Olli Caldwell will return to Italian F4 racing this weekend as the championship heads to Imola for round five. Olli had been on a roll heading into round four with four podiums in as many races including a further race win. But that streak was ended in dramatic fashion at Misano which saw Olli have his worst round of the season due to questionable penalties. The 16-year-old was still able to salvage three points scoring finishes but it dropped him down to 3rd in the championship.
Olli has been one of the stand out performers of this year’s Italian F4 championship. Taking part in his first full season he has grown with confidence as the season has
gone on. Since winning at Paul Ricard Olli has found a new gear taking three 2nd place finishes and one 3rd scoring points in all twelve races this season. He is the only driver to hold a 100% points scoring record which shows his consistency and race craft!
Olli is now exactly 37 points off the championship lead and considering there are still nine races left in the season his aspirations to win the title have certainly not faded. Imola is a circuit Olli raced at last season and although the weekend started terribly, with Olli retiring from race one, it ended with a 14th place which was a decent result given it was just his third race in the championship at the time.
The circuit consists of mostly slow speed corners which are broken up by long straights. Not to the extent of say, Monza, but it certainly has some similarities which
should hopefully lead to some good racing. As ever qualifying will be crucial with all three race winners last season being the ones to lead the field away at the start. Olli has had a pole position back at Paul Ricard which he went on to win so he’ll certainly be hoping to reflect that this weekend.
Olli is coming off the back of a brilliant performance at Hockenheim last weekend which saw him take a podium in the ADAC F4 championship. Supporting the F1 German Grand Prix, Olli drove through from 8th to 2nd in race two to stand on the very same podium that saw Lewis Hamilton collect his trophy just a few hours later. If things weren’t good enough already Olli had all his partners, there in support which will give him great confidence heading into this weekend.
Olli Caldwell: "Really looking forward to be back racing in the Italian championship where I’m currently sat third in the championship this weekend at Imola. Looking to continue our success from last weekend and get some good results here!"
All three races will be streamed live on https://www.ollicaldwell.com/live with updates also going out on social
media.
Timetable:
Friday
Free Practice 1 - 13:15 (40 mins)
Free Practice 2 - 17:50
Saturday
Qualifying 1 - 09:35 (15 mins)
Qualifying 2 – 10:00
Race One - 15:00 (28 mins + 1 lap)
Sunday
Race Two - 09:50
Race Three - 15:10