Mathilda Paatz announced as F1 Academy wild card in Montreal

F4 podium-finisher Mathilda Paatz has been announced as the fourth Wild Card entry of the 2025 F1 Academy season and will join the grid for the Canadian round in Montreal, in a Gatorade-sponsored entry.

Photo credits: F4 CEZ

Mathilda Paatz has been announced as the fourth Wild Card entry of the 2025 F1 Academy season and will join the grid for the Canadian round in Montreal. The 16-year-old German talent will line up with Hitech GP, alongside full-time drivers Aiva Anagnostiadis and Nicole Havrda, as the British team fields a Wild Card entry at every round this season.

The F1 Academy Wild Card initiative is designed to provide rising female talents or local prospects with a platform to showcase their skills on an international stage. Paatz follows in the footsteps of Shi Wei (Shanghai), Farah Al Yousef (Jeddah), and Ava Dobson (Miami), who were featured at earlier rounds. The program has already proven successful, with 2024 Wild Cards Nina Gademan, Ella Lloyd, and Alisha Palmowski earning full-time seats for the 2025 season.

"I am overwhelmed, in a positive sense," said Paatz before the weekend. “I've been working towards this moment for the last few months. Now a dream comes true. It's a surreal thought that millions of people around the world will watch me race and I'll be on the same track as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on the same weekend. But I am ready and convinced that I can make a lasting impression.”

One of the most promising young female drivers in mixed Formula 4 championships, Paatz is currently competing in the F4 Central European Zone (F4 CEZ), where she has enjoyed an impressive start to her sophomore single-seater campaign. At the Red Bull Ring season opener, she scored her first F4 points with a career-best ninth-place finish in Race 3.

Racing with her family-run Mathilda Racing team, her momentum continued into the second round at the same venue, where she claimed her first F4 podium with a second-place finish in Race 3. Paatz maintained her form into the third round at Salzburgring, where she demonstrated fighting spirit—recovering from a pit lane start in Race 1 to secure two top-five finishes across the weekend, bringing her tally to three top-five results in the season so far.

After a rookie season in French F4 in 2024, Paatz’s switch to the F4 CEZ has marked a positive step forward. Prior to her single-seater career, she built a reputation in international karting: in 2023, Paatz raced in the OK Senior category at both the FIA European and World Karting Championships and competed in the Champions of the Future Euro Series as part of Fernando Alonso’s junior team. She also earned a third-place finish in the ADAC Kart Masters and represented Germany at the FIA Motorsport Games.

Mathilda’s talent was further recognised through her selection as a Senior finalist in the FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars program, reaching the Junior finals in 2022. Ahead of her full 2025 campaign, she gained further experience in the Formula Winter Series, where she consistently finished in the top 20, with a best result of 14th at both Portimão and Barcelona.

As she prepares to make her F1 Academy debut in Montreal, Mathilda Paatz's entry will be sponsored by sport-themed bevarage Gatorade.