"I am happy with the weekend, we have improved in the areas we focused on" - Tina Hausmann marginally missed out on her first points, still securing her best weekend to date in F4, with a best ever qualifying and elbows-out battles in Monza.
Tina Hausmann enjoyed her best ever result to date in F4 at the second round of the new Euro 4 Championship in Monza, where the Swiss racer finished eleventh in race 1, one step away from claiming her first points in her rookie season in race cars.
Hausmann, who competes under the banner of AKM Motorsport, has shown impressive development from the start of the Italian F4 season - arguably the most competitive F4 series globally. The 16 year old made her formula debut in February, collecting a remarkable podium in Formula Winter Series; her campaign continued in the prestigious Italian F4, where Hausmann started the season on a high, with a promising weekend in Imola, followed by some unlucky rounds - which nevertheless always provided her with opportunities to learn and improve.
Her learning-oriented season was also marked by improved qualifying results and a strong weekend at Paul Ricard, where she charged through the field to secure her best finish to date. With a best result of 17th in Mugello, Hausmann also made her first appearance in the all-new Euro 4 Championship, which returned to action in Monza in mid-September.
Hausmann built speed through the sessions, after a wet first practice wasn't very representative of the conditions for the rest of the weekend. Things got serious in qualifying - and Tina was at the top of her game in Q1, when she outperformed all her AKM teammates and secured her best qualifying result in P16 after the first 15 minutes.
The competitive nature of the series and the high speed track layout meant that Tina was barely a second off pole position, claimed by reigning Ginetta Junior champion Freddie Slater, at his debut in the series.
Race 1
A brilliant getaway for Tuukka Taponen resulted in the Finnish driver attacking his teammate Slater - but the two Premas ended up gifting a chance to US Racing's Kacper Sztuka, as a few cars cut through the chicane at Turn 1. From P16, Tina Hausmann initially had a superb start and had picked up a couple of positions but was shuffled back at the second chicane when she was off in the gravel and dropped to P19.
On the second lap, an accident for Bhirombhakdi brought out the first safety car, following a big off at Parabolica for the PHM Racing driver. As the Safety Car was deployed, Sztuka led Taponen and Slater, with Hausmann P19. The race was back under green with 19 minutes to go - and it was carnage once again in the mid pack: Ismal Akhmed crashed into the back of Giacomo Pedrini at Turn 1, triggering again the pace car.
At the restart, Hausmann battled hard with Peebles and Frederick and picked up a couple of positions, just as the front runners traded places at the top. Slater managed to snatch first place back from Sztuka and Ugochukwu, but Taponen hit trouble and had to pit.
Hausmann continued to recover and had Aurelia Nobels right in her mirrors, as the two female drivers of the championship ran in P17 and P18. Hausmann overtook Peebles on lap 9 and grabbed back her starting position after the challenging first lap, then further improved one lap later with yet another pass on Olivieri.
A contact between Prema’s teammates Slater and Ugochukwu meant the end of the stunning debut for the Briton; from the Italian team’s skirmishes, Sztuka came out on top, with a few tenths’ gap over Ugochukwu and Lindblad. Ugochukwu later received a penalty that promoted Wharton to the third step of the podium.
Among all the chaos, Tina Hausmann had a superbly consistent race and made up positions after positions: on lap 13, the Swiss driver was starting to knock on the doors of the top-10 in P12. Hausmann chased her AKM Motorsport’s teammate and Red Bull-junior Enzo Deligny: Tina reduced the gap, but couldn’t eventually catch the Frenchman and crossed the finish line in a brilliant P12. While that would have already been her best ever finish in Formula 4, her result further improved following a penalty for Brando Badoer, which promoted Hausmann to eleventh in Race 1.
Race 2
From 18th on the grid, Hausmann would attempt to carry momentum into race 2, having shown great fighting spirit and race craft at the challenging Temple of Speed.
At lights out on Sunday morning, Kacper Sztuka kept the lead from Arvid Lindblad, while Freddie Slater moved up to third, passing Akshay Bohra at turn 1.
Tina took an aggressive line around the outside of the first chicane but had to give up one position to Frederick Lund at the second chicane. On the second lap, Hausmann fought back and attempted to overtake the Van Amersfoort Racing driver at the first chicane; the two made light contact and while she lost out to Deligny, she kept it on track and continued to battle elbows out in the top-20.
Ahead, Lindblad went side by side with Sztuka for the lead, but the Polish star held on.
A massive crash at the first chicane saw Alfio Spina slowing down with a broken rear suspension and was eventually collected by Enzo Deligny, Flavio Olivieri, Davide Larini and Aurelia Nobels, who ended her race upside down in a scary shunt. Aurelia luckily climbed out of the car and was assisted by the medical team, as the safety car was promptly deployed.
While Tina Hausmann initially avoided the accident, she dropped all the way down to P24 when the race resumed for the final 7 minutes. Chaos broke loose when a safety car board was mistakenly displayed; half the field slowed down, causing the order to be shuffled: Freddie Slater took the lead, followed by Wharton and Ugochukwu. Sztuka was down to seventh, in an unbelievable development that forced another neutralization.
Hausmann charged back to P20 at the restart and tried to recover further on the hectic final lap; Ugochukwu and Wharton made contact at the second chicane, leaving Freddie Slater in a comfortable lead. The Briton took his rookie win in F4 at his first race, in a Prema Racing 1-2-3. The result, though, remains frozen, as the safety car incident will require the intervention of the Federation.
Hausmann had a spectacular final lap and crossed the finish line in P16, having gained 8 places after the restart. The result, though, remains provisional.
Race 3
Drivers had one more contest in the afternoon to make up for the second race and Tina Hausmann lined up once again in P18 for the final race of the weekend.
Freddie Slater led Akshay Bohra at the start, after pole sitter Kacper Sztuka stalled at lights out. Hausmann was smart in avoiding troubles, albeit she dropped to 20th over the first lap, amidst fierce battles across the field.
On lap 2, Ugochukwu locked up his front wheels and hit teammate Wharton at the first chicane; the Australian was out of the race and the accident triggered the safety car.
At the restart, Tina Hausmann moved up to P16, in a great recovery for the Swiss driver that avoided contacts and kept picking up positions, also demoting Peebles on lap 4.
Ugo Ugochukwu was handed a drive through penalty for the contact with Wharton and dropped down the order; Hausmann battled with the recovering Kacper Sztuka and Nicola Lacorte, holding her own among the highly competitive field of Euro 4.
Slater and Lindblad traded positions at the front and the Ginetta Junior champion regained the top spot on lap 8. Brando Badoer (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Akshay Bohra (US Racing) also joined the fight for the lead. Sztuka's day went from bad to worse when he picked up a puncture and a broken front wing that effectively resulted in a retirement for the second-placed driver in the championship.
Hausmann meanwhile had moved up to P17 and continued to close in on Frederick Lund. There was more drama when Lindblad and Slater came together at the Roggia chicane on lap 12, and the infamous Monza sausage kerb claimed another car: Slater’s Tatuus took off on the kerb and ended its race into the tyre wall, bringing out the safety car.
The race resumed for one final lap: Brando Badoer had a perfect restart and attacked Lindblad at turn 1, but the Italian then cut the chicane and had to hand back the top spot to the Red Bull junior, who ultimately took the race win.
Tina Hausmann had a solid restart and while she initially kept P16, she was beaten across the line by Daryanani and Sarrazin, rounding out her weekend with a still very positive P18 finish.
"I am happy with the weekend, we have improved in the areas we focused on", Tina told us. "A good qualifying and P11 in the first race - the hard work has paid off", she continued. "Let’s continue working in that direction. The team did an amazing job."
With a brilliant first race and three races out of three in the top 20, Hausmann is clearly displaying big improvements weekend after weekend. Having barely missed out on points in race 1, she will try to reach that achievement in the remaining rounds of Italian F4, which resumes after the summer break at Mugello in two weeks' time.