Racing Reframed reporter Marco Albertini interviewed Brazilian racing driver Gabriel Gomez at the opening round of the 2024 Euro 4 season at Mugello Circuit. The Spanish F4 driver and 2023 European Karting Championship runner-up talked about his season so far.

By Marco Albertini

Gomez’s “last-minute opportunity” to race in Euro 4 came as a result of another driver’s misfortune. “[PHM Racing] called me because one of their drivers got hurt and so they needed a driver to do Euro 4 at Mugello,” he said. “It’s a team that really helps drivers in general, and I’m very happy to be here with them.”

However, a significant challenge for the Brazilian was his lack of prior experience at Mugello. “I’ve had limited time to understand the track, compared to other drivers who have tested and even raced here earlier in the year. Meanwhile, I came here just for this round, doing only two practice sessions and a qualifying session, so it was pretty hard to find something during qualifying,” he continued.

“You basically have two laps to set a lap time, so it was really hard, but our race pace was good, and we’ve gained a lot during the races.”

A season of “improvements” in Spanish F4

Gomez spent most of 2024 racing in the Spanish F4 championship for newcomers TC Racing. He currently sits 25th in the standings as the only full-timer without points, with a best result of P11 in the third race at Le Castellet.

“A lot of things are different [between the two championships], the brakes are different, it’s also different to drive as we don’t have the same grip that the Pirelli tyres give,” he said. “In qualifying, you set your best time on your eighth lap [on Hankook tyres], while here you set it on your first or second lap. It’s a shame I got used to it a bit late, but I quite like it.”

The Brazilian driver continued, “I think we’ve improved a lot since the start of the season. “We didn’t have the best of starts, a bit away from our goals, but I think we’ve made improvements during this year and we have constantly been near the points in the last couple of rounds, that isn’t bad considering the level of competition in Spanish F4 but I aim to constantly be up there near the top 10 as that’s our main objective.”

When asked what his plans for the 2025 season were, Gomez said, “I honestly don’t know. I would really like to continue doing junior formulas, but we’ll see.”

Header photo credit: ACI Sport