Wins for Lawson and Zendeli at the Lausitzring

• Maiden victory for New Zealander Lawson; win number five for Zendeli
• Ido Cohen and David Schumacher are Best Rookies
• Joey Alders on pole position for third race

Lausitzring: Liam Lawson (16, New Zealand, Van Amersfoort Racing) for the first time and Lirim Zendeli (18, Bochum, US Racing - CHRS) for the fifth - these were the two talented youngsters who won the first two ADAC Formula 4 races of the weekend at the Lausitzring. While Lawson was still celebrating his maiden victory in Race 1 on Saturday morning, Zendeli further consolidated his lead in the overall standings with a fifth triumph in the eighth race. Best Rookies were Ido Cohen (16, Israel, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) in P8 in the first race and David Schumacher (16, Bergheim, USA Racing - CHRS) who finished seventh in the second race.

"It's nice to be back on top," said Zendeli, who was forced to retire from the morning contest while in the lead. "I've already put the first race behind me, and I'm now looking ahead. I aim to extend my championship lead further. At the moment, everything feels good. But, as we know, fortunes can suddenly change."

Zendeli comfortably completed a lights-to-flag victory in the afternoon race, followed across the line by New Zealander Lawson in second place and Oliver Caldwell (15, Great Britain, Prema Theodore Racing) in third. Fourth place went to Mick Wishofer (18, Austria, US Racing - CHRS) ahead of Charles Weerts (17, Belgium, Van Amersfoort Racing), Enzo Fittipaldi (16, Brazil, Prema Theodore Racing) and David Schumacher. Joey Alders (18, Netherlands, Van Amersfoort Racing), Lucas Alecco Roy (21, Monaco, Van Amersfoort Racing) and Leonardo Lorandi (17, Italy, KDC Racing) rounded off the Top Ten.

Zendeli dominant from the start - Second podium finish for Lawson

Zendeli laid the foundation for his fifth victory of the season at the start. The teenager from Bochum pulled away in the first few metres and thereafter steadily built an unassailable lead. Frederik Vesti (16, Denmark, Van Amersfoort Racing) did not have such a happy time of it. Having started from second place, the young Dane soon dropped back and was down to eighth after only the first lap. Shortly thereafter, he was obliged to park his Van Amersfoort race car.

Behind Zendeli, some thrilling duels for position were taking place. Caldwell, Wishofer and Lawson were chasing the pole-setter at a distance of just under two seconds. But following a collision between Andreas Estner (17, Germany, Neuhauser Racing) and rookie Gianluca Petecof (15, Brazil, Prema Powerteam) ten minutes before the end, the safety car had to come out on track, causing the field to bunch up again. But there was no way that Zendeli was going to surrender the victory, and he imperiously reasserted the lead after the restart. Lawson, however, took advantage of the short time left to improve from fourth to second place.

First race: Zendeli retires while in the lead

In the first race too, Zendeli looked to have the victory sewn up, but a technical fault forced him to retire shortly before the end. Lawson took the lead and secured victory in a tempestuous race ahead of Fittipaldi and Wishofer. Taking the chequered flag behind the top trio was guest starter Konsta Lappalainen (15, Finland, KIC Driving Academy) in fourth. Andreas Estner finished fifth ahead of Leonardo Lorandi and Aaron di Comberti (17, Great Britain, KDC Racing). Cohen followed in eighth place ahead of Schumacher in ninth. Weerts completed the Top Ten.

The afternoon race saw a collision between Schumacher and Weerts. Shortly thereafter, eight contestants skidded off the track due to a contaminated surface. They included Vesti, who at that point was lying second in the championship. The race was interrupted and restarted later with five minutes left on the clock. Zendeli initially claimed the lead before his breakdown allowed Lawson to get past and claim the win.

The third race weekend of the ADAC Formula 4 concludes with the third of the three races on Sunday morning (09:50 CEST). The reverse grid order applies, meaning that Zendeli has to start from eighth place, while Alders is promoted to pole position ahead of David Schumacher.

SPORT1 is showing the ADAC High-Speed Academy races on TV. They are also available as a livestream with English-language commentary on www.adac.de/motorsport, on the ADAC Formula 4 Facebook page and on www.youtube.com/adac.

Further comments on ADAC Formula 4 Saturday

Liam Lawson (winner of the first race, Van Amersfoort Racing): "I'm obviously feeling great! At the beginning I fell behind a bit, and at that stage, I thought that victory would be out of my reach. But in a race situation, anything is always possible. It was a bit lucky, but that doesn't matter - we were fast, and that's all that counts."

David Schumacher (Best Rookie in the second race, US Racing - CHRS): "It was a great race, and I'm very happy about winning the rookie classification. It allows me to extend my lead. I was a bit short on speed to keep up with the front-runners. Tomorrow's objective is once again to score points towards the rookie championship. And if that results in a podium, so much the better. But it won't be easy, because I have another rookie in front of me, so it could be tricky."