Mathilda Paatz achieved her best result in the French Formula 4 Championship with a top-10 finish at Dijon-Prenois, showcasing her improved racecraft and consistency as she gained 20 positions across the final two races of the weekend.
Mathilda Paatz achieved her best ever result in the French Formula 4 Championship with a top-10 finish at Dijon-Prenois. The young German racer has experienced an upturn in form during the middle portion of her rookie season and enjoyed her strongest drive to date from 20th on the grid. Showing both speed and racecraft throughout the event, Paatz also charged through from 26th position in race three to finish in 17th.
Paatz took a significant step forward in performance at the previous round of championship at Magny-Cours. Racing inside the top-10 for the first time in her French Formula 4 Championship career, the German racer benefited from a season’s best qualifying effort to develop her racecraft among some of the leading drivers in the series.
This translated into a best finish of 12th, usurping her previous highest finish of 16th which she had achieved on two occasions. Making her debut at Dijon-Prenois, the high-speed circuit provided further opportunities for Paatz to develop her skills in her debut season of single seater competition.
On-track action began on Thursday with a number of short test sessions ahead of three races across the weekend. Paatz’s best result of the day came in the final session where she set the 19th fastest time, just half a second away from the top-6 to underline the competitive nature of the French Formula 4 Championship.
Prior to qualifying on Friday, the drivers were given a final 30-minute practice session with Paatz improving once again to end the session in 16th position with a best time of a 1:18.642.
Qualifying took place on Friday afternoon and the times set would form the grid for the trio of races to follow. Paatz was consistently holding down a midfield position during the session and her fastest lap of a 1:17.636 was over a second quicker than her quickest effort from earlier in the day. Mathilda’s qualifying time placed her 17th, just three-quarters of a second away from polesitter Taito Kato and half a second away from a top-5 starting spot as the field remained extremely close at Dijon-Prenois.
Paatz lined up on the ninth row of the grid for the opening race of the weekend and was looking to move forward. Misfortune struck at the first turn as she was involved in an incident with Tom Le Brech and Paul Roques which caused damage to the car. Although Mathilda was able to bring her machine back to the pits, the repair required was substantial and therefore she was forced to retire from the race.
After the unfortunate end to race one, Paatz was looking to bounce back in the second race of the weekend which took place on Saturday afternoon. The German racer made a brilliant start and gained four positions on lap one to move up from 20th to 16th as the safety car was deployed.
When the race resumed, Paatz was immediately focusing forward and move ahead of both Chester Kieffer and Romeo Leurs. Although she then lost out to Paul Roques, Mathilda was running in 15th position and competing confidently in the midfield.
Two laps later, Paatz was back ahead of Roques as well as Karel Schulz as the drivers traded positions with the aid of the powerful slipstream effect on the main straight. The racing was intense in the middle portion of the race and Roques was soon back ahead and began to build a gap to Paatz. Nonetheless, Mathilda was still lapping quickly and after overtaking Enzo Caldaras, she ran her new personal best lap of the race.
A series of fast and consistent laps saw her catch Alexandre Munoz and Paatz was able to move ahead of the French driver on lap 12. As the race reached its conclusion, Mathilda was set to equal her best ever finish in the series to date, but further moves were yet to come.
On the final lap of the contest, Paatz once again passed Roques while also making a superb move on championship contender Taito Kato to secure a maiden top-10 finish in the French Formula 4 Championship.
Grid positions for the final race of the weekend were based on the second fastest times from qualifying with Paatz lining up from 26th position. As a result, she was targeting another hard-charging drive where she could display her improved racecraft. Mathilda made an excellent start and gained three positions on lap one, before focusing towards the top-20.
After moving ahead of Alexandre Munoz and Romeo Leurs, Paatz was inside the top-20 after Gabriel Doyle-Parfait spun on lap four. As a result, the safety car was deployed and the race was neutralised for a period of four laps.
When racing resumed, an off-track moment for Karel Schulz elevated Paatz to 19th before a number of recovering drivers applied pressure to the young German racer. On lap 10, both Munoz and Lisa Billard were able to move ahead, however Paatz was keen to end the weekend on a high.
Quickly moving ahead of Pablo Riccobono Bello, Mathilda then caught and overtook Leonardo Megna for 19th position. Into the closing stages, contact between Billard and Jason Leung promoted Paatz into 17th spot with the German driver holding this position to the checkered flag.
It was another excellent recovery drive from Paatz who also set her personal best time on the final lap of the race. Gaining 20 positions in the final two races of the event, Mathilda displayed her racecraft and continued her impressive late-season form.
After securing her maiden top-10 result at Dijon-Prenois, Paatz will be targeting her first ever points finish when the French Formula 4 Championship comes to a close at Circuit Paul Ricard on the weekend of 5th/6th October.
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