By the time the FIA formalised its junior ladder with a strictly regulated pathway toward Formula 1, Prema was already a proven powerhouse in Italian and European Formula 3. The establishment of national Formula 4 championships — governed by FIA regulations but run with production-based Abarth-derived or equivalent engines — gave Prema a natural lower rung to add to its portfolio. The team entered the Italian Formula 4 Championship from its inaugural season in 2014, complementing its existing operations in F3, GP2, and Formula Renault.
Prema's entry into Italian F4 delivered instant success. The team won the first two editions of the Italian Formula 4 Championship: the inaugural title went to Lance Stroll, the Canadian teenager who was already attracting attention from multiple Formula 1 programmes before his career arc eventually took him to Formula 1 with Williams and later Aston Martin. The second title was won by Ralf Aron, continuing a pattern in which Prema's young drivers outpaced the field with the team's organisational resources and driver coaching.
Prema maintained a strong presence in Italian F4 in subsequent years. In 2019, the team challenged for both the drivers and teams championships but finished second in both, beaten comprehensively by Van Amersfoort Racing and Norwegian driver Dennis Hauger. Hauger's dominance that year highlighted that, while Prema remained a frontrunner, Italian F4 had grown increasingly competitive with other well-resourced teams arriving at the category.
Beyond Italy, Prema extended its Formula 4 operations to the ADAC Formula 4 series in Germany, running dual programmes across the Italian and German championships simultaneously. This multi-series approach is characteristic of how the team has historically operated — fielding large driver lineups across different territories within the same regulatory category — and allowed Prema to develop more drivers each year than would be possible in a single-championship structure.
The ADAC F4 programme brought additional Ferrari Driver Academy and Red Bull Junior prospects under the Prema banner, reflecting the team's status as a preferred development partner for multiple Formula 1 junior schemes. Drivers such as Enzo Fittipaldi and Gianluca Petecof were among those who raced in the dual F4 programme during the late 2010s.
Prema's Formula 4 operations are best understood as part of the team's broader pipeline function rather than as a standalone championship effort. The team regularly graduates drivers from its F4 roster into its Formula Regional European Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship entries, maintaining continuity of coaching staff and team environment across the ladder. Several drivers who arrived at Formula 1 — including Mick Schumacher, Oscar Piastri, and Charles Leclerc — passed through Prema at different levels of the junior ladder, and in many cases the foundations of those careers were laid at F4 level with the team's Italian or German programmes.
The team also operated in the Formula 4 UAE Championship and Formula 4 South East Asia Championship, further broadening the number of territories and drivers it could engage as part of its global scouting and development activity.
Prema's Formula 4 record is inseparable from its wider claim to be the most successful team in junior single-seater racing history over the 2010s and 2020s. By winning the inaugural Italian F4 title and maintaining consistent championship-level competition across multiple national F4 series, the team demonstrated that its organisational model — large driver lineups, F1 junior programme partnerships, and a structured internal development culture — translated all the way down to the entry level of professional single-seater racing. The F4 programmes have functioned as a reliable pipeline feeding Prema's own higher-category entries and, ultimately, the Formula 1 grid.