Mike David Ortmann (16, DEU, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) has won the first of the weekend's three ADAC Formula 4 races at the Sachsenring. It was the first victory in the junior formula series for the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé. "I'm simply overjoyed," said Ortmann. "It still hasn't sunk in. I suppose that only comes later. Things could not have gone better." In second place was Australia's Joey Mawson (20, Van Amersfoort Racing), who thereby extended his championship lead to 25 points. Pole-setter Kim Luis Schramm (18, DEU, US Racing) crossed the finish line in third place.
Ortmann overtook Schramm at the start and then retained the lead for the entire distance. While Mawson and Schramm were locked in a battle for second place, the 16-year-old steadily pulled out a gap of more than two seconds. The cushion was negated by a safety car deployment four minutes from the end of the race, but Ortmann nonetheless proceeded to an unchallenged victory. "After the final safety car period, I actually wasn't worried about it getting tight again," said the winner afterwards: "I knew that there wouldn't be another complete lap. So to that extent, the race was in the bag."
Aberdein takes pole for Race 3
Mick Schumacher (17, DEU, Prema Powerteam) finished fourth after starting from second on the grid. The son of record F1 championship winner Michael Schumacher was followed across the line by ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Jannes Fittje (16, DEU, US Racing). Fastest rookie on the day was Juan Manuel Correa (16, USA/ECU, Prema Powerteam) who finished sixth overall.
Jonathan Aberdein (18, ZAF) came home in tenth and therefore qualifies for pole position in the third race on Sunday (15:40, live on SPORT1+). Starting behind the Motopark youngster will be Kami Laliberté (16, CAN, Van Amersfoort Racing) and Aberdein's team-mate Simo Laaksonen (17, FIN). The grid for the third race is determined by the result of the first race, with the Top Ten starting in reverse order.
The starting positions for the second race on Sunday (11:15, live on SPORT1+) are allocated on the basis of the second-best lap times of the qualifying session. Mick Schumacher, currently second in the championship, had the edge here with a time of 01:19.148 minutes. He will start ahead of Mike David Ortmann and Jannes Fittje.
Further comments from the ADAC Formula 4 contestants:
Mike David Ortmann (winner, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.): "I immediately managed to place myself at the front from where I controlled the race, led the full distance and maintained a decent gap. Tomorrow, we are starting from P2. If I manage to get off to a similar start again, that would be really awesome. Our speed was good today. I'm optimistic that we will again be successful in that regard. The podium is our target in any case. To claim another win would, of course, be the highlight of the weekend."
Joey Mawson (second, Van Amersfoort Racing): "My target was to finish on the podium, which I managed to do. Kim put me under a lot of pressure, but I was able to keep him behind me. I am happy with the result. We've stayed ahead of our pursuers in the standings, and that's what really counts. Ideally, I'd like to be up there on the podium again tomorrow."
Kim Luis Schramm (third, US Racing): "I think it was my fault. My reaction time at the start wasn't good enough today. I think that I threw the win away. I haven't seen the time, but the first lap felt very fast. I was quicker than the others, but overtaking on this track is very tricky. I hope I can get away better in the race tomorrow. I'll be in fifth place on the grid, though. Let's see how it goes. The top positions and drivers are all on the same level. Again, that makes moving up the field even tougher."
Juan Manuel Correa (best rookie, Prema Powerteam): "It was a good race and I'm optimistic about the races tomorrow. The track is fast and technically very demanding, but it's fun driving here."