4
by Stefano Semeraro
A lot of work. And a lot of satisfactions. In
a challenge that was accepted and won in a
very short time when many had thought
the opposite. The Formula 4 debut at
Adria, the new series that plays an
important role in the FIA’s new strategy,
ran for the first time at Adria and was both
a start and arrival point for Tatuus. The
Italian company won the first and probably
most difficult race while still knowing it’s
time to push all the way down to the rest of
the championship, in order to continue this
new adventure in the best possible way as
it also involves a lot of Italian technology
players that work and believe in national
motorsports.
«We had everybody’s eyes upon us and the
best thing is that in the end all the
comments were very positive», explain
Gianfranco De Bellis and Artico Sandonà,
two men that are the heart of Tatuus. «the
FIA observers had good words for us at the
end of the event as they strongly believe in
this series as a part of the future strategy
that will take young drivers from karting to
F.1. But also drivers and teams have been
positively impressive. Considering that the
Italian one is the first, and for now the
only, Formula 4 series makes us
particularly proud».
The road coming to the seasonal debut was
tough and the success experienced has
been the result of a design work that hasn’t
been easy nor immediate «let’s admit it, it’s
been a tour‐de‐force», says De Bellis
smiling «if we think that the first
shakedown has been on April 14 at Varano.
By the end of my we had already delivered
24 cars despite we got national festivities
like Easter, April 25th and May 1st. But
we’re used to work this way.».
The Tatuus Formula 4 sets a new
benchmark in terms of performance, safety,
and cost reductions. «All the FIA series are
safe ‐ says De Bellis ‐ but I believe that this
car can be considered a step forward. It’s
easy to manage so the costs can be
reduced, but it also introduced new safety
elements, also taking future into account.
Under this perspective, the rulebook
prescribes a full‐length anti‐intrusion panel
at the side of the chassis. This addition was
decided in the UK on January the 18th and
forced us to go for a race against time. A
race we won by passing all the prescribed
crash‐tests».
There has been a lot of real teamwork that
involved many player. After the drop of the
curtain they need a round of applause «our
guys at Tatuus that worked at an amazing
pace, the suppliers that bent over
backwards to respect the delivery times
and the teams, as they were spectacular in
their collaboration. Without them, it wold
have been impossible to win this challenge.
It’s also a pleasure to see many Italian
companies involved. From Brembo that
provided the brake system, to Autotecnica
Motori that did a great job on the Abarth
engines. Then Magneti Marelli gave a great
contribution to the new electrically‐
actuated gearbox and also Pirelli provided
some very stable tires (as the confrontation
between the qualifying and race lap times
demonstrated) at the very reasonable price
of 650 euros per set. In addition to that,
promoter Luca De Donno and his WSK did
a phenomenal job and, knowing the type,
I’m sure that wet to come. While they have
been criticized from time to time in the
past, the Italian Federation must really be
praised for their efforts».
The first outing at Adria has also been a
success with three young winners from
three different countries and teams in the
three races held for Round 1: Lance Stroll
(Prema), Ukyo Sasahara (Euronova) and
Andrea Russo (DieGi). «All three races have
been exciting. The FIA is pushing really
hard on this format to get the 15‐years‐old
involved in motorsports, and several of
them, coming from many countries, joined
us on‐track. I particularly liked the fact
that Italians were among the frontrunners.
The battle between Pulcini and Russo was
something spectacular, but all three races
have been exciting and balanced. Among
the drivers that impressed me the most
were Drudi and Cairoli despite the latter
got slightly injured in Race 3. If it’s true
that a good beginning bodes well, Formula
4 has a bright future in front of it».
F.4 numbers
2 Months
From April 14th to the end of
May. The cars were delivered to
the teams in less than two
months from the first shake-
down at Varano.
3 Winners
Three different drivers won at
Adria. Canadian Lance Stroll of
Prema Powerteam, Japanese
Ukyo Sasahara of Euronova and
Italian Andrea Russo of DieGi
Motorsport.
30 car sold
So far, Tatuus sold 30 Formula
4 cars. De Bellis: «now we have
to stop to reorganize, and then
we’ll produce 20 more.
11 Nationalities
The drivers seen on-track at
Adria represented 11 different
countries: Italy (6), Switzerland
(5), Japan (2), France (2), Israel
(1), Bahrain (1), Russia (1),
Canada (1), USA (1), Brazil (2) e
Malta (1).
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