Despite battling technical problems throughout the weekend, Ádám Hideg, a karting world championship silver medalist, did well in the second round of the Spanish Formula 4 Championship in Portimão, Portugal. The Hungarian talent, driving for Cram Motorsport, managed to improve his starting positions in all three races despite gearbox and engine issues, thus maximizing his performance for the weekend.
The 16-year-old driver from the Hungarian Motorsport Academy is competing in a field of nearly 40 drivers in the Spanish championship, where over 25 rookies, including Ádám Hideg, are vying for positions and championship points.
Kaposvár-born Hideg expressed his overall liking for the Portimão track, despite never having raced there before, putting him at a disadvantage compared to most of the field who had previously tested at the circuit. Despite the challenges, Hideg finished 14th, 18th, and 23rd in the races.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have much opportunity to get used to and learn the track because it rained during Friday’s practice session, and we had a technical problem that caused a long downtime. We couldn’t find the pace, so we only managed to qualify quite far back,” Ádám Hideg explained.
“In the races, I was able to gain a few positions, but we still didn’t have good pace. I managed to get away well at the restarts and the starts, but if there were more than two or three laps under the green flag, we simply didn’t have the speed,” he elaborated.
“Obviously, a testing opportunity would have helped because I couldn’t practice during the free sessions, so I went into qualifying not really knowing how to warm up the tires here. There were other issues as well, and overall, it would have certainly been better if I could have tested here earlier, but this weekend wasn’t just about that. At the next track, Paul Ricard, I raced twice last year, in both wet and dry conditions, and with two different brands of tires. It’s a very enjoyable track to drive, although the races there are less exciting,” stated the driver from the Hungarian Motorsport Academy, which is 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 second round, Ádám Hideg stands 15th overall in the championship and 10th in the rookie classification. The Spanish championship continues at the Paul Ricard circuit in France from July 5 to 7.
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