreira finished 29th after a challenging race.
Emma Felbermayr led the female drivers into Race 2 from 21st place, ahead of Westcott in 24th, Ferreira in 26th, Florescu Potolea in 28th and Panzeri in 30th.
Felbermayr immediately made progress, climbing to 18th on the opening lap before continuing her charge through the field. She soon moved into 16th, putting herself within striking distance of the points-paying positions.
Westcott also made a strong start and moved up to 22nd, while Florescu Potolea made an impressive opening lap in her first ever race in the championship, climbing to 25th and initially moving clear of Ferreira. Panzeri avoided an incident ahead and gained a position to 29th.
Felbermayr's pace remained particularly impressive. Running in the 1:51s, she closed on Alex Ruta for 15th and then continued to pressure the cars ahead. Florescu Potolea also showed good speed, passing Lo Bue and later moving up to 24th.
Felbermayr eventually completed the pass on Martinese to reach 14th, although Busso fought back and demoted her to 15th. A penalty for Consani then promoted the Austrian back to 14th at the finish, securing her first points of the weekend as well as another female trophy win.
Westcott finished 23rd, holding off Florescu Potolea, who completed an encouraging first race weekend in the championship in 24th. Ferreira finished 26th, with Panzeri 27th.
Rain overnight made the third race of the weekend particularly unpredictable. Cotty was once again the leading female driver on the grid, starting 18th and looking to recover from her Race 1 retirement. Felbermayr started 20th, while Florescu Potolea lined up 28th and Panzeri 31st.
The race began behind the safety car on a wet track, although conditions were already beginning to improve. Cotty was cautious on the opening lap on slicks and dropped to 22nd, while Felbermayr made another excellent start to move up to 18th, also on slicks.
Florescu Potolea made one of the most important strategic decisions, starting on wet-weather tyres while most of the field opted for slicks. As the race began, the gamble immediately appeared to be paying off. The Romanian driver climbed to 20th before the next safety car period and continued to make rapid progress.
Panzeri's race came to an unfortunate end when she spun into the gravel, while Cotty remained in 22nd.
When racing resumed with around seven minutes remaining, Florescu Potolea produced a spectacular restart. She passed three cars, including Felbermayr, to take the lead of the female classification, then continued her charge through the field as the wet tyres provided a significant advantage over the struggling slick-equipped drivers.
She passed Martinese and Kamyab in quick succession, climbing to 14th and running more than two seconds per lap faster than the cars ahead. It was an outstanding drive, particularly given that it was only her second race in the championship.
However, the rapidly drying track eventually began to erode the advantage of the wet tyres. The cars on slicks then began to recover, and with one lap remaining Florescu Potolea was caught in a three-car battle. She was hit and forced into the gravel, bringing a frustrating end to what had been a stunning recovery drive.
The race ended under safety car conditions, with Felbermayr inheriting the female trophy in 21st place. Cotty finished 27th after picking up front wing damage, while Florescu Potolea was classified 29th after her late incident.
Emma Felbermayr was the only female driver to qualify for the weekend's Final, with the top 36 drivers from the three preliminary races earning a place on the grid. The Austrian had now qualified for every Italian F4 Final she had entered during the season, another indication of her consistency and progress in one of Europe's most competitive junior single-seater championships.
Starting 26th, Felbermayr dropped to 30th at the beginning of the race but quickly began to recover positions. A crash ahead brought out the safety car, and she restarted from 28th before immediately moving forward again when racing resumed.
Felbermayr climbed to 25th with a strong 1:53.6 lap and remained involved in a close battle with Toniolo, Lima and Bernoldi. Another safety car period interrupted the race, but the PHM Racing driver continued to fight hard through the final stages.
She moved ahead of Toniolo before being shuffled back to 27th during the intense final-lap battles. Felbermayr then successfully defended her position against Edward Robinson, taking the chequered flag in 27th and securing another female trophy win.
Her performance at Mugello further strengthened her position in the Italian F4 Female Trophy classification: after four rounds, Felbermayr leads the standings with 230 points, ahead of Cotty and Westcott, who are tied on 216 points.
For Cotty, the weekend once again highlighted the contrast between her pace and her results. She was among the fastest female drivers throughout practice and qualifying, including an overall top-ten performance in FP2, but was denied a stronger weekend by contact in Race 1 and a difficult wet-dry race in Race 3.
Westcott continued to build valuable experience across both her Italian F4 and F1 Academy campaigns, while Ferreira endured a difficult weekend after showing flashes of pace in qualifying. Panzeri's weekend was similarly interrupted by incidents, while Florescu Potolea made an immediately positive impression in her debut, particularly with her remarkable wet-weather charge in Race 3.
The Italian F4 Championship will now take a summer break before returning to action at Imola on 4-6 September for the fifth round of the season.
