Tough weekend in Italian Formula 4 at Hungaroring
Curtain up on third race meet of the 2019 Italian Formula 4 Championship. 16-year-old German driver Niklas Krütten and his team, Van Amersfoort Racing, were on virgin territory last weekend at the Hungaroring, as the Formula 1 circuit near the Hungarian capital, Budapest, is new to the Italian Formula 4 calendar this year. Race 1 around the 4.38-km circuit ended prematurely for Van Amersfoort Racing’s driver but he finished the next two races eighth and tenth respectively.
Krütten produced his strongest performance in the third round. From fourth on the grid, he made another fantastic start and was involved in a battle for second place before the third corner. His opponent in the scrap made a mistake while braking down for the turn and shot into and then over Krütten’s car, causing him to spin off track. VAR’s driver dropped back to 33rd and last place. He finally crossed the line in P10 after making an incredible charge up the field.
For the second round, Krütten found himself hemmed in between two other drivers in P8 on the grid at the start. There was quite a lengthy red flag period that left not much time on the clock, and he finished up in eighth position where he had started out. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé had some really bad luck in the first race, unfortunately. He was on course to achieve a terrific result after making a great start. However, a fellow competitor messed up his approach to the first corner, crashed into Krütten’s car and then shot over it, forcing him to retire as a result of this no-fault collision.
Krütten had already shown that he could do well on this winding, demanding course earlier in the two qualifying sessions. However, bad luck with red flag periods and traffic on track stopped him from qualifying higher than eighth on the grid for the first two races. Still, he got a good grid slot for the last round in fourth place.
German driver Krütten is particularly looking forward to the next round of the Italian Formula 4 at the Red Bull Ring next weekend, as it’s one of his two favourite tracks.
Three questions for Niklas Krütten
You moved up 23 places in the last race at a circuit where overtaking can be extremely tricky…
Yes, of course, I would have been happier had I not needed to charge up the field, but everything just fell into place. The car felt really good, and I was able to push straightaway off the line. I was in second place soon after the start and was battling with another competitor when he locked up his front wheels on the approach to the second corner and spun me off track. As a result, I dropped back to 33rd and last place. What he did was totally unnecessary and the Race Director handed him a penalty for his actions, but I really enjoyed my subsequent charge from last place to a finish in the Top Ten.
How did the first two races go?
The start of the first race went according to plan initially. My team-mate, Lucas, was behind me, and as we started the second lap, the driver chasing him made an extremely optimistic manoeuvre, misbraked and shot into me with all four tyres locked up. Unfortunately, my race was over in the opening stint. The second round also started well, but then the red flags came out for quite a spell following a crash. Unfortunately, when the restart came to finish the race with not much time left on the clock, I found myself wedged in between several cars. I was a little bit down on pace and unable to attack as much as I would have liked in the time left.
You’ll be back at one of your favourite tracks at the weekend. Could you please describe for us what it actually feels like to cover a lap of the Red Bull Ring?
The track appears to be much more straightforward to the spectator than it actually is. You’re travelling steeply uphill as you approach the first corner, so you can be very late on the brakes. To get optimal traction, you must try not to hit the accelerator pedal too early on exiting the turn. You also have to find the right line in order to be well placed for the long straight, because the best opportunity to overtake on the whole circuit comes at the end of it. You can also be late on the brakes into the very tight Remus turn, as you’re again going steeply uphill here. The turn has a slight camber and you have to be nimble on the steering, so as to get plenty of traction as you exit the corner. Turn 3, though, leads back downhill, so you have to be early on the brakes here. The car tends to understeer at this point, as the corner drops away slightly. In Turns 5 and 6, you have to have complete confidence in your car. It’s essential through the last two corners to maintain as much momentum as possible in order to be quick down the main straight. If you can get a good exit from these two turns with plenty of speed, then you’ve got an excellent chance in the end of outbraking the guy in front.