Victory for ADAC Formula 4 championship leader Mawson at Red Bull Ring

• Australian takes win from Ortmann and Nielsen
• Joey Mawson extends championship lead
• Mick Schumacher progresses from P33 on grid to P11

Spielberg: Championship leader Joey Mawson (20, Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing) secured his sixth win of the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. The Australian, who started from pole position, won the second race of the weekend on Sunday ahead of Mike David Ortmann (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) and rookie Nicklas Nielsen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing).

In the overall standings, Mawson now has 239 points on the board and has extended his lead further. Mawson’s closest pursuer, Mick Schumacher (17, Germany, Prema Powerteam), managed to finish eleventh after starting from 33rd on the grid. Despite this magnificent charge up the field, he finished just outside the points. His tally remains unchanged on 190, 49 adrift of former team-mate Mawson.

“The race was excellent, I’ve never felt so good on the track, and my pace was spot on,” said Mawson: “I must definitely stay calm and focused now. There are still ten races left, during which anything can happen.”

The leading trio of drivers were followed home by rookie Juri Vips (15, Estonia, Prema Powerteam), who already impressed on Saturday, Kim-Luis Schramm (19, Germany, US Racing) and ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Jannes Fittje (17, Germany, US Racing ). Making his return to ADAC Formula 4, Janneau Esmejer (19, Netherlands, Team Timo Scheider GmbH) placed seventh ahead of the three rookies Sebastian Fernandez Wahbeh (16, Venezuela, RB Racing SA), Jonathan Aberdein (18, South Africa, Motopark) and Lirim Zendeli (16 , Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg).

In bright sunshine, Mawson and local favourite Thomas Preining (18, Austria, Lechner Racing), winner of the first race on Saturday, got off to a perfect start. The pair quickly drew away by a few cars’ lengths, but the Austrian ran off the track and retired. Mawson did not allow the ensuing safety car period to upset his composure and drove to a comfortable victory after the restart.

Meanwhile, Mick Schumacher was working his way steadily through the field. The 17-year-old son of record Formula 1 championship winner Michael Schumacher, who is currently second in the championship, gained a total of 22 positions. He was ultimately unable to get past the tenth-placed car driven by Zendeli and had to settle for eleventh, just outside the points.

The 15th race of the season takes place this Sunday afternoon at the Red Bull Ring and will be shown live on SPORT1+. In this race, Simo Laaksonen (17, Finland, Motopark) starts from pole position, just ahead of Michael Waldherr (19, Germany, Lechner Racing) and rookie Felipe Drugovich (16, Brazil, Neuhauser Racing). Schumacher has booked P5 on the grid and Mawson P7.

Further comments on the ADAC Formula 4 race:

Joey Mawson (winner, Van Amersfoort Racing): “I had a terrific scrap with Thomas Preining at the start. Unluckily for him, he was then forced to retire. After that, I managed to control the race well. In the third race this afternoon, Mick and I will be starting quite close to each other on the grid, so that should be exciting.”

Mike David Ortmann (second, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.): “I lost a few positions at the start, but then I got back into my rhythm, overtaking people and exploiting errors. So in the end, I managed second place. I couldn’t have got any more out of this race. I probably lost too much time to Joey at the start. Overall, I’m satisfied with this second place. The track itself suits me fine – we were very fast here in the tests a few weeks ago. Now let’s see what we can do in the third race from fourth on the grid.”

Nicklas Nielsen (third place and Best Rookie, Neuhauser Racing): “I am very happy to be back on the podium. From eleventh place to third – simply fantastic! That goes for my Austrian-based team Neuhauser Racing too. I’m also feeling confident about the third race – the car is running really well here, and I’m aiming for another podium finish.”