Marvin Dienst wins Race 1 at the Sachsenring

• Marvin Dienst extends his lead in the ADAC Formula 4 championship
• Mick Schumacher on podium as best-placed rookie
• Dienst: "Four wins in five races - that's not bad going."

Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Marvin Dienst (18, DEU, HTP Junior Team) continues his run of victories in the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. The current championship leader won the opening race at the Sachsenring. This makes it four wins out of the last five for the HTP Junior Team squad member. His closest pursuer, Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark) finished as runner-up. ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Tim Zimmermann (18, DEU, Neuhauser Racing) completed the podium party in third place. Mick Schumacher (16, DEU, Van Amersfoort Racing) crossed the finish line in fifth and picked up the trophy for the best-placed rookie.

Starting from pole position, Dienst immediately found himself embroiled in a thrilling battle with title rival Eriksson, in which the Swedish youngster initially got the upper hand. However, Dienst stayed hot on his heels and on Lap 5 retook the lead. He then kept his cool during two subsequent safety car deployments to clinch the win. With the yellow flags coming out yet again just before the end, the race finished behind the safety car. Although Zimmermann never posed any danger to the leading duo over the course of the 19 laps, he secured his second podium of the season untroubled by the rest of the field.

Dienst extends overall lead

This victory for Dienst extends his lead in the championship. He tops the table on 219 points, with Eriksson 17 points behind in second place. Title contender Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing) just missed out on the podium this time in fourth place. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver holds on to third place in the championship on 185 points.

Schumacher stages a charge

Mawson's team-mate Mick Schumacher laid on a spectacular charge up field throughout the race. The son of record Formula 1 championship winner Michael Schumacher got off to an excellent start from twelfth place and immediately gained three positions. On the final lap, he skilfully avoided a collision and thereby improved on P8 by a further three places. Fifth place was Schumacher's best result since his victory in the season opener at Oschersleben.

Harrison Newey (17, GBR, Van Amersfoort Racing), the son of Red Bull Racing Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey, finished sixth, followed by the two rookies David Beckmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) and Mike Ortmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) in seventh and eighth respectively. This result saw Beckmann displace Ortmann at the head of the rookie standings. The 15-year-old has so far scored 199 points in the championship for youngsters with no previous auto racing experience. Ortmann is in second place on 197 points ahead of third-placed Schumacher who now has 182 points on the board.

Dienst on pole again

Championship favourite Dienst will again line up in pole position for the second race on Saturday (live on SPORT1+ at 15:40 CET). His two rivals for the title, Eriksson and Mawson, will be in grid positions two and three respectively.

Comments from the podium

Marvin Dienst (18, DEU, HTP Junior Team), Winner:
"Four wins in five races - that's not bad going. However, we have to keep our feet on the ground, because the championship is the target, and scoring points consistently is the main focus. I was a bit cautious at the start, but the pace was there from the very first metre. I didn't want to risk too much in a fight with Joel, as any damage to the car could have had an impact on today's second race. I positioned myself next to him and tried to stay there, so as to overtake him ultimately on the inside running through Turn 2. I pulled it off at the fourth attempt and was able to draw away a bit from that moment on. The safety car periods also helped me, and I was even able to nurse my tyres for the upcoming races."

Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark), Second:
"I'm pleased to be back on the podium again after a tough weekend at the Nürburgring. It soon became very clear to me that there wasn't much I could do against Marvin. I was struggling with understeer, and that had an impact on braking stability, which is why he was able to brake much later and then overtake me on the outside. I'm sure that we can sort these problems out before the second race. I've now lost a few points, but I'm not going to worry about that at the moment. It's not game, set and match until the end of the season."

Tim Zimmermann (18, DEU, Neuhauser Racing), Third:
"I'm very pleased with this podium. At the same time, unfortunately, it's been a long time coming - my last one was at the Red Bull Ring. We worked a lot on the car during the summer break and made good progress, even if we aren't quite able yet to fight for the lead. However, I still have to ask myself why things didn't go well last time out at the Nürburgring, and why we're now doing so well. We still have to get our heads around that. I tried long and hard in the race to attack Joel for second place, but it didn't work out. Anyway, the final safety car period then put paid to my chances."

Mick Schumacher (16, DEU, Van Amersfoort Racing), best-placed rookie:
"I got off to a good start and that was the basis for the race. My car was perfect throughout. Many thanks to my team for having done such a great job. We are back and we scored a good result in today's first race. I am very happy about this. Now it's all a matter of keeping calm for the remaining two races and getting the best result."