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The first race of the penultimate round of the F4 Central European Zone at Slovakia Ring was won by Kirill Kutskov of Maffi Racing, who inherited victory after Gino Trappa received a five-second penalty for his behavior behind the safety car, dropping him from first to 12th place.

Nicolas Cortes lined up on the front row alongside his teammate Trappa, with Javier Herrera and Kirill Kutskov just behind. On the lights, Trappa took the lead, while Herrera moved into second as Cortes slipped from pole to fourth behind Kutskov. Cortes quickly recovered, overtaking Kutskov in the opening laps to reclaim third and make it a Jenzer Motorsport lockout of the top three positions.

Kutskov stayed close in fourth, creating a small gap back to Renauer Motorsport teammates Hady Mimassi and Simon Schranz. Further down the order, David Gorčica came under pressure from Max Karhan, who had started eighth and was determined to move forward as soon as possible.

With Trappa controlling the race just ahead of Herrera, positions six through eleven became dramatic fight between Schranz, Karhan, Mathilda Paatz, David Gorčica, Benett Gáspár, Teo Borenstein and Nicole Havrda. Karhan eventually broke through to sixth, chasing down Mimassi for fifth, while Paatz and Gáspár followed closely behind. Schranz, meanwhile, began to slip down the order under heavy pressure.

Out front, Trappa maintained around a one-second gap over Herrera, who came under intense pressure from his fellow countryman Cortes. Unfortunately, with just three minutes remaining, the pair made contact. Cortes ended up in the gravel trap and was unable to continue, bringing out the safety car.

The race ended behind the safety car, with Trappa braking hard when the lights went out on the safety car, which was a breach of the rules. Since he had done the same thing in the previous event, he received a five-second penalty. As the race finished under yellow flag conditions, the penalty dropped him from first to 12th place.

That handed victory to Kirill Kutskov, with Max Karhan finishing second, reducing the points gap to championship leader Trappa to 36. Hady Mimassi completed the podium in third. Benett Gáspár finished fourth, with Mathilda Paatz completing the top five. Sixth place went to Teo Borenstein, while Javier Herrera dropped to seventh after a two-second penalty for track limits. Andreas Lo Bue was eighth, Simon Schranz ninth and the top ten was rounded out by F4 CEZ debutant Nicole Havrda.

F4 – Race 1 – Official

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