Ádám Hideg spoke positively about his four race weekends in the Formula 4 Winter Series, where he twice stood on the podium in the ranking of rookies, also achieving a pole position, and eventually breaking into the top group by the end of the final weekend at the Spanish tracks.
The 16-year-old driver from the Hungarian Motorsport Academy stated that although karting provided him with a solid foundation for handling Formula 4 cars, he faced many new challenges, making the first weekend in Jerez the toughest for him.
The standing start was already unusual for me, and in these cars, the clutch is at the feet, plus with 35 cars around me, I couldn't really hear the sound of my own car's engine in that noise
- recalled Hideg, who also emphasized gaining valuable experience due to racing in variable weather conditions.
There were rainy qualifying sessions and races, in Jerez, there was a situation where we went on wet track with slick tires, but of course, I also learned a lot about the F4 car on dry asphalt in sunny weather. I feel that I have improved in terms of starts, and I had the opportunity to practice during safety car periods and learn the restarts. Moreover, I had various qualifying results, so there were times when I started in the top 10, but there were also times when I started from the 30th position
– he said, adding that although his pole position in Barcelona couldn't be turned into a victory due to weather conditions in the canceled race, they still completed two laps behind the safety car and went through the entire starting procedure.
Since I had the opportunity to test the F4 car relatively often, from the perspective of driving technique, this part didn't hold many surprises anymore, but it was a challenge to find my place in an almost 40-car field in certain situations. Tire warming was also a new experience; after a red flag interruption, we had to warm up the cooled tires again, which is something you can't learn in a kart
– summarized Hideg.
He mentioned that he already knew most of his opponents from before; they raced against each other in karting, but alongside rookies, there were also rivals in the Winter Series who were in their second season with F4 cars.
There were particularly strong teams, but among the rookies, there were also skillful and fast drivers. I didn't have any serious issues with anyone, perhaps I could mention one push that I didn't understand at the time, but such things happen in race situations
– he said.
As a participant in the Hungarian Motorsport Academy's talent development system, established and operated by HUMDA Hungarian Mobility Development Agency belonging to the Széchenyi University Group, the young driver will also compete in the Italian F4 Championship later in the season, with the Winter Series serving as preparation for this and for getting accustomed to the F4 race car.
The first race weekend of the Italian championship will take place in Misano between May 3rd and 5th.
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