Sebastian Vettel has been impressed with what he has seen so far. The four-time Formula 1 world champion began his career in junior formula series run by the ADAC and became the official patron of ADAC Formula 4 in its inaugural year.
Sebastian Vettel: "I've been impressed by the performance of the girls and boys during the course of the ADAC Formula 4 season. I've watched a lot of the races on TV and studied the results, and I've been surprised by the high standard of competition. I'm sure that the youngsters will once again be going full throttle in the grand finale at Hockenheim. After all, a good showing in ADAC Formula 4 is a convincing recommendation for recruitment to the higher echelons of the sport. It'll be interesting to see whether I eventually meet up with any of them in Formula 1."
Home race for title favourite Marvin Dienst
With its Parabolika, Spitzkehre and Motodrom, the Hockenheimring is the obvious choice of venue to stage the final three races of the ADAC Formula 4 season. And that will certainly suit the title favourite, for whom the Hockenheim represents a home race. Marvin Dienst (18, DEU, HTP F4 Junior Team UNGAR) has only a few kilometres to travel from his home town of Lampertheim. With seven wins and a total of 13 podiums - including nine in the last ten races - he arrives for the championship showdown topping the table.
"We start from a strong position, but despite my lead, nothing is decided yet," said Dienst. "There are still 75 points up for grabs in the last three races." Should everything go to plan, however, the 18-year-old will be absolutely delighted: "That would be a great success and a reward for all the hard work over the past few years. I've won races in the Formula BMW Talent Cup, the Formel ADAC and now in the ADAC Formula 4. All that's missing at the moment is a title."
Three-way fight for the championship
Dienst leads the championship standings on 310 points, but there are two further talented youngsters who will also fancy their chances of taking the title. Sweden's Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark) and Australia's Mawson Joey (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing) could still catch and overtake Dienst at the top.
Despite a 30-point deficit, second-placed Eriksson has not abandoned his championship aspirations. "On the last race weekend in Oschersleben, I won two of the three races," says the Motopark youngster. "It's a good feeling to be back on the top rung after having a few problems recently. We've shown what we are capable of when the package as a whole is working correctly. Marvin has a bit of a lead, but it is not impossible to make up 30 points. I want to win the title."
Dienst: Pressure not quite as intense
Dienst came under some pressure at the start of the season, having been identified as one of the favourites on account of his greater experience in formula racing, but he has coped with it well. In the season opener at Oschersleben, he immediately won the first two races of the new ADAC Formula 4. Five more victories followed later in the year. "Going into the season, I already felt some pressure. Fortunately, this became less intense after the double victory in the season opener." He is now looking forward to competing in front of his home crowd: "Hockenheim is very challenging. It's important to exit the corners optimally so that you carry through plenty of momentum onto the straights. The slipstream on the way down into Parabolika offers good overtaking opportunities."
Currently 54 points adrift of the leader, Van Amersfoort Racing team member Mawson has an outside chance of coming through to take the title on the final weekend. The team-mate of Mick Schumacher (16, DEU, Van Amersfoort Racing) is aiming to pounce, should the opportunity arise: "I'm feeling confident ahead of the season finale and will be simply focusing on notching up more podiums and winning races. The maths will be done at the end, and we'll see where we finish."
Crunch time in rookie championship
The excitement is also building in the rookie championship. In this classification, which is reserved for formula newcomers with no previous experience in automobile racing, the two main contenders are separated by just two points. Mike Ortmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) on 292 points has the edge over team-mate David Beckmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) on 290. Mick Schumacher, the son of record Formula 1 world championship winner Michael Schumacher is third on 240 points, which gives him a mathematical chance of winning the title.