Maiden victory for Mick Schumacher in ADAC Formula 4

• Mick Schumacher wins in Oschersleben on his formula racing debut
• Schumacher’s team-mate Joey Mawson finishes second after exciting finale
• Schumacher: “I’m ecstatic, of course!"

Oschersleben. Great start in the ADAC Formula 4 for Mick Schumacher (16, GER,
Van Amersfoort Racing). The son of record Formula 1 world champion winner
Michael Schumacher won the third race in the etropolis Motorsport Arena
Oschersleben in front of more than 20,000 spectators at the weekend. The 16-yearold
is the first rookie to achieve a victory in the season opener of the new ADAC
High Speed Academy. After success in karting, Schumacher is contesting his first
season in formula racing for Van Amersfoort Racing this year.

“All in all, I’m really happy with this start to the season and look forward to the next
set of races,” said Schumacher, who had previously placed as best formula racing
rookie at this first ADAC Formula 4 race in Oschersleben. Van Amersfoort Racing
had two reasons to celebrate, as Schumacher’s team-mate Joey Mawson (19, AUS,
Van Amersfoort Racing) crossed the finish line behind him in second place, making
this a one-two victory for the well established Dutch team. Austrian driver Thomas
Preining (16, AUT, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) completed the party on the
podium in third place. This was the first podium finish in the ADAC Formula 4 for
the newcomer to formula racing with kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport.

Schumacher takes early lead

Schumacher laid the foundations for victory right at the start. He won through
against pole-setter Preining with a skilful overtaking manoeuvre after starting from
second place on the grid and went into the lead. Schumacher kept his nerve on the
re-start following a safety car period on the first lap, pulling out a lead of over a
second on Tim Zimmermann (18, GER, Neuhauser Racing), who was chasing hard
behind him. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé was beaten in a scrap for second
place with Mawson on Lap 8 and later forced to retire with a puncture.

Mawson, who had started from fifth place, began to hunt down Schumacher
towards the middle of the race. The Australian gained ground on his Van
Amersfoort Racing team-mate with every lap. Mawson took seven tenths of a
second out of Schumacher in the lead on the 15th lap. The 19-year-old was close
enough for his first attempt at overtaking on the following lap, but Schumacher
defended successfully. Mawson did not get another chance, because the race
ended behind the safety car when Benjamin Mazatis (17, GER, kfzteile24 Mücke
Motorsport) skidded off track.

Aron just misses third podium in Oschersleben

Ralf Aron (17, EST, Prema Powerteam) in fourth place behind Preining just missed
his third podium finish at Oschersleben. The Prema Powerteam youngster put in
another convincing performance and improved five places from ninth on the grid.
Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark) finished fifth at what constitutes a home fixture
for his team, Motopark.

Marvin Dienst (18, GER, HTP Juniorteam) benefited from the late safety car period
and managed to finish sixth despite a damaged front wing; the HTP Juniorteam
driver won the first two races at the debut weekend of the ADAC Formula 4. The
two Motopark drivers Michael Waldherr (18, GER, Motopark) and Jonathan Cecotto
(15, VEN, Motopark) finished eighth and ninth respectively behind Mattia Drudi (16,
ITA, SMG Swiss Motorsport Group).

Dienst travels to Red Bull Ring as overall leader

Dienst travels as championship leader to the second race weekend at the Red Bull
Ring in Austria (5th-7th June, 2015). On 58 points, he leads from Aron who has 45
points. Mawson is placed third overall in the standings with 38 points. Schumacher
heads the overall standings in the ADAC Formula 4 Rookie Cup with 65 points. He
has a lead of 17 points on Cecotto, the son of ex-Formula 1 and DTM driver and
former motorcycle world champion Johnny Cecotto.

Comments from the podium

Mick Schumacher (16, GER, Van Amersfoort Racing), winner:
“I’m ecstatic, of course! My first race weekend could not have gone better! We had
a good start, because my tyres were still fresh, and it went well from then on, apart
from at the end where things were close again. I was not too unhappy about the
safety car. All in all, I’m really pleased with this start to the season and look forward
to the next set of races.”

Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing), second:
“I’m very satisfied. A podium on my first weekend in the ADAC Formula 4 is perfect.
I got off to a really good start, and overtaking during the race was great fun. At the
end of the race, I was getting closer and closer to my team-mate Mick. But the
appearance of the safety car finally put paid to my chances. But I’m very happy with
Media information
second place and the one-two win for my team. The weekend could not have ended
on a better note.”

Thomas Preining (16, AUT, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), third:
“A podium on the first race weekend of the ADAC Formula 4 season is really a
perfect start to my formula racing career. I hardly had any opportunity to do any
testing over the winter break and have no prior experience of driving on the track at
Oschersleben. Consequently, just finishing in the points was our objective. But I’ve
now managed this twice, and it doesn’t get any better than capping it all off with a
podium. Having said that, though, my start was not optimal. Difficulties with the
clutch meant that I immediately lost a few positions. In addition, I had some minor
problems with the car on the first few laps. After that, I was able to reclaim third
place, but by then the two front-runners were too far away. The safety car gave me
hope again briefly, but unfortunately, the race ended behind it and an attack was
no longer possible.”