Today, August 2nd, the first race of the fifth round of the 2025 Italian Formula 4 season took place in Imola, featuring Prema Racing driver Alexander Bondarev.

The Ukrainian racer had an impressive qualifying session and was set to start from second position. However, due to a decision by the officials, he was penalized with a loss of two positions at the start. This was because many drivers gathered behind him to take advantage of his slipstream, and he slowed down to let them pass, resulting in a penalty.

According to the investigation, no mistakes were found on Bondarev's part, yet he faced a penalty like the other drivers.

As a result, Alexander started fourth, just behind the qualifying winner Gabriel Gomez from US Racing and his two Prema Racing teammates, Kim Nakamura-Berta and Salim Hanna.

Bondarev had a great start, while Hanna passed Nakamura-Berta ahead of him. Alexander constantly kept his rivals on edge. However, just 2.5 minutes into the race, a crash involving two drivers from the same team occurred, leading to the deployment of the safety car.

At the restart, no positions changed among the leading group of drivers. After the halfway mark, the safety car appeared on track again.

With 5 minutes remaining in the race, a second restart took place, during which Alexander attempted to attack Nakamura-Berta but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Renaud Franco from PHM Racing began to pressure the Ukrainian, but Bondarev benefited from the fact that Franco was also being attacked by other competitors.

Ultimately, Alexander Bondarev finished the first race of the fifth round of F4 in fourth place, marking a new career-best result for the 16-year-old Ukrainian. He surpassed his previous achievement from the second race in Misano, where he finished sixth.

Among the rookies, Bondarev secured second place, only behind Salim Hanna. They both reached the rookie podium, joined by another representative from Prema Racing, Newman Chi.

For this race, Alexander Bondarev earned a total of 12 points, which will greatly assist him in both the overall drivers' standings (he was 19th before the race) and the rookie ranking (he was sixth).