Today, August 2, 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 the race from second place. However, due to a ruling by the officials, he was penalized and moved back to fourth place because several drivers were attempting to gain a slipstream from him.

While the investigation found no errors on Bondarev's part, he received a penalty like other drivers.

As a result, starting from fourth, Alexander found himself behind qualifying winner Gabriel Gomez from US Racing and his Prema Racing teammates Kim Nakamura-Berta and Salim Hanna.

Bondarev had a strong start to the race, but shortly after, Hanna overtook Nakamura-Berta. Alexander consistently kept his rivals on edge. However, just 2.5 minutes in, a collision between two drivers from the same team led to the deployment of the safety car.

No positions changed during the restart among the leaders, but after the midway point, the safety car returned to the track.

With five minutes remaining, a second restart occurred during which Alexander attacked Nakamura-Berta but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, he faced pressure from Renaud Franco of PHM Racing, who was also under attack from competitors.

Ultimately, Alexander Bondarev finished the first race of the fifth round in fourth place, marking a new personal best 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, and both made it to the rookie podium alongside another Prema Racing representative, Newman Chi.

For this race, Alexander Bondarev earned 12 points, significantly aiding his standings in both the overall driver ranking (he was 19th before the start) and the rookie standings (he was sixth).