Clara Stiebleichinger and Paige Raddatz end Indian F4 season with points
- RACERS
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
Single seater rookies Paige Raddatz and Clara Stiebleichinger secured top-ten results at the final round of the 2025 Indian Formula 4 Championship at Madras, again showing potential in a season that saw the Austrian end as the top female entry in the championship standings, while the Australian soon emerged as strong contender despite joining the season midway through.
The revised 2025 Indian Formula 4 Championship concluded with its fifth and final round at the Chennai International Raceway, returning to the Madras circuit for a one-day event on a shortened layout. The season finale featured three female drivers on the entry list, in a continued participation in the series.
Annabel Kennedy, who earlier in the year became the first woman to stand on the podium in Indian F4, was joined by Clara Stiebleichinger and Paige Raddatz. Stiebleichinger has enjoyed a positive rookie campaign in her first season of circuit racing, consistently showing progress and flashes speed even top-five worthy. Raddatz, meanwhile, joined the championship midway through the year but made an immediate impression, adapting quickly from karting and demonstrating strong racecraft and competitiveness throughout her appearances.
The final round began with a morning practice session led by Ishaan Madesh. Paige Raddatz impressed early, setting the eighth-fastest time with a 59.667 lap, placing her comfortably inside the top ten. Clara Stiebleichinger followed closely with the tenth-fastest time at 59.826, while Annabel Kennedy ended the session 13th with a 1:00.246.
Qualifying saw Shane Chandaria secure pole position with a 58.613 lap. Raddatz qualified 11th with a 59.406, narrowly ahead of Stiebleichinger in 12th on a 59.470. Unfortunately, issues prevented Kennedy from completing a timed lap, ruling her out of both races.
Race 1 saw Raddatz start from 11th and Stiebleichinger from 12th, with Kennedy unable to take the start. A clean launch was followed by an early Safety Car after Saishiva Sankaran ran into the grass on lap one. Racing resumed with 16 minutes remaining, and Raddatz immediately made a stunning opening lap, charging up to eighth place. Stiebleichinger also made progress, moving into 11th after overtaking Enzo Rujugiro.
Raddatz then applied pressure to Ishaan Madesh ahead, while maintaining a safe margin to Kyriakou behind, showing strong race management. Stiebleichinger, meanwhile, found herself defending from the recovering Mabunda, who eventually found a way through on lap 10. A retirement for Ghazi Motlekar on lap 17 promoted Stiebleichinger back into 11th, and she began closing in on Motlhabani in a late push for the top ten.
Up front, Sachel Rotgé took victory after sustained pressure from Chandaria, who finished second and secured the Indian F4 championship title. Raddatz crossed the line in seventh, delivering a highly positive on-track result, while Stiebleichinger finished just two tenths shy of the top ten in 11th.
Post-race penalties, however, altered the classification. Raddatz was penalized and dropped from seventh to 11th, while Stiebleichinger was promoted to tenth, scoring a valuable championship point.
The final race of the season saw Raddatz line up 10th and Stiebleichinger 11th. At the start, Raddatz once again made an excellent launch, immediately climbing to eighth, while Stiebleichinger struggled off the line and dropped to 13th.
The Australian then became embroiled in a series of battles with Mabunda, trading positions as Veer Sheth encountered issues and pitted from the top ten. Incidents and off-track moments further up the order kept up the drama, and Stiebleichinger began her recovery drive, moving up to 12th before breaking into the top ten by lap eight.
By lap ten, Stiebleichinger was running strongly in ninth, directly behind Raddatz, with the pair separated by just a few tenths. Raddatz recorded 1:00.0 lap times, while Stiebleichinger was marginally quicker, staying within half a second as Motlhabani joined the fight.
As Enzo Rujugiro dropped down the order, both drivers gained another position with five minutes remaining. Despite sustained pressure, Raddatz and Stiebleichinger managed to fend off Motlhabani and maintained their close duel to the chequered flag. Raddatz finished seventh on the road, just two tenths ahead of Stiebleichinger in eighth, concluding the season with strong top-ten results for both drivers.
Once again, however, a post-race penalty reshuffled the final classification; a jump start penalty dropped Raddatz to ninth, marking nevertheless her fourth points-scoring finish in Indian F4. Clara Stiebleichinger was promoted to seventh, securing another strong result and finishing the season with 40 points and 11th overall in the drivers’ standings - the highest-placed female driver in the championship - with Kennedy unable to start the final round.
The Chennai finale showed potential and progress for both drivers, with Paige Raddatz’s rapid adaptation on display and Clara Stiebleichinger’s consistency making for an encouraging first single seater campaign for both rookies, looking ahead to their next steps in race cars.
