Championship leader Bearman will not be distracted from his goal: “To score more points”. Title rival Tramnitz travels with plenty of confidence and senses an opportunity. Penultimate race weekend of the season promises to be a thriller.

When ADAC Formula 4 returns to Hockenheim, it heralds the business end of the season. Championship leader Oliver Bearman (16, Great Britain, Van Amersfoort Racing) is looking to take the next step towards securing the title at the penultimate race weekend of the season. However, the chasing pack, led by Tim Tramnitz (16, Hamburg, US Racing), has its sights set on reeling in the British driver. With six races remaining, the championship is still wide open. The races on Saturday (12:00) and Sunday (09:40 and 14:15) will be broadcast on motorsport.tv and at adac.de/motorsport.

“It always feels good to come back to Hockenheim. It was here that I claimed my maiden victory in Formula racing in 2020, and I had good results here at the first event of this season,” says Oliver Bearman: “We are a very strong team. We want to back up our good results, continue to do our homework, and score points. There is still a long way to go.” The Brit has picked up 215 points so far this season, while ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Tim Tramnitz has 180 points to his name in second place. Tramnitz’s team-mate Luke Browning (19, Great Britain) is third with 144 points. As such, eyes are primarily on the battle between leader Bearman and his closest rival Tramnitz.

“The race weekend at the Sachsenring was excellent,” says the man from Hamburg, who claimed his first win of the season at the opening race weekend in Hockenheim in September. He then carried this momentum into the event at the Sachsenring. With a further two victories, last season’s top junior closed the gap to Bearman to 35 points. He will now be keen to keep the pressure on the championship leader when they return to the former German Formula 1 circuit. With six races remaining, it is still all to play for – and the tension is set to rise significantly in the deciding races. Tramnitz knows that strong nerves, consistency and concentration are what will ultimately decide the championship. As well as Tramnitz, Britain’s Bearman and Russian rookie Nikita Bedrin (15, Van Amersfoort Racing) also each won a race at the first Hockenheim event. All that is history now though. After the free practice sessions on Friday morning, the teams and drivers get down to business in the afternoon, with qualifying due to start at 16:45.