Mathilda Paatz takes maiden F1 Academy victory in Montréal

Written by Liam Ploetner

Credit: F1 Academy

Aston Martin-supported Mathilda Paatz scored her first victory in F1 Academy in the reverse-grid race, taking the win from fourth on the grid for Prema.

Haas-backed Kaylee Countryman started on pole for ART, with Racing Bulls-supported Rafaela Ferreira in second for Campos, Ferrari’s Alba Larsen in third for MP Motorsport, Aston Martin’s Paatz in fourth for Prema and Audi-backed Emma Felbermayr in fifth for Rodin.

Ferreira got away well at the start, as did Paatz, with Ferreira leading Countryman, Paatz, Larsen and Felbermayr into turn one. 

Felbermayr made a move around the outside of Larsen into turn four, and the battle resumed into turn nine, with contact between the duo spinning the former around.

As a result of their battling, the top three of Ferreira, Countryman and Paatz pulled away from the rest of the pack. Payton Westcott moved up to fourth, while Larsen was now fifth. The Safety Car came out at the wrong time, which meant that Ferreira and Countryman were both ahead.

Hitech duo Ava Dobson and Rachel Robertson both retired from the race. Replays showed that Dobson was hit by wildcard Autumn Fisher at turn nine whilst the chaos with Felbermayr and Larsen went on up ahead. Robertson was bottlenecked by Williams’ Jade Jacquet, which meant that McLaren’s Ella Lloyd behind had contact with the back of Robertson’s car.

At the end of lap six, the Safety Car came into the pits, and racing resumed on the Canadian streets of Montréal.

Ferreira led the pack away ahead of Countryman, Paatz, Westcott, Larsen, Alisha Palmowski, Megan Bruce, Nina Gademan, Lisa Billard and Natalia Granada.

Billard and Granada battled for ninth, which dropped them a second back from Gademan on the restart. Granada came out on top.

Later on lap seven, Palmowski went in deep at the turn 10 hairpin, picking up front-wing damage and dropping down to seventh. Felbermayr passed Ella Stevens for 13th. The latter would be picked up for a starting procedure infringement for being out of position at the Safety Car line, meaning a stop and go penalty for the McLaren-supported Rodin driver.

Ferreira’s start would come into dispute, with some replays showing her start to be legal, while others making it look tight, almost like an offside call in a football game. The concluding evidence came from her onboard, which showed she barely jumped the start.

Jacquet sped in the pits whilst they were going down pitlane during the safety car, which meant a five second penalty for the Williams-supported ART driver.

Palmowski had been told to come into the pits, but she continued on track, battling with Bruce for sixth.

Countryman was keeping Ferreira honest, with a DRS train forming behind the Brazilian which ran down to Billard in 10th. Felbermayr set the fastest lap, which signalled the pace she had prior to the contact with Larsen. On lap 11, Lloyd set the fastest lap, and was closing on Jacquet for 11th.

The following lap, Paatz made a move into the final chicane to pass Countryman for second. Gademan went through the chicane, while Larsen moved ahead of Westcott. Behind the duo, chaos erupted, as Bruce and Palmowski collided, with Gademan going into the back of Bruce. Gademan was out, while Bruce and Palmowski continued in ninth and 14th.

Now under Safety Car, Ferreira led Paatz, Countryman, Larsen, Wescott, Granada, Billard, Jacquet (who had a five second penalty), Bruce and Lloyd. Stevens’ day went from bad to worse, as she picked up a five second penalty for speeding in the pitlane whilst serving her stop and go penalty.

Due to the maximum thirty minutes of the race being completed, there would be one final lap after the Safety Car came in, reducing the race from 17 laps to 16 laps.

As a result, the incentive to be aggressive for each driver increased, with Ferreira having a target on her back.

Ferreira restarted well, with Bruce losing two spots to Lloyd and Felbermayr, moving them into ninth and tenth.

Finally, Ferreira was penalised for her jump start, which meant Paatz was on for her maiden victory in F1 Academy. Larsen went down the inside of Countryman at the hairpin for what would be second, and it was Larsen who won the braking battle into the final turn.

Paatz took her maiden win in F1 Academy, with Larsen second and Countryman beating Westcott and Granada to the final podium place by the slimmest of margins, earning her first podium in F1 Academy. Lloyd and Felbermayr both recovered brilliantly to finish in seventh and eighth to round up the points.