MP Motorsport’s Mattia Colnaghi, the winner of the 2023 Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout, is targeting first place in the Spanish F4 rookie standings this season.

By Juan Arroyo

The 15-year-old Italian of Argentine descent raced in single-seaters for the first time in the Formula Winter Series in February. Having contested the first two of four rounds, he finished 18th in the standings, achieving a best race finish of seventh twice during the opening weekend in Jerez.

Last year, Colnaghi raced in senior karting, finishing sixth in the FIA Karting World Championship and 15th in the Karting European Championship.

In October of last year, Colnaghi won the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout, which awards the winner a paid-for seat at MP Motorsport in Spanish F4. The 15-year-old was chosen by organisers All Road Management over seven other finalists after two days of running in Navarra.

Colnaghi told Feeder Series that he would not be racing in single-seaters this year had he not won the shootout. Now that he is, he has bold ambitions.

“I think for sure to be the top rookie is the main target of the year, and I think top five in the championship is a good target overall,” Colnaghi said.

MP beat long-standing Spanish F4 rival Campos to the Formula Winter Series teams’ title by 152 points, separated by German outfit US Racing in second.

“During the Formula Winter Series, I got a good idea of where Campos are,” Colnaghi said. “Obviously during testing they could be sandbagging a bit, but during the racing of course they’re not going to, so I got a good idea of where they are.

“I think for now the line-up that MP Motorsport has is a bit stronger, but we’ll have to see during the season.”

Colnaghi was present in pre-season testing at Le Castellet and Portimão in recent weeks. At Le Castellet, which he said was his favourite track he’s visited so far, the Italian finished 24th out of 58 cars in a test featuring drivers from both Spanish and Italian F4.

The next week at Spanish F4’s two-day, 35-driver test at Portimão, Colnaghi finished fourth, behind only teammates Lucas Fluxà, 2022 Richard Mille shootout winner Keanu Al Azhari and FWS champion Griffin Peebles. He racked up 140 laps of running.

The Spanish F4 season begins in a month at Jarama, a circuit the series last visited in 2020. Does Colnaghi expect a similar order to what testing has produced so far?

“We will go testing in two weeks, but I think more or less yes. Obviously the main two teams to look at are MP and Campos, but there are some other strong competitors like Rodin or Saintéloc Racing, which could definitely be ones to look at during the season.”

Interview by Jim Kimberley

Header photo credit: Daniel Bürgin / Formula Winter Series