Single-seater rookie Alba Hurup Larsen continued her learning process in F4 at the second round of the Formula Winter Series in Valencia, battling through challenges in the midfield but ultimately finishing the weekend with a P21 in race three.
Single-seater rookie Alba Hurup Larsen continued her learning process in F4 at the second round of the Formula Winter Series in Valencia, Spain, just two weeks after making her European debut at Portimão.
The young Danish driver, who will compete in the F1 Academy later this year as a Tommy Hilfiger ambassador, is preparing for the season by racing in the highly competitive Formula Winter Series, featuring a 30-car grid with some of Europe’s top F4 talents.
The 16-year-old, who won the final edition of the FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars selection, made her F4 debut last year in the Indian Championship, where she achieved a personal best of sixth place at the Chennai street circuit in only her second weekend.
Her first European outing in the Formula Winter Series was equally promising, as she delivered an impressive weekend at Portimão, securing two top-15 finishes and demonstrating strong racecraft and pace throughout.
Racing for Jenzer Motorsport, Hurup Larsen aimed to carry that momentum into Valencia, beginning with a two-day test ahead of the event, where she improved her lap times by over a second across the sessions.
The first qualifying session took place in colder temperatures on Saturday morning and was ended up being disrupted by some incidents. Hurup Larsen was running in P23 when a red flag halted the session with nine minutes to go after Baptista stopped in the second sector. Once the session resumed, lap times continued to drop, and Hurup Larsen found more pace, setting a 1:35.400 to secure P26 on the grid.
With fresh tyres for the second qualifying session, Hurup Larsen improved further, breaking the 1:35 barrier with a 1:34.952. A late yellow flag prevented most drivers from improving on their final runs, and she ultimately qualified P25.
RACE 1
A few hours later, the first race of the weekend got underway with a packed 31-car field. Hurup Larsen started from P26 and had a clean getaway into Turn 1, holding her position on the opening lap.
On lap 2, David Walther went off into the barriers, bringing out the safety car. The race resumed with 21 minutes to go.
Hurup Larsen moved into P24 on lap 5 and gained another position to climb to P23 as Joanne Ciconte picked up damage. She now had Kornelia Olkucka close behind; the Danish driver however was holding on well and set a personal best lap time of 1:36.4, giving her a small buffer.
However, disaster struck soon after, when Alba got beached in the gravel on lap 12, triggering another safety car. She was forced to retire, marking her first DNF of the season.
RACE 2
On Sunday morning at Valencia, Hurup Larsen lined up P26 for the second race, aiming to bounce back after her race one retirement.
Polesitter Gabriel Gomez had a slow getaway and was quickly swallowed by the pack. Hurup Larsen dropped to P27 on the opening lap but soon began making up ground, passing Aleksander Ruta, who had a broken front wing.
On lap 5, a safety car was deployed when Maffi Racing’s Teo Borenstein ended up in the gravel. Alba had to take evasive action to avoid the incident, losing a position to Payton Westcott just before the caution period.
After a quick cleanup, the race restarted a lap later. Battles heated up around the top 20, with Joanne Ciconte leading a group that included Mathilda Paatz, Westcott, and Hurup Larsen.
On lap 9, Alba passed Westcott to move into P24, but the battle continued; Westcott retook the position before colliding with Ciconte, forcing Alba to take to the gravel to avoid the crash, dropping her down to P28.
Undeterred, she hunted down Ricardo Baptista and made the pass on lap 15, recovering to P26. With a strong pace, Hurup Larsen was closing in on Kornelia Olkucka, gaining almost a second per lap.
However, the two made contact, spinning Olkucka around. Alba was forced to pit for a new front wing and eventually crossed the line in P30. She received a 10-second penalty for the collision, though it did not cost her any further positions.
It was another unfortunate result that didn’t quite reflect her pace in the tightly packed midfield.
RACE 3
In the afternoon, the final race of the weekend saw Hurup Larsen start from P23, aiming for a clean finish to end the weekend on a high.
As the lights went out one last time, Leo Robinson took the lead from Gabriel Gomez. Alba held her position in a very busy opening lap.
Hurup Larsen found herself in a close battle with Westcott once again; on lap 5, she passed Westcott, with Joanne Ciconte right behind, looking to capitalize on the fight ahead.
Amid the midfield attrition, Hurup Larsen lost three places on lap 7, falling behind Westcott, Ciconte, and Robinson.
Despite this, she maintained strong pace in the 1:35s and continued closing in on the group ahead. By lap 12, she was once again battling Ciconte.
A big fight for the top ten ended in a collision between Gino Trappa and Sebastian Bach, triggering a safety car on lap 14. Hurup Larsen was running P21 under caution.
The race restarted with just over four minutes to go, but almost immediately, Kornelia Olkucka and Andrea Dupe collided at Turn 2, bringing out the safety car again.
Before the race was neutralized, Hurup Larsen had been battling Mathilda Paatz for P22.
Thanks to quick work by the marshals, the race resumed for a one-lap dash to the finish.
Leo Robinson led the field away, weaving down the main straight to break the tow before holding off Gomez and Popov for the win.
Hurup Larsen lost P23 to Edward Robinson, who had pitted earlier but caught back up under the safety car. However, she capitalized on some late-race chaos to take the checkered flag in P21, just missing out on a top 20 finish but ending the weekend on a more positive note.
While the results weren’t what she had hoped for, Alba Hurup Larsen still gained valuable track time in the second round of the Formula Winter Series. Battling in the thick of the midfield provided key learning experiences that will be extremely valuable for her 2025 full-time program.
Next up is the third round at Motorland Aragon, Spain, on March 1-3, along with upcoming F1 Academy testing.
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