The spectators at Red Bull Ring witnessed the closest race finish in the history of F4 CEZ, with only 0.010 seconds separating the winner Andrej Petrović from his PHM Racing teammate Davide Larini.
PHM Racing locked front row on the grid with Kamal Mrad and Davide Larini, who had a slightly better start, took the inside line in the first turn, and seized the lead. However, Mrad fought back, attacking Larini in the third and fourth turns, though he couldn’t find a gap to retake the lead. The third driver from PHM Racing, Andrej Petrović, was third.
Unfortunately, right on the first lap, Max Karhan from the Jenzer Motorsport team ended up in the barrier at the exit of turn three. The safety car was deployed with the order Larini, Mrad, Petrović, Enea Frey, Maksimilian Popov, and Oscar Wurz rounding out the top six.
The race was restarted after a few laps behind the safety car, and the three PHM Racing Formula 4 cars were fighting for the lead. But even before completing the first lap after the restart, the safety car was out again as Kirill Kutskov from Maffi Racing stopped his car on the back straight, prompting a yellow flag for the second time.
With ten minutes to go, the race was restarted. The battle for the lead continued, and there was almost contact between teammates Mrad and Petrović, which Enea Frey from Jenzer Motorsport used as an opportunity to move up to third place in front of Mrad. Mrad then made a small mistake, and Popov passed him for fourth place.
As Larini and Petrović created a gap in the lead, a four-way battle formed between third Popov, Frey, Wurz, Mrad, and Luca Viisoreanu for the remaining podium place. In the closing stages of the race, Viisoreanu eventually passed Mrad and moved to sixth place at the finish.
But the most interesting battle developed at the front. Petrović closed the gap in the final seconds of the race, passing Larini on the last lap in the third turn. However, Larini kept fighting, trying to find space to reclaim the lead. The teammates raced side by side in the final two turns and crossed the finish line with only 0.010 seconds between them. Andrej Petrović won the race with a last-lap move and was thrilled with the result. A slightly disappointed Larini finished second, and Popov joined their teammates on the podium.
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