Race Report

FORMULA 4
FIA F4 CEZ CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 7/8/9

Circuit: Salzburgring (A), Length 4,255 km, 31^st May – 2^nd June 2025
salzburgring.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2025:
Max Karhan (CZ), Nicolas Cortes (MEX), Javier Herrera (MEX) and Gino Trappa (ARG)

Karhan and Trappa win at the Salzburgring

The third out of six race events for the 2024 FIA F4 CEZ (Central European Zone) Championship took place on the beautifully situated, traditional and super fast race track of the Salzburgring (A). For many participants, this was a new challenge. Just in time for the weekend, the sun came out and the temperature became summery warm.

Qualifying

Saturday, 31/05/25, 11.40 – 12.00, Weather: Sunny, 25°C

In this championship there are three practice sessions available on Friday, followed by the official part with one qualifying session of 20 minutes, followed by three races of 25 minutes each. The grid for the first race will be drawn up in the order of the fastest qualifying time achieved by each driver in the qualifying. The grid for the second race will be drawn up in the order of the race 1 result. The grid for the third race will be drawn up in the order of the reverse order of the 4 – 8 positions in race one (tbc according to amount of starters).

FIA F4 CEZ Championship

Race One (25 minutes)

Saturday, 31/05/25, 15.10, Weather: Sunny, 27°C

The first race of the weekend began in the heat of a Saturday afternoon. Gino started well and led the field. But Max had planned well where he wanted to attack Gino. On lap three, Max pulled off a daring overtake that lasted over several corners and took the lead. Behind Max and Gino were Nicolas and Javier. The top four positions remained the same until the end. Behind them, there were several attacks and position changes. An accident brought out the safety car towards the end of the race. Max then managed the restart well, and Gino was unable to attack him. Max confidently crossed the finish line to win the race, and Gino finished an excellent second. Nicolas defended his excellent third place and proudly climbed onto the podium for the first time in this category. Javier made no mistakes and brought home a very good fourth place.

FIA F4 CEZ Championship

Race Two (25 minutes)

Sunday, 01/06/25, 10.10, Weather: Sunny, 22°C

The start to the third race went well. Max took no chances and took the lead from pole position. Gino also got off to a good start and soon attempted a few attacks on Max, but these were unsuccessful. Javier managed to overtake Nicolas at the start. Javier followed his two teammates in third place. Nicolas had to defend fourth place from Schranz from the start. Schranz put on a lot of pressure, and Nicolas managed to keep Schranz behind him for long laps. Schranz came under pressure from Paatz at times, but held off. A few laps before the end, Schranz managed to overtake Nicolas with a clean maneuver. Nicolas immediately wanted to counter, went a bit wide, braked too late, and drove through the gravel trap directly into the barrier. Fortunately, Nicolas remained uninjured and immediately got out of the car himself. The safety car took over the field. The clock was running out, and after the restart there was just one more lap to complete. Max managed to maintain his lead and confidently brought home the race victory also this morning. And even though Gino was close to Max, an overtaking maneuver was no longer possible. Gino brought home an excellent 2nd place for the second time this weekend. Javier was a bit too much on the inside at the restart and was under pressure from Schranz. Schranz and Javier touched, resulting in Javier spinning. Fortunately, there was no damage, but Javier lost his good chance of a 3^rd place podium finish. Javier was able to rejoin the field at the back and bring the car home in 14^th place.

FIA F4 CEZ Championship

Race Three (25 minutes)

Sunday, 01/06/25, 13.45, Weather: Cloudy, 22°C

The final race of the weekend started under cloudy skies. The two rookies, Javier and Nicolas, who occupied the front row, had big plans. But Gino, as the more experienced driver, managed to take the lead shortly after the start. Behind him, a fierce battle ensued between Javier, Nicolas, and Max. Positions swapped between Nicolas and Max, but in the end, Nicolas prevailed. A few laps later, Nicolas managed to overtake Javier as well. Gino had a good lead, Nicolas was in 2^nd position, and Max had worked his way up to 3^rd. Javier had gone slightly off the track and lost momentum and positions. He was battling with Schranz, and the two touched. Javier headed for the pit lane with damaged suspension and unfortunately had to retire from the race. With just three minutes to go, there was another accident, and the race was red-flagged and not restarted. Fortunately, the driver was uninjured. Gino took home a clean win in the 3^rd race, Nicolas proudly climbed onto the podium in 2^nd place, and Max rounded off his super weekend with a nice 3^rd place.
Penalties were handed out after the race. Nicolas received a 5-second penalty, dropping him to 4^th place. He overtook a competitor off-track and didn't give up the position. This pushed Max up to 2^nd place.

© Jenzer Motorsport

Championship standings

FIA F4 CEZ Championship 2025 after 9 out of 18 races:
1^st Gino Trappa (ARG), 177 points; 2^nd Max Karhan (CEZ), 135 points; 3^rd David Walther (DK), 102 points; 4^th Bart Harrison (GB), 65 Punke; 5^th Nicolas Cortes (MEX), 63 points; 6^th Mathilda Paatz (D), 58 points; 8^th Javier Herrera (MEX), 44 points; 15^th Teo Schropp (ARG), 12 points

2025 FIA F4 CEZ CHAMPIONSHIP – AGENDA

More info:

• www.f4-cez.com
• formulascout.com