The knot has burst! Mathilda Paatz achieved her first top 10 result at the sixth round of the French Formula 4 Championship in Dijon. Although the 16-year-old from Cologne was only able to start the second race on Saturday from 20th position after an unfortunate qualifying session and an additional penalty, she fought her way up to tenth place in the course of the 20-minute race with a flawless performance. The ADAC Formula 4 Junior Team driver also made up a total of nine positions in the third race, impressively proving that she can definitely compete for the top positions in Formula 4.
The only disappointment came at the start of the sixth race weekend in Dijon, France: In an unfortunate qualifying session, in which Paatz made a mistake in the third sector on her fastest lap of all times, the 16-year-old only finished 17th on the grid, which meant that she once again had to start directly in the highly competitive midfield. Otherwise, another place in the top ten, as at the last race in Magny-Cours, would have been more than realistic. This took its revenge in the very first race, when Paatz was involved in a collision at the start shortly after the start, which led to her premature retirement.
The rider from Cologne was later found to be at fault, although she was hit on the rear wheel by an opponent and spun round, with the following competitor unable to avoid her and hitting the 16-year-old with full force on the rear. Due to an interesting decision by the stewards, Paatz was demoted three places on the grid for the second race, but she was not discouraged by this. ‘The incident was obviously annoying and the penalty was incomprehensible in my eyes, but these experiences are also part of racing,’ summarised the student, who quickly focused on the next race.
Due to the penalty, Paatz started the second race from 20th place this time, but she took every opportunity to fight her way forward. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégée showed thrilling duels with successful overtaking manoeuvres. On the last lap of the race, she overtook Kato Taito, the runner-up in the championship. The driver from Motorsport Team Germany chose a good line in the last corner and took full risk. This gave her more momentum going into the start-finish straight and left the Japanese driver just five hundredths of a second behind her in the end! ‘It was a really good race,’ said a delighted Paatz, who ultimately finished in tenth place to celebrate her first top 10 result. ‘I was able to gradually work my way forward with courageous manoeuvres. The first top 10 result of the season feels great, even if it unfortunately wasn't enough for points.’ Because in the second race, in which the ten best-placed drivers from qualifying start in reverse order, only the first eight drivers are rewarded with points.
Paatz presents herself as the queen of overtaking
In the third and final race, Paatz started from 26th on the grid and therefore not only had to contend with a difficult starting position, but also with several yellow flags and a safety car period, which made her race to catch up more difficult. Added to this was the controversial revenge foul by an opponent, whom Paatz had previously overtaken with a strong overtaking maneuver. He drove into the rear of the driver from Cologne and literally shot her down, for which he subsequently received a 10-second penalty, while Paatz lost three positions as a result of the maneuver. Nevertheless, the German Sports Drivers' Association protégée managed to rally again and ultimately move up to 17th place. “I was able to make up nine places again, which is a real success in these conditions,” said the 16-year-old, who showed herself to be an overtaking king in Dijon. “Even though more would certainly have been possible, I'm very satisfied with my performance.”
Overall, Paatz also looks back positively on the sixth weekend in Formula 4 France: “Once again, it was an instructive few days and I can see that I have improved significantly in many areas, especially in duels and my aggressiveness. Unfortunately, incidents like the accident in the first race can happen, but that's also part of the learning process. Now I'm looking forward to the season finale in Le Castellet. If qualifying goes better there, I can fully attack in the race.” The finale of the French Formula 4 Championship will take place at the Circuit Paul Ricard from October 4 to 6, 2024, where Paatz has another good chance of scoring her first points at the end of her debut season thanks to a steadily improving form curve.
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