Tales from the Red Bull Ring paddock

• Successful home race for Neuhauser Racing
• All races shown live on free-to-air channel SPORT1
• Joel Eriksson takes championship lead with double race win

Red Bull Ring: ADAC Formula 4 made its first excursion of the 2015 season outside the borders of Germany for the Red Bull Ring race weekend (5th - 7th June) in Austria. More than 10,000 spectators turned up to watch the three races contested by the juniors of the ‘ADAC High-Speed Academy’. SPORT1 showed all races live on free-to-air TV.

DTM star pays his respects: Austrian DTM driver Lucas Auer accepted an invitation to attend the ADAC Formula 4 at the Red Bull Ring. He presented the trophies to the winners of the first two races and also accompanied the juniors on their Saturday evening track walk. Auer’s own career began in formula racing, and he was clearly impressed by the new competition: “It’s great to see what they have put in place here. For me, it has to be the best entry level series in motorsport. A 15 or 16-year-old junior racer should get started in ADAC Formula 4 and then progress to Formula 3.”

Success in home race: Neuhauser Racing of Austria had a successful weekend at the Red Bull Ring, with Tim Zimmermann securing his team’s first podium of the season in Race 2. Team-mate Kim Luis Schramm also had cause for satisfaction, making good eight positions in the third race to finish sixth, his best result of the season so far.

Extensive TV coverage: Fans had their first opportunity to watch the ADAC Formula 4 action live on free-to-air TV. All three races of the ADAC High Speed Academy at the Red Bull Ring were also broadcast live on SPORT1+. On Saturday and Sunday, fans were able to enjoy more than six and a half hours’ live coverage of ADAC Formula 4 and the ADAC GT Masters on SPORT1.

Swedish triumph in Austria: Joel Eriksson made his mark on the Red Bull Ring weekend, winning the first two races. The Motopark youngster returns to Sweden leading the championship. “To be number one in the standings is an incredible feeling and makes me really proud,” said the 17-year-old. “I will obviously try to retain the lead and build on it when the next race weekend comes around.”

Joint excursion: The ADAC Formula 4 drivers went for a track walk together on Saturday evening. The talented juniors were accompanied by ADAC Motorsport officials and race stewards on a relaxed stroll around the Red Bull Ring. Whereas every lap of every race is keenly contested, this was an opportunity for the youngsters to get to know each other better in a relaxed atmosphere. The walk ended with a group photo in the pit lane.

Major TV coverage: Viewers in millions of households were given an in-depth insight into the world of ADAC Formula 4. On Sunday 7th May, directly after the Formula 1 race from Canada, RTL’s respected Spiegel TV Magazin broadcast a report on Carrie Schreiner. A TV crew followed the 16-year-old on her debut weekend at the Red Bull Ring. There were also scenes from her home life and from her pre-season preparations: “Single-seater racing is a new world for me. Being filmed by a camera crew was a great experience and also makes me proud. I was quite excited when the report about me was shown immediately after the Formula 1 race.”

Smile please: Tim Zimmermann is not only a racing driver but also a young entrepreneur. This season, the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé has come up with an interesting project. Fans can ‘immortalise’ themselves by having their photo imprinted on Zimmermann’s Neuhauser Racing car and thus feel vicariously involved in the race experience. “I even have photos of pets and godchildren on my car,” says Tim. A similar scheme has been tried before: in 2012, the Formula 1 team Red Bull sent out one of their cars with 25,000 fan photos displayed on it.