Despite battling illness that cost her track time in practice, Mathilda Paatz made a strong recovery in her Formula Winter Series debut at Portimão, - her first racing weekend in the Tatuus F4 car - securing a top-15 finish and gaining valuable experience ahead of the next round in Valencia.
Mathilda Paatz made her debut in the Tatuus T421 Formula 4 car at the Formula Winter Series season opener in Portimão, Portugal, securing a top-15 finish despite battling illness in the days leading up to the event, which cost her valuable track time in practice.
Despite these setbacks, Paatz fought through adversity with strong starts and solid racecraft, working her way forward in the races. She finished P14 in Race 1 and secured another top-20 result in Race 3, while an accident—through no fault of her own—kept her out of contention in the second race.
The 16-year-old German made her Formula 4 debut in 2024, stepping up from karting to the FFSA French Formula 4 Championship with support from the ADAC Formula Junior Team. A former finalist in the FIA Girls On Track - Rising Stars initiative, she gained valuable experience during her learning-oriented season in French F4, making steady improvements throughout the year and securing her first top-10 finish at Dijon in the penultimate round.
Since then, Paatz has begun testing the new Tatuus car after racing the Mygale machine in France. As part of her preparation for her 2025 program, she joined the Formula Winter Series grid with AS Motorsport, taking advantage of the opportunity to continue learning in a highly competitive environment.
The Gedlich-promoted Formula Winter Series is now in its third season, with a 30-car field featuring some of the most competitive young F4 talents in Europe. One of the most notable aspects of the 2025 season is the significant female presence—one-third of the field consists of female drivers, with the Portimão season opener featuring the highest number of women in a mixed-gender F4 event, with a total of nine female entries.
Drivers had six testing sessions between Thursday and Friday in preparation for the first race weekend of the year. Unfortunately, illness prevented Paatz from participating on the first day, which slowed her adaptation process. However, when she returned to the track on Friday, she focused on learning the circuit and making up for lost time. Despite the challenges, she made remarkable progress, setting a personal best of 1:46.584 in the final session, just outside the top 20.
"I had to get used to the layout at first but we made progress through every session", Paatz commented. "I couldn't get back all the time I lost yesterday when I was sick in bed, but I'll do my best in qualifying. Not yet at a 100% health-wise but we keep pushing."
On Saturday morning, the first qualifying session took place. Paatz initially placed inside the top ten on her first runs before times started dropping rapidly. With three minutes remaining, she was in 23rd position but was unable to further improve and ultimately qualified 25th with a best time of 1:47.828. Shortly after, the second qualifying session followed. On fresh tyres, she improved her lap time to 1:47.493, securing P23 in a solid qualifying effort.
RACE 1
A few hours later, the first race of the Formula Winter Series got underway. Paatz lined up in P25 on the grid, while Gabriel Gomez started from pole position alongside Edu Robinson on the front row. Under sunny and dry conditions, Robinson took the lead at the start, passing both US Racing cars, while several drivers ran wide at Turn 1, forcing some to take the escape road.
In the opening lap, Paatz gained positions and moved up to P22 before being overtaken by Andrea Dupe, who was recovering from the back of the grid. She maintained a competitive pace and held P24 before starting to gain places again.
As Kabir Anurag pitted with damage, Paatz climbed to P22 by Lap 7. She then began closing in on Maffi Racing’s Borenstein, engaging in a battle for position.
An incident involving Enea Frey and Thomas Bearman brought out the Safety Car on Lap 12, neutralizing the race as Frey’s #20 Jenzer car was stranded on track. When the Safety Car returned to the pits, the race resumed for a one-lap sprint to the finish.
Paatz took advantage of the restart, passing Borenstein to break into the top 20. With Schranz pitting due to technical issues, she gained another place. On the final lap, she tried to catch Alisha Palmowski but was unable to attempt a move. She eventually crossed the finish line in P18 but was later promoted to P14 due to post-race penalties.
It was a highly positive race debut, as she gained 11 positions from her starting place with a clean and collected drive.
RACE 2
Later in the afternoon, Paatz lined up in P24 for Race 2, looking for another strong result after her promising performance in the first race. Before the start, Kirill Kutskov and Kabir Anurag encountered issues and were unable to make the grid, allowing most drivers, including Paatz, to gain positions before the lights went out.
At the front, Robinson once again had a strong launch from the second row, but he went deep into Turn 1, allowing Gomez to reclaim the lead. Paatz made another excellent start, immediately gaining four places to move into P20. Soon after, she gained another position and advanced to P19.
Unfortunately, while battling for a spot in the top 20, Rafaela Ferreira made contact with Paatz, taking her out of the race. The German driver had shown another really strong opening lap, but her race was ultimately cut short. Ferreira later received a three-place grid penalty for causing the collision.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Paatz had once again demonstrated strong potential in the early stages of the race.
RACE 3
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning in mixed weather conditions, with some drivers gambling on slick tyres while others opted for wets. Paatz started from P22.
At the race start, there was a malfunction with the starting lights, with only three lights illuminating before all went out. This led to a chaotic launch, as some drivers were slow off the line while those on wet tyres had an initial advantage. Robinson took the lead, but as several midfield drivers struggled for grip, the race was quickly red-flagged due to the light system issue, and all drivers returned to the pits.
Once the race resumed, Robinson led the field into Turn 1. Several drivers went deep into the corner, and McLaughlin took over the lead. Meanwhile, Paatz had another outstanding first lap, gaining six positions and moving up to P16 by keeping it clean while others struggled for grip.
As the race progressed, she began chasing GB4 vice-champion Alisha Palmowski while also having to defend from Georgy Zhuravskiy. On Lap 7, as the track began drying, the drivers on slick tyres found a significant pace advantage.
Paatz however kept improving and set a personal best lap time of 2:04.0 - but then had to defend against Aleksander Ruta and Sebastian Bach, who were making their way through the field. She eventually dropped to P19 but still maintained a solid position within the top 20.
On the final lap, she posted another personal best with a 2:03.6, showing strong pace. Although she tried to challenge Bach and Ruta again, she couldn’t quite make a move stick: she finished in P19, later promoted to P18 after post-race penalties. It was another strong drive, as she held her own in a very competitive field under challenging conditions.
Despite a difficult start to the weekend due to illness, Mathilda Paatz showcased fighting spirit and racecraft, recovering well and consistently fighting in the top 20 against a highly competitive field.
"We had some difficulties in the beginning because I was sick, but we managed to have a good pace", she summarized. "In the first race we managed to gain 11 positions. In the second one we sadly got pushed out by a crash not of our fault."
"In the last race we had mixed conditions, it was raining through the night and the track was drying up a bit. I still went out on rain tyres; it was great racing and a good start made us gain some positions. It was a nice weekend."
With valuable experience gained from her first Formula Winter Series event, Paatz will now aim to build on this momentum at the second round of the season at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on February 13-16.