It was a weekend of learning for PREMA Racing and its trio of drivers in the F4 UAE Trophy Race at Abu Dhabi. With three drivers racing for the first time at Yas Marina, the team achieved two podium finishes as Freddie Slater and Rashid al Dhaheri posted P3 in the two races respectively.
Both the British and the Emirati ended up in the same positions they had at the started from, but put up a great effort to recover. While Slater was followed by Al Dhaheri in the opening race, the UAE native went on to claim his first podium at home in race 2, just hours before the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.
Without the same experience level as his competitors, and also not having run at the Macau Grand Prix with the same tyres of Formula 4 UAE, Alex Powell posted seventh place in race 1 and sixth place in race 2, impressing for his consistent improvement.
#14 – Rashid Al Dhaheri
“It was an amazing weekend especially as it was my first time racing in the UAE with Formula 4, in a fantastic weekend with Formula 1. It was a great experience for me, having so many supporters and being able to race in front of them. I’m very excited for the next races as I was always able to improve and for the next weekends we will be stronger!”
#27 – Freddie Slater
“We had a mega weekend here in Abu Dhabi, even though a mistake on my behalf in race 2 cost us. Overall, to turn up and be on pace, I think was a good effort. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without PREMA, my engineer Vincent, ADD Management and Craig Boyd, and my family.”
#80 – Alex Powell
“In general, it was a positive weekend. Super difficult because of the minimal track time we had with just 45 minutes of practice, with even a red flag that reduced it further. It was my first time on this track and on these tyres, so it was really hard and a huge step I had to make to improve in a lot of areas. It was a weekend of learning, and I’m proud of the improvements that we have made. We would have liked a better result, but we are getting closer to where we want to be. I’ll keep pushing hard and learning as much as I can for when we start again here in the Emirates.”