Mathilda Paatz equals season-best in French F4 at Nürburgring

F4 rookie Mathilda Paatz showed progress in the French Formula 4 Championship and matched her season-best with a 16th place finish at her home race at Nürburgring, having battled challenging weather and a qualifying penalty.

Photo credits: Winfield Racing School

Single seater rookie Mathilda Paatz enjoyed a positive home race at the Nürburgring, where she matched her best result of the season with a 16th place finish in the third race of the fourth round of the French Formula 4 Championship.

Paatz, who made the step up from karting to Formula 4 in 2024, is making steady progress in the 25-car field of the French series, which has produced some very competitive young drivers over the last couple of seasons. The German driver, part of the ADAC junior team, has so far collected seven top-20 finishes and, despite some unfortunate rounds, she's making her way up the order in each weekend.

The season opener at Nogaro brought a P16 as best finish, then followed up by a P17 in Ledenon. Despite a less fortunate weekend at Spa Francorchamps, the fourth round at her home race in Nurburgring gave the 15 year old German the chance to bounce back. However, she would have to face some adversities at the start of the weekend, battling weather, technical issues and a qualifying penalty.

The weekend was in fact marked by very wet conditions on Friday, and the sole practice session turned out to be an unfortunate one for Paatz, who couldn't even complete one timed lap due to a technical issue.

Qualifying brought some improvements despite the extremely limited track time Paatz had collected in the morning. Her 2:03.497 lap was good enough for P22 in the 25-car grid; on her final lap, she improved her second and third sectors but couldn't quite top her overall position in an extremely tightly contested session with all drivers within a few hundredths of a second. Unfortunately, a penalty demoted Paatz to P23 on the grid, making recovery drives more difficult in the heavy rain.

Photo credits: FFSA Academy

The first race was again contested in very wet conditions and saw plenty of contact over the first few corners. Mathilda survived the first hectic lap in P22, having gained one position.

More contact at turn 1 among the front runners on lap 2 allowed Mathilda to pick up a few more positions. Ahead, there were brilliant battles for the lead, with Yani Stevenheydens managing to get ahead and open a small gap, while Taito Kato, Frank Porte Ruiz, Jules Caranta, and Chester Kieffer traded positions. Stevenheydens eventually dropped to fifth on the second lap.

Paatz moved up to P20 with a solid drive in the first laps, chasing Alex O'Gready. She set personal best laps and moved up to P19 when Chester Kieffer hit trouble. However, the young German had to defend from Tom Le Brech and eventually lost out to both Le Brech and Edourd Borgna on lap 5.

With Caranta solidly in the lead, Stevenheydens made up ground and was back in third place before making a mistake and going off in the gravel. Mathilda kept touch with Le Brech and held a safe margin to the cars behind, stretching her margin to over 3 seconds to Schlesser.

She set a new personal best of 2:25.196, gaining over half a second, then further improved by a full second with a 2:24.178 on lap 8. Despite the tricky conditions and several drivers running through the gravel, Mathilda kept her cool and made no mistakes, crossing the line in P21. She was later promoted to P20 after post-race penalties, thus gaining 3 places from her starting position.

Starting from P23, the second race began behind the safety car due to very wet conditions. Enzo Caldaras led the pack when the green flag waved one lap later. However, Jules Roussel and Montego Maassen collided at turn 1, bringing out the safety car once again. Mathilda Paatz had a clean start and cautiously moved up to P22 before the race was neutralized.

The race restarted with 10 minutes to go: Paatz held P22, just behind compatriot Montego Maassen. She gained one position as Roques hit trouble and then passed Le Brech for P20.

Unfortunately, a mistake on lap 6 dropped her to P23.

As the rain intensified, several drivers were caught out, resulting in more contacts and mistakes. Mathilda tried to catch Arjun Chheda, 3 seconds ahead, and gained a few seconds before the end of the race, ultimately finishing in P22 - still making up one position from the start. Yani Stevenheydens took the win, surviving the entire race with a broken front wing.

Photo credits: FFSA Academy

The final race of the weekend was finally held in dry conditions with the sun rising over the Eifel. Sevenheydens started from pole, ahead of Augustin Bernier and Frank Porte Ruiz. Starting from P20 based on her second-best lap in qualifying, it was a better chance for Mathilda Paatz to try to climb the order and showcase her potential.

Paatz had a good start, held her position into turn 1 and defended well over the first lap. The safety car was then deployed soon after when Maassen and Megna crashed at the exit of the Schumacher S. Amidst a chaotic first lap, Mathilda escaped from a contact and moved up to P18.

On the restart with 10 minutes to go, Mathilda had a good restart and ran in a group of battling cars, trying to find a way past Schlesser and Munoz. She cleared Schlesser, moving up to P17 and set her sights on Munoz.

With just a few tenths ahead, Paatz increased the pressure but couldn't quite find a gap to pass. She extended her gap to the cars behind, creating a safe buffer; steadily on the pace of 2:03.1, Mathilda ultimately found a way past Munoz on the final lap, securing a highly positive P16, in one of her strongest races to date in the series.

Stevenheydens took a lights-to-flag victory ahead of Porte Ruiz, while Jules Caranta and Taito Kato battled brilliantly for the final step of the podium, which eventually went to the French driver.

With her 16th place finish, Paatz equaled her personal best in French F4, previously secured at the season opener in Nogaro. She added two more top-20 finishes, four rounds into her rookie campaign in single-seaters. The Nürburgring weekend, marked by mixed weather, highlighted her progression, with a particularly strong third race showcasing her potential as she gets increasingly closer to a top-15 finish.

The next event is scheduled at Magny-Cours, the former home of the French F1 Grand Prix, where Paatz will be joined on the grid by a second female driver, Lisa Billard, who will make her F4 debut on August 23-25.