Tales from the Spa-Francorchamps paddock

• FIA president Jean Todt pays visit to ADAC Formula 4
• Record DTM championship winner Bernd Schneider joins podium party to present trophies
• Three young women challenge an otherwise all-male field

Spa-Francorchamps. On the weekend of 19th to 21st June, the legendary Formula 1 track of Spa-Francorchamps played host to the second excursion by ADAC Formula 4 beyond the borders of Germany. Around 4,000 fans turned up to watch the three races contested by the youngsters of the ADAC High-Speed Academy. SPORT1 showed all the action live on free-to-air TV.

Jean Todt visits: On the third race weekend of the 2015 ADAC Formula 4 season, the talented youngsters were honoured by the presence of a special guest. FIA president Jean Todt travelled to Spa to get an insight into the new formula series for juniors organised by the ADAC. "With Formula 4, we wanted to institute an intermediate class between karting and Formula 3," said Todt. "For young drivers, this is an excellent entry into single-seater racing." The contestants had the opportunity to meet the FIA President in person on the famous Eau Rouge corner for a group photo. Todt inspected the grid on Saturday and Sunday before watching the races live.

Prominent podium ceremony: A familiar face from the DTM put in a guest appearance on the ADAC Formula 4 podium. Having just finished his own race in the ADAC GT Masters, Bernd Schneider attended the prize-giving ceremony for Race 2. The five-time DTM champion presented Joel Eriksson with the second of his winner's trophies that weekend.

Sensational debut: At Spa-Francorchamps, ADAC Formula 4 welcomed a new talent: Lando Norris who comes from the UK and has been signed by kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport was competing in the series for the first time. He immediately made a big impression, finishing on the podium in two out of the three races. "A win, a podium and a P4 finish: My first ADAC Formula 4 weekend could hardly have gone any better, especially as I've never competed at Spa-Francorchamps before," said the delighted 15-year-old.

Girl power to the power of three: ADAC Formula 4 is playing a major role in encouraging young women into the sport. At Spa-Francorchamps, there were three female drivers in the line-up for the very first time: Michelle Halder, Marylin Niederhauser and Carrie Schreiner "Being able to compete here at Spa-Francorchamps is very special," said Halder, who enjoyed some on-track battles with Niederhauser. "The wheel-to-wheel action with Marylin was exciting. We girls are not afraid of the boys, and we don't do each other any favours."

Formula 1 star designer at trackside: Adrian Newey was yet another celebrity visitor spending the weekend at Spa. The British designer of Sebastian Vettel's F1 world championship-winning car was on there on private business, however. His son Harrison is competing in the ADAC Formula 4 as a member of the Van Amersfoort Racing squad. Newey watched the race from the team garage and was delighted to see Harrison secure fifth place in the second race, his best finish of the season so far.

ADAC Formula 4 on front row: At Spa, the young drivers were amazed to discover that their teams had been allocated garages on the start/finish straight. "This feels a bit like in Formula 1," said Jenzer Motorsport driver David Kolkmann. "Especially with the rainy weather, the garages were a popular place to hang out."

Role models in the paddock: Over the weekend, the ADAC Formula 4 drivers had a glimpse of their potential future career in motorsport. The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was contested as part of the ADAC GT Masters programme for the first time. Five drivers who started out in Formel ADAC (the predecessor to the current ADAC Formula 4) are competing in the high-class junior series this year. The 2014 champion Mikkel Jensen (20, DEN, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) and runner up Maximilian Günther (17, GER, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) are among them.