In her final round of the Formula Winter Series, Alpine junior Nina Gademan secured two more top-ten finishes and two additional Female Trophy wins at Motorland Aragón.
In her final round of the Formula Winter Series, Alpine junior Nina Gademan secured two more top-ten finishes and two additional Female Trophy wins at Motorland Aragón, only missing out in Race 3 due to unpredictable weather that led to a tyre gamble across the field.
Gademan has proven to be a consistent front-runner in the highly competitive championship, which features many of the top young drivers preparing for their F4 campaigns.
Now in her second season of single-seater racing, Gademan—who competed in British F4 in 2024—has shown impressive progress in both single-lap performance and race pace. The third round at Aragón once again highlighted her racecraft as she battled among the front-runners for overall points.
With a total of seven victories in the Female Trophy across nine races in Portimão, Valencia, and Aragón, Gademan now concludes an impressive stint in the Formula Winter Series early to take part in collective testing for the F1 Academy.
Her Motorland Aragón weekend started off with strong results in pre-event practice: on Thursday, she was second fastest in the opening session, just three-tenths off pace-setter Leo Robinson. She continued with a top-five and a top-ten finish in the later sessions. Friday was equally promising, with performances consistently inside the top ten of the 29-car field.
In a highly competitive qualifying session held in colder temperatures, Gademan secured 13th place on the grid as the best-placed woman, setting a time of 2:01.007. She then went under the two-minute mark in Q2 with a 1:59.923, again placing her 13th on the starting grid—in an encouraging start to the day for the Dutchwoman.
The short sprint into the first corner of Race 1 was already chaotic, with debris flying as collisions unfolded throughout the opening lap. Several cars lost their front wings, and the chaos peaked in Turn 16 when Schranz misjudged his braking and collided with multiple cars. While some drivers made it back to the pits, only Chambers was able to continue after repairs.
Gademan managed to avoid the incidents and emerged in 10th place after the first lap. When Harrison, struggling with a damaged front wing, pitted for repairs on lap two, Gademan inherited ninth position. However, she was unable to keep up with Severiukhin ahead.
After the hectic start, the race settled into a relatively processional rhythm, with widened gaps and minimal position changes. In the second half of the race, the driver ahead of Gademan temporarily became the fastest on track, pulling a few seconds clear.
However when he was held up by Frey, Gademan managed to pick up the pace and closed the gap. In the end, she finished just 0.5 seconds behind eighth place, securing her sixth Female Trophy victory.
"I had a good start", explained Gademan after taking the class win. "I had to struggle with the tyre temperatures at the beginning, but we were doing well towards the end. I hope we can resolve this by tomorrow so that we can fight right from the start.“ Due to the large gaps between cars and the lack of battles, Gademan found the race relatively uneventful. "Portimão was more fun in that respect, but I’m hoping for exciting races tomorrow."
This hope was fulfilled on race Sunday. The conditions on the morning of the second race were not only cool but also wet, with intermittent light showers and drizzle. As a result, all cars started the race on rain tyres, including Gademan, who once again lined up in 11th place as the highest-placed woman.
The drivers had varying levels of success at the start on the wet track: the front rows struggled with wheelspin, while further back, one car failed to get going at all. However, the first lap remained incident-free. After a strong start, Gademan moved up to 10th place, just behind Vinci.
In the tricky wet conditions, Gademan once again found it difficult to stay close to the car ahead, losing time—a trend that affected much of the field. Apart from a few minor slips, the race remained largely troublefree.
With six minutes to go, Paatz and Wescott collided at Turn 16, forcing Wescott to retire with a suspension issue and triggering the first safety car. The recovery process lasted until time expired, leaving just one extra lap to restart the race.
However, Gademan was unable to gain any positions in the one-lap sprint to the finish and remained in 10th place, two seconds behind the car ahead. This result secured her another victory in the Female Trophy—her seventh win in eight races—and her fifth top ten overall.
The third and final race of the weekend was set to be the most hectic. After an earlier shower, the track was still very wet but was beginning to dry. Since tyre changes during the race are not typically planned and can be time-consuming, all drivers—except Schranz—opted to start on slicks, hoping the track would dry quickly. With a qualifying time of 1:59.923, Gademan once again started from 13th place as the top-placed woman.
At the end of the formation lap however, several cars, including those of Harrison and Wescott, dived into the pits to switch to rain tyres.
Gademan made another strong start and moved up to 11th place by the second lap. She then overtook Kostic to climb into ninth and passed Bearman on the following lap. However, the track conditions remained far from ideal for slick tyres.
Harrison, now on rain tyres, was significantly quicker and managed to overtake Gademan despite his earlier pit stop. Other drivers on wets also gained an advantage, forcing Gademan to pit from 12th place on lap four. Unfortunately, her teammate Robinson pitted at the same time, causing a delay in the stop that cost her valuable time. She rejoined the race in 24th place.
Now on the faster wet tyres, Gademan quickly gained positions. By the race’s midpoint, she had overtaken Trappa for 21st place and soon caught up with Larsen, passing her three minutes later. However, as the track dried, the rain tyres lost their advantage, preventing her from extending her gains.
Within two laps, the slicks had become the faster choice again, allowing Larsen to retake her position. As the difference between tyre compounds grew to several seconds per lap, Gademan slipped back to 22nd place, which she held until the checkered flag.
A post-race 10-second time penalty for an incorrect starting position did not affect her finishing position, but it meant she was unable to claim another Female Trophy victory. Instead, this time, the class win went to Payton Wescott.
"Another solid weekend with two races in the points and two more female trophy wins, making it a total of 7 this season", Gademan stated.
"Hitech, it’s been an honour to work with you", she added, as she will now move to Prema Racing for her F1 Academy campaign. "I know I still have a long way to go, but I am very happy with the progress we have made over the past few months. It’s been a big step forward, and I loved every second of it."
Gademan will miss the final round of the Formula Winter Series in Barcelona, as she will participate in the collective F1 Academy test in Shanghai, China. Across the nine races she contested, she secured seven Female Trophy victories; her strong and consistent performances have given fans high hopes for a successful season in the all-female championship.