R02 – Zandvoort – ADAC F4 Race Report

PREMA Powerteam and Kirill Smal went back to winning ways at Zandvoort, home to the second round of the 2021 ADAC Formel 4 Championship.

The 16-year-old Russian kept his name near the top in qualifying and rounded out the top-5 in race 1 and 2, with the Dutch track not offering many chances for overtaking. Then, in race 3, he fought his way to the front with a sensational opening lap from P4 on the grid, controlling the restarts and holding onto P1 in a caution-filled run to his second win of the ADAC championship season.

Sebastian Montoya came away from Zandvoort with two podium finishes in race 1 and 3. After a slow start from pole in the final race, the 16-year-old Colombian-American made a brilliant recovery to cross the finish line right behind Smal, which means a good deal of points and a confidence boost for him and the team.

Conrad Laursen had his weekend compromised by a Q1 crash, which forced him to sit out of the second session. The Dane moved forward during the races, eventually salvaging a points finish with P10 in race 3. Hamda Al Qubaisi had a tough run on a new track for her despite performing well in qualifying. The Emirati took a double P12 in the opening races but showed great potential, before contact put her out of contention in race 3.

“I’m kind of happy with how the weekend went, P2 race 1, P8 race 2, P2 race 3. It was an up-and-down weekend with a great qualifying 1 and a not-so-good qualifying 2 due to a mistake on my side that cost us pole. In race 1, I didn’t find the right pace in the beginning but then the car turned out great. In race 2, I struggled with the tyres and I lost some positions early, but I was able to recover and make some overtakes. In race 3, I started on pole but had quite a bad start. However, I made up four positions in the first lap because the car was outstanding. I think that if we didn’t have so many safety car situations, we could have fought back to P1. I’m a bit disappointed with the ending but happy for the 1-2 result for the team. They did an amazing job, on to the next!”

Qualifying 1: P2

Qualifying 2: P5

Starting Grid Race 1: P2

Starting Grid Race 2: P8

Starting Grid Race 3: P1

Fastest lap: 1’34″940

Fastest lap: 1’34″861

Race 1: P2

Race 2: P8

Race 3: P2

“It has been a pretty good weekend for us. We haven’t been lower than P5 during the races, which is good for the points, and got back to victory in race 3. Race 1 was really close, but we didn’t manage it, while we had the potential to finish even better in race 2. For the third one, we had great hopes because we knew we had the pace and could use it. I had a really good start, moving from P4 to P1 in two corners, then I just had to control my pace, and be focused during restarts in order to pull away. I’m really proud of the team because we finally managed to get a 1-2 finish that reflects where we should be. We haven’t had the best luck sometimes, and made some mistakes, but I’m sure there are more good results to come.”

Qualifying 1: P5

Qualifying 2: P3

Starting Grid Race 1: P5

Starting Grid Race 2: P3

Starting Grid Race 3: P4

Fastest lap: 1’35″442

Fastest lap: 1’34″823

Race 1: P5

Race 2: P5

Race 3: P1

“It was a bit of a new track for me, and I didn’t have a lot of running in the dry. In practice, I focused on learning the track, what you can or can’t do. I felt the pace was really good, even if it didn’t show in the times. Unfortunately, qualifying didn’t go as planned. I made a small driving mistake, and here at Zandvoort, when you make a mistake, you crash. Hitting the wall hard set me off for the weekend, and I never really got back to the same pace I had before. However, I made comebacks in all three races and finished with a P10 in race 3. It’s nothing I’m happy with, but at least we recovered a lot of positions. Not my weekend at all, but I learned a lot from the things that we could have done better, and I look forward to the next race in two weekends.”

Qualifying 1: P15

Qualifying 2: NC

Starting Grid Race 1: P15

Starting Grid Race 2: P23

Starting Grid Race 3: P15

Fastest lap: 1’36″099

Fastest lap: no time

Race 1: P15

Race 2: P15

Race 3: P10

“Qualifying was ok, especially for Zandvoort, which is a very technical and old school track. I took this weekend as a learning experience and finished P12 for both race 1 and 2. Race 3 didn’t go as planned, but I will learn from this and take this experience to the upcoming races.”

Qualifying 1: P13

Qualifying 2: P7

Starting Grid Race 1: P13

Starting Grid Race 2: P7

Starting Grid Race 3: P12

Fastest lap: 1’35″829

Fastest lap: 1’34″924

Race 1: P12

Race 2: P12

Race 3: DNF

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing