Mathilda Paatz made a successful start to the 2025 motorsport season with the first race weekend of the Formula Winter Series in Portimão, Portugal. The 16-year-old from Cologne is competing for AS Motorsport this year and gained valuable experience in the international starting field at the season opener. However, Paatz was unable to take part in the first day of testing due to illness, meaning that she started the race weekend without optimal preparation. Despite the difficult conditions, she still managed to perform creditably in the competition.
In the two qualifying sessions, however, his lack of experience and the fact that he had not yet fully recovered from his illness made themselves felt. With grid positions 24 and 22, Paatz did not have an ideal starting position for the races. However, the 16-year-old proved her fighting spirit in the first race: with consistently fast lap times and overtaking manoeuvres worth seeing, she made up ten places and crossed the finish line in 14th place - a promising result in a strong field of drivers.
The second race on Saturday afternoon was unfortunate: Paatz was already in a promising position when she was rudely pulled out of the race by a competitor. The rider from Cologne had no chance to avoid the crash and had to retire early. The race stewards punished the unsportsmanlike manoeuvre and penalised the perpetrator retrospectively, but this did not change anything for Paatz, as neither the lost result nor the valuable race kilometres can be recovered.
Paatz with right strategy on Sunday
The third race on Sunday was particularly challenging: in addition to the rainy conditions, a problem with the start lights caused the race to be interrupted immediately after the start. The field had to return to the pits after a few metres before the race was restarted. In consultation with her team, Paatz opted for rain tyres, even though the track was slowly drying out - a strategy that many competitors also chose and proved to be the right one. Despite the difficult conditions, Paatz fought her way forwards and finished in 18th place.
‘I was really looking forward to the weekend - finally back in the car and racing again,’ summarised Mathilda Paatz after the winter break. ‘It was all the more annoying that a severe bout of flu put me out of action at the start of the season. In the end, I'm still a bit satisfied. The data and the learning curve give me hope for a better weekend in Valencia, where I'm definitely aiming for a top ten result!’
After her debut season in the French Formula 4 last year, Paatz wants to gain further experience in the 2025 season together with AS Motorsport from Slovenia and take the next step in formula racing. The next Formula Winter Series race weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia (15 and 16 February 2025) is just two weeks away.
Write a comment