Vicky Farfus climbs the podium twice on Brazilian F4 debut
Vicky Farfus immediately impressed on her Brazilian F4 debut, securing two podium finishes and second place in the standings at the category’s special event at Interlagos, held as part of the São Paulo Grand Prix weekend.
Vicky Farfus immediately impressed on her Brazilian F4 debut, securing two podium finishes and second place in the standings at the category’s special event at Interlagos, held as part of the São Paulo Grand Prix weekend.
The TMG Racing driver was the only woman on the grid and finished the three-race non-championshiup event on 31 points, taking the runner-up position after a strong weekend that included third place in qualifying, a podium in Saturday’s opening race and a second-place finish in Sunday’s finale.
The Brazilian began the weekend by showing competitive pace in Friday’s qualifying session, briefly taking the lead before securing third place with a lap of 1:36.960. She was just 0.170 seconds away from pole position, which went to Cavaleiro Sports’ Fabrício Fogaça. The closely contested session saw the top five covered by just 0.311 seconds.
Farfus carried that pace into Saturday morning’s opening race, initially dropping to third at the start before recovering second place at the Curva do Lago. She immediately began putting pressure on pole-sitter Fogaça and, on the second lap, capitalised on a mistake from the leader to take control of the race.
The TMG Racing driver began to build an advantage, but the first of three Safety Car interventions interrupted her progress after Franco Paolini stopped on track on lap three. When racing resumed on lap seven, Fogaça reclaimed the lead, while Farfus remained close behind and Hahn joined the fight at the front.
The battle intensified as the race progressed. Hahn moved ahead of Farfus on lap nine while she continued to challenge Fogaça, and the TMG Racing teammates subsequently found themselves fighting for second place. Farfus attempted to regain the position at the restart on lap 13, but Hahn held firm. A further Safety Car intervention following an incident involving Elias Barbosa and Pietro Mesquita left the field with only one green-flag lap remaining.
Fogaça managed to retain the lead through the final lap, while Farfus defended third place against Paulo Willemann to secure her first Brazilian F4 podium. She crossed the line 1.124 seconds behind the winner, with Hahn finishing second, and also recorded the fastest lap of the race with a 1:38.182.
The second race, held on Saturday afternoon, offered little opportunity for further battles as heavy rain left the Interlagos circuit in difficult conditions. The field started behind the Safety Car, with the grid determined by reversing the top eight finishers from the morning race. Farfus lined up sixth and maintained that position throughout the five laps completed behind the Safety Car, with race control eventually calling the event early due to the intensity of the rain and diminishing natural light. The result awarded half points, leaving Farfus with another valuable contribution to her overall score.
Sunday’s final race presented a different challenge, with the track still wet following Saturday’s rainfall and all drivers starting on wet-weather tyres. As the circuit gradually dried, tyre wear became an increasingly important factor, making for a competitive 15-lap contest without any Safety Car interruptions.
Starting further back than her qualifying position, Farfus initially dropped to seventh as Fogaça and Naim Saleh moved to the front, while Hahn and Alexandre Louza also made early progress. She began working her way forward through the field and became involved in an intense battle with Hahn for third place. Farfus completed the pass on lap four, only for Hahn to reclaim the position a lap later.
The Brazilian continued to press, eventually moving ahead of Hahn again at the Curva do Lago on lap nine. With the track drying, she then set her sights on Saleh, who had been fighting Fogaça for the lead. Farfus caught and passed the Cavaleiro Sports driver at the end of lap 12 to move into second place, while Hahn also overtook Saleh to take third.
Farfus attempted to close the gap to Fogaça in the remaining laps, but the leader maintained his advantage to secure his second victory of the weekend and clinch the special-event title. The TMG Racing driver finished second, 3.694 seconds behind, adding another podium to her debut weekend in the category. Hahn completed the top three, with Saleh and Willemann rounding out the top five.
The result confirmed Farfus as the runner-up in the Formula GP Bradesco event standings with 31 points; the Brazilian secured second place on the tiebreak, with both Farfus and Hahn having recorded one second-place and one third-place finish, but Farfus finishing sixth in Saturday’s rain-shortened second race gave her the advantage over her teammate, who was seventh.
The Interlagos result marks another very positive step in Farfus’ progression from karting into car racing. The Brazilian made her first appearance in single-seaters in the E4 Championship finale at Monza last month, where she immediately scored her first championship points and claimed her maiden Female Trophy award. It followed a promising first season in the Ginetta Junior Championship, during which she steadily improved her results, progressing from her first top-15 finish at Zandvoort to 11th at Snetterton and her maiden top-ten result at Donington Park.
Alongside her racing programme, Farfus has also completed an extensive programme of Formula 4 testing and recently topped the timesheets at the F1 Academy Rookie Test. Her performance at Interlagos, where she challenged for the lead and secured two podium finishes provides further evidence of her rapid rise in single-seaters.
