Mick Schumacher to race in ADAC Formula 4 series

Earlier this year, Van Amersfoort Racing announced its plans to compete in this year’s German ADAC Formula 4 series next to its FIA Formula 3 European Championship programme. Formula 4, the new single-seater category to FIA standards, aims at young drivers with a background in karting. “In the last couple of years, it has become a tradition for us that we offer the runner-up from the German junior karting championship (DJKM) a test session in our simulator,” Frits van Amersfoort explains. “This is handled by the DMSB, the German motorsport authority, and that is how we first got in touch with Mick Schumacher last autumn. He spent a full day in the simulator at our headquarters in The Netherlands. Then we witnessed him during a test session at Valencia and eventually, we reached an agreement to compete together in this year’s ADAC Formula 4 series.” Negotiations with other drivers for the upcoming season are ongoing, announcements about the rest of Van Amersfoort Racing’s line-up for the 2015 ADAC Formula 4 series will be made in due course.

The 2015 ADAC Formula 4 season starts on the last weekend of April at the circuit of Oschersleben in Germany. The next two rounds are scheduled at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria (5-7 June) and Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Ardennes (19-21 June), both Formula 1 circuits. The remainder of the series is run in Germany: Lausitzring (3-5 July), Nürburgring (14-16 August), Sachsenring (28-30 August), Oschersleben (11-13 September) and Hockenheim (2-4 October). Most of the races are part of the support package of the ADAC GT Masters series, the Oschersleben round in September is a meeting of the DTM touring car series. All races will be broadcast live on German TV channel SPORT1+.

With a history in motorsport going back almost 40 years, Van Amersfoort Racing has a long tradition of supporting up-and-coming drivers on their way to higher levels. Dutch drivers Max and Jos Verstappen, Christijan Albers, Giedo van der Garde and Huub Rothengatter all raced for Frits van Amersfoort’s eponymous team in the early stages of their careers before making it into Formula 1. Other successful Van Amersfoort Racing graduates include Belgian Bas Leinders, who won the 1998 German F3 title with the team, Chinese Dutchman Ho Pin Tung and Dutchmen Tim and Tom Coronel, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Jaap van Lagen and Renger van der Zande.