Ádám Hideg, the karting world championship silver medalist, finished sixth in the first race of the fourth round of the Spanish Formula 4 Championship held in Aragón, marking his second points finish of the season in the series. Despite overall positive results, the weekend in Alcañiz was mixed in terms of outcomes for the talented Hungarian driver competing with Cram Motorsport.
The 16-year-old driver from the Hungarian Motorsport Academy competes in a field of nearly 40 drivers in the Spanish championship, with over 25 rookies, including Ádám Hideg, vying for positions and championship points.
The Kaposvár-born driver mentioned that the entire field participated in collective testing on Tuesday and Wednesday, where his pace was consistently good. His qualifying and race simulations were successful, consistently achieving lap times around the 10th to 14th positions.
“There was more potential in Saturday’s qualifying, but the 11th starting position was still a good result. I believe I could have reached around sixth or seventh place on a clear track. The asphalt was quite hot, around 60 degrees Celsius, causing the tires to overheat quickly when stuck behind others,” said Ádám Hideg.
The driver evaluated that the start of the first race on Saturday did not go well because, despite having no issues with his reaction time, his car overheated slightly during the waiting time on the grid.
“After that, I managed to move up, and I overtook another car in the penultimate lap, then had to defend my position until the finish. It was a good race, and our pace was very good,” explained the driver.
“In Sunday’s second race, we used the most worn-out tires as we tried to save the better ones for the third race, so the primary goal was to finish. Starting from 16th, I ended up in 13th place, which was also a positive result. In the third race, I had to start from 15th because, unfortunately, I couldn’t complete my last fast lap in Sunday’s second qualifying session as someone cut in front of me. Nevertheless, we focused on this race and fitted the better tires, but unfortunately, I encountered a gearbox issue on the way to the grid, which could only be fixed in the pits, so I had to start from the pit lane. I thought I had nothing to lose from there, and although the pace was good, the gearbox wasn’t working perfectly, so I couldn’t improve as much as I wanted,” stated the driver from the Hungarian Motorsport Academy, part of the Széchenyi University Group and operated by the HUMDA Hungarian Mobility Development Agency. His participation was also supported by the ZalaZONE Automotive Proving Ground/Hungary.
After the fourth round, Ádám Hideg stands 16th overall and 11th in the rookie standings.
The Spanish championship continues in Valencia from September 13 to 15, with a two-day collective test for the entire field at the end of August.
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