F4: Maya close to the points

The 16 year old Dutch girl has made clear progress, finishing very close to the top ten in the second round of the Italian Formula 4 championship, and making it to the rookie podium in Race 3.

The second round of the Italian Formula 4 championship ended today at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Maya Weug made her single-seater debut at the opening round in Paul Ricard and here she showed clear signs of progress, finishing very close to the points positions. The 16 year old is the first girl to join the Ferrari Driver Academy and she finished Race-1 in 13th place, just one second off tenth and 12th in the final race of the weekend.

Progress. It was clear Maya had made progress as she qualified 17th and 16th. In the first race of the weekend, the start was very chaotic as one of the front row cars failed to get off the line. Weug managed to get through in 13th, fighting with a group of drivers all the way to the chequered flag. At the finish, just one second separated her from 10th place, further confirmation of progress.

Race-2. This race was also closely contested, especially in the midfield. Maya maintained 16th place off the line and then started fighting more experienced drivers all the way to half distance. With ten minutes remaining, while battling with Yoshua Durksen, Weug lost some places having spun, which cost her around 20 seconds. Back on track, she finished 25th. 

Race-3. Another exciting race brought the Misano weekend to a close. Maya lost a place at the start to run 18th, but in the opening laps she managed to work her way up to 14th. In the final five minutes the Safety Car came out, with the race only resuming on the final lap. It was very closely fought and Maya took the chequered flag in 12th place, making it to the rookie podium, in third place, for the second time, after finishing second at Le Castellet.

Next round. After two rounds, Weug is fourth in the rookie classification and leads the women’s category. The Italian Formula 4 championship will be back on track from 25 to 27 June at the Vallelunga circuit.