Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark) clinched the runner-up spot in the championship the last race of the 2015 ADAC Formula 4 season. In the third of the three races at the Hockenheimring, the Swedish youngster completed a charge up the field from 14th on the grid to finish on the podium. Third place was enough for Eriksson to stay above race winner Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing) in the championship table. After claiming his fifth win of the season, the Van Amersfoort Racing team member remains third in the overall standings, albeit by a narrow two-point deficit on Eriksson.
David Beckmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) rounded off his strong weekend with a P2 finish in front of the 18,000 fans who had come through the gates of the famous track in Baden-Württemberg. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé made a podium appearance after all three races and also won the rookie championship ahead of time on Saturday afternoon.
Mawson cruises serenely to start/finish victory
"I just missed finishing runner-up in the championship, unfortunately," said Mawson after his start/finish victory. "Still, I can't blame myself, because it was simply not possible to achieve more than first place." In an action-packed race with one red flag incident and two safety car periods, the Van Amersfoort driver led throughout and always kept his nerve.
Meanwhile, the positions behind Mawson were hotly contested. Michael Waldherr (19, DEU, Motopark) and Tim Zimmermann (19, DEU, Neuhauser Racing) skidded off track on the penultimate lap while scrapping for second place and dropped down the field. Their two pursuers, Beckmann and Eriksson, benefited, as they moved up into second and third place respectively as a result. The incident brought out the safety car, which resulted in the race finishing under yellow flags. Janneau Esmeijer (18, NLD, HTP F4 Junior Team UNGAR) ended a problematic weekend in fourth place. The HTP F4 Junior Team UNGAR driver started the race from P20 on the grid.
Schumacher stages best charge up field
Mick Schumacher (16, DEU, Van Amersfoort Racing) gained even more positions than Esmeijer. The son of record Formula 1 championship winner Michael Schumacher started from 27th place on the grid and crossed the finish line in P7. Ahead of him, Kim Luis Schramm (18, DEU, Neuhauser Racing) and Harrison Newey (17, GBR, Van Amersfoort Racing), the son of the legendary Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey, booked fifth and sixth place respectively. With Kami Laliberté (16, CAN, Van Amersfoort Racing), all four drivers fielded by Van Amersfoort Racing came home in the Top Eight. The two Jenzer Motorsport juniors, Marek Böckmann (18, DEU, Jenzer Motorsport) and Moritz Müller-Crepon (18, CHE, Jenzer Motorsport) completed the Top Ten on Sunday afternoon.
After an accident on the second lap, the red flag was waved and the race was brought to a halt. The interruption was triggered by a collision between newly crowned champion Marvin Dienst (18, DEU, HTP F4 Junior Team UNGAR), Job van Uitert (16, NLD, Provily Racing) and Nikolaj Rogivue (19, CHE, Nikolaj Rogivue). The three drivers were unhurt but in no fit state to continue the race which then restarted behind the safety car, with the clock being reset for a further duration of 20 minutes.
Championship titles for Dienst and Beckmann
Dienst had already wrapped up the 2015 ADAC Formula 4 championship in the first of Saturday's two races. The HTP F4 Junior Team UNGAR driver finishes the debut season of the ADAC Formula 4 on 347 points. Runner-up Eriksson has 299 points, just ahead of Mawson on 297. The first three positions in the rookie classification went to Beckmann on 396 points, Mike Ortmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) on 327 and Schumacher on 290.
Comments from the podium
Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing), Winner: "The season couldn't have ended better than with this win. I just missed finishing runner-up in the championship, unfortunately. Still, I can't blame myself, because it was simply not possible to achieve more than first place. Besides, Joel had a really great race and thoroughly deserved his second place in the championship. Conditions were very tricky, because it was quite damp off the racing line and on the kerbs. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much driving, but the pace of my car was brilliant once again, so many thanks to the team for that."
David Beckmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), Second: "This second place is a good conclusion to an almost perfect weekend. I finished on the podium in all the races and was best-placed rookie every time. Conditions in the last race were mixed, making things quite tricky. However, I gained a lot of positions at the start and quite quickly worked my way up into fifth place. I'm very satisfied with this result but would have liked to have won, so as to move up into fourth place in the championship. Still, fifth place in the overall standings is an excellent result for me as a rookie."
Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark), Third: "Third place and runner-up in the championship make a really good end to the season. I got off to a good start and gradually worked my way forwards. I had a scrap with Mawson's team-mate Laliberté. When I finally passed him, the next opponent, Newey, was waiting to be picked off. He changed his line frequently, but I could get him to make a mistake and overtake. In the end, I benefited a little from errors made by the guys in front and can now feel pleased with my podium in the last race of the season."