New champion Mawson celebrates latest victory at Hockenheim

• Newly crowned ADAC Formula 4 champion wins ahead of Preining and Laliberté
• Zendeli overcomes difficult conditions to win Best Rookie class
• Second ADAC Formula 4 season ends on Sunday

Hockenheim: First race as champion and the latest in a string of victories. The freshly crowned ADAC Formula 4 champion, Joey Mawson (20, Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing), also took the win in the second fixture at the Hockenheim finale. The 20-year-old crossed the finish line ahead of Thomas Preining (18, Austria, Lechner Racing) and Kami Laliberté (17, Canada, Van Amersfoort Racing) in a race that was characterised by difficult rainy conditions and included a long stoppage and safety car period.

Joey Mawson: “I got away quite well and was able to keep clear of the incidents behind me as a result, but I could see in my mirrors, how tight things were. It was really very difficult and slippery, also after the restart on the wet track. You never know what might happen in such circumstances.”

Completing the Top Ten were Simo Laaksonen (18, Finland, Motopark), the two rookies Lirim Zendeli (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) and Jonathan Aberdein (18, South Africa, Motopark), ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Jannes Fittje (17, Germany, US Racing), championship runner-up Mick Schumacher (17, Germany, Prema Powerteam), rookie Felipe Drugovich (16, Brazil, Neuhauser Racing) and Oliver Söderström (18, Sweden, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.).

Several spins and contacts led to the race being stopped as rain began to fall. After a break of nearly 15 minutes, the race was eventually restarted behind the safety car. However, it soon had to come back out, when there was a collision a few metres further down the track between the rookies Juan Manuel Correa (17, USA/Ecuador, Prema Powerteam), Andreas Estner (16, Germany, RS Competition) and Fabio Scherer (17, Switzerland, Jenzer Motorsport). The race finally ended behind the safety car.

The second season of the ADAC High Speed Academy ends on Sunday with the 24th and final race at 15:00 CEST. It will be shown live on SPORT1. Kim-Luis Schramm (19, Germany, US Racing), who placed tenth in the first race, will be in pole position. Mawson will line up tenth on the grid.

Further comments on the ADAC Formula 4 race

Joey Mawson (winner and champion, Van Amersfoort Racing): “It’s slowly dawning on me that I’m champion. Our next target is to win the team championship – our double podium was of course extremely important for that.”

Thomas Preining (second, Lechner Racing): “That wasn’t an easy race. You had to stay calm, despite all the interruptions. There was definitely no room for error, and Joey was simply better today.”

Kami Laliberté (third, Van Amersfoort Racing): “Although it started to rain, I was coping quite well. Around me, quite a few cars were going into a spin, but the red flag was not really good for my race. I can feel satisfied with third place. Tomorrow, I’m also starting from third, and I want to show that I deserve my result.”

Lirim Zendeli (fifth and Best Rookie, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.): “The race was unfortunately very short. Here at Hockenheim, I have very little experience of driving in these conditions, so I’m quite satisfied to be Best Rookie. There has been a clear progression this year – I’ve been getting better and more consistent.”