On her way to a F1 Academy seat in 2025, Rafaela Ferreira concluded her second season in F4 Brazil, climbing onto the podium for the 10th time in 2024 - and also achieving a new milestone by becoming the first woman to finish in the top 3 at least once in every round in the same year.
Formula 4 Brazil concluded its 2024 season at Interlagos, where Rafaela Ferreira also made her farewell to the series after competing for two consecutive years in the Brazilian championship. The recently signed F1 Academy driver from 2025 concluded her brilliant participation in F4 Brazil in the same way she did in each of the previous seven rounds - standing on the podium.
Ferreira's stunning performance, collecting good results and important achievements throughout the 2024 Formula 4 Brazil season, which caught the attention of the all-female Formula 1 support series, was demonstrated once again on the track of the temple of national motorsport. On Thursday, she had already won Race 2 of round 6 - which was postponed due to weather conditions on the date it was originally scheduled - and during the final round, Rafa Ferreira got to stand on the podium again, by finishing in second in the second race of the weekend.
The official activities of the closing round of F4 Brazil in 2024 began on Friday morning, with free practice sessions. Both the female drivers on the grid - Rafaela Ferreira, from TMG Racing and Cecília Rabelo, from Oakberry Bassani F4 - achieved their best results in FP1, finishing in P3 and P8, respectively. In the qualifying session for races 1 and 3, Ferreira placed 7th and 4th on the starting grid. Rabelo obtained a double P15.
Race 1
Still on Friday, 16 drivers formed the starting grid for the first of three races in the final weekend of F4 Brazil in 2024, and two battles were still in play at this point in the championship: while Matheus Comparatto and Álvaro Cho fought for the championship title, the duel between Ethan Nobels and Rafaela Ferreira would define who would have a place in the top 3 in the standings. To do so, she would have to close the 20-point gap to her competitor.
In the first actions of the race, Cho took the lead from Comparatto - who was in pole position, while Nobels, who had started in 6th, also overtook Rogério Grotta, climbing to P5. In the following laps, Rafaela Ferreira also overtook Grotta and reached 6th position, where she remained for most of the time.
With about 10 minutes left, Nobels, Ferreira and Grotta closed in on fourth placed Arthur Pavie, and had a chance to fight for positions. But they were surprised by Argentine Gino Trappa, who was making a good recovery after starting in the last position on the grid.
In the remaining minutes, Trappa overtook Rogério Grotta and then Rafaela Ferreira - who crossed the finish line in sixth - thus falling four further points behind Ethan Nobels in the fight for the top 3 of the championship. Álvaro Cho confirmed his victory and postponed the decision of the drivers' title until the following day. Cecília Rabelo finished in 15th.
Race 2
The morning of the following day, the drivers returned to the Interlagos track and this time Rafaela Ferreira started on the front row - in P2, alongside Rogério Grotta - who took pole position, with the reverse grid system in action, considering the result of the previous race.
At the end of the first lap, the first 4 positions remained unchanged, but Ethan Nobels had dropped one position. Cecília Rabelo stood out, climbing 3 positions, after starting in P15.
While the main battles for position were taking place in the midfield, Grotta opened up a lead of just over 1 second, leaving no room for attacks from his opponents. Rafaela Ferreira was aiming for another victory in F4 Brazil, but had to duel with Gino Trappa to secure second place. Both were at a good pace and set the fastest laps of the race, until the Argentine approached the TMG Racing driver.
A technical problem with the timing and race control system caused the action to be interrupted in the final minutes, and the red flag was deployed. With only 3 minutes remaining and with more than 75% of the time already completed by that point, race control opted to end race 2. Grotta took victory, Ferreira was second and Trappa completed the podium in third. Cecília Rabelo finished 12th.
Rafaela Ferreira achieved another historic result, recording yet another impressive milestone in her career, further enhancing her journey in 2024, which she built up remarkably. The 19-year-old driver became the first woman in the history of Formula 4 Brazil to stand on the podium in at least one of the three races of each round of the same season.
"Today was an emotional day. I couldn't hold back the tears and cried throughout the entire grid formation, because I knew this was my last race with the team. We ended the weekend on a high note, with a victory, a P2 and we were team champions!" - said Rafaela Ferreira.
Race 3
A few hours later, on the afternoon of December 14th, F4 Brazil reached its final race of the 2024 season and Rafaela Ferreira would set off for her last dance in the national series, before starting a new adventure in her career in the F1 Academy next year.
The result of race 2 caused the gap between the TMG Racing driver and Ethan Nobels to drop to 18 points, leaving the fight for third place in the drivers' standings still open.
Starting from P4, she had a great chance of achieving another podium, and in the first few corners Ferreira had overtaken Pepê Souza and moved up to third - but on the following lap she was then overtaken by Filippo Fiorentino. A few minutes later, an incident between Feldmann Neto and Alexander Jacoby caused the race to be neutralized by the safety car.
The incident happened right in front of Cecília Rabelo, who started in 15th place and was already in 13th place at the time. She quickly avoided both drivers, passing them unharmed and inheriting their positions. After the restart, Rabelo was at her best in the race, occupying 11th place and had a chance of fighting for the top 10.
Rafaela Ferreira was overtaken by Gino Trappa in the first moments under the green flag - dropping to fifth, but she kept fighting for the best possible result until the end. However, having to avoid Trappa - after he had contact with Fiorentino - Ferreira lost a few seconds, which made Rogério Grotta and Ethan Nobels close in on her.
On the penultimate lap, Grotta overtook Rafaela Ferreira - who then had an intense duel with Nobels, in the fight for P6. The two still had some contact, but Ferreira resisted bravely and got the better of her competitor, who fell to eighth - also being overtaken by Arthur Pavie. On the last lap Pavie overtook Rafa Ferreira, who crossed the finish line for the last time in F4 Brazil in 7th position. Cecília Rabelo lost one position and finished in 12th.
The main contenders for the title during the year - Álvaro Cho and Matheus Comparatto, had a good duel on the final lap. And Cho - also Ferreira's teammate - crossed the finish line first, just 0.228s behind Comparatto, who had already seized the 2024 title in race 2. TMG Racing also secured the teams' title.
The F4 Brazil drivers' championship ended with Matheus Comparatto in the top spot - with 337 points, followed by Álvaro Cho - with 307. Ethan Nobels eventually remained in third, but Rafaela Ferreira - who had already consolidated at least in the top 4 - further reduced the gap, ending the year with 222 points collected. Cecília Rabelo concluded the 2024 season in 13th, with 44 points.
Rafa Ferreira dedicated an emotional message thanking the team: "I have completed an amazing cycle, after two years competing in F4 Brazil alongside TMG Racing, which was much more than a team, it was like a family to me", she said. "They took care not only of the car, but of me as well. Together we celebrated victories, faced defeats and grew with each race. We evolved over time and achieved a lot together!"
"This year was simply unforgettable! I'm immensely grateful to each person who is part of this incredible team. They will always have a special place in my heart! I will miss them, but rest assured that I will always be cheering for you!" - she concluded.
Facing a new challenge in her next steps in motorsports, the talented Rafaela Ferreira had a very solid performance in her second season in Formula 4 Brazil. She was constantly fighting for victories which kept her in the running until the final round with a real chance of securing a place in the top 3 of the championship.
Over the course of the 24 races this year, she recorded important achievements and climbed to the podium 10 times - 2 times in 3rd place, 5 times in 2nd place and, of course, 3 victories - which also made her the first woman to win in the Brazilian F4.
Formula 4 Brazil has already released its calendar for 2025, with the start scheduled for May 4th. Until then, we will wait for confirmation of new or returning female drivers joining the grid of the single-seater series - continuing the legacy achieved by Aurelia Nobels and now by Rafaela Ferreira, who will join the F1 Academy next season.
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