In the second round of the F4 Middle East Championship, Martin Molnár achieved his best result so far, once again proving to be the top performer for his team, Evans GP, in two out of three races. This round further demonstrated that the championship is serving as an excellent preparation for his upcoming campaign in the British F4 Championship.
The F4 Middle East Championship field remained in Abu Dhabi after the season opener, as the second round followed just one day later. The 29 young drivers competed on a slightly different layout than the opening weekend. Instead of the 5281-meter Grand Prix circuit, they raced on the 4572-meter Corkscrew layout, which consists of 16 corners instead of the usual 18. This track shares many similarities with the one used by Formula 1, but without the 5th corner leading into the long straight, which is replaced by a combination resembling Laguna Seca’s famous Corkscrew section.
Molnár and his team, Evans GP, made further progress with their car setup ahead of the second round, giving them a solid foundation for the weekend. However, during qualifying, the Hungarian Motorsport Academy (HMA) driver struggled: in the first session he placed 12th and in the second, which determined the starting grid for the third race, he was 14th. However, the first race saw a strong performance from him as he moved up from 12th to finish 7th, his best result so far in the series.
“I had a good start, gained two positions right away, and was preparing to overtake another car when the safety car came out. After the restart I stuck close to the driver ahead and managed to pass him. I had some great battles both forwards and backwards and one of my rivals had damage to his front wing, which slowed him down. I had a really enjoyable fight with a driver behind me as we swapped positions back and forth, racing through 4-5 corners. I’m happy with 7th place,” said the 16-year-old after the first race.
The 7th-place finish meant that in the second race, which followed a reversed grid format, Martin started from 4th. His goal was to fight for the podium and he held onto 4th place after the start. However, in the fast left-hander he got stuck behind a rival, allowing two drivers to pass him. By the end of the first lap he had dropped to 9th place. Despite this he remained competitive and finished in 9th, once again securing a top-10 result. This also marked his fifth consecutive time as the top driver for Evans GP, as he had finished ahead of his teammates in every race of the first round.
In the final race of the weekend Martin continued his good form. Starting from 14th he made a strong move up to 11th after the first lap. However, after a red flag caused by a first-lap incident his car suffered damage and he was forced to retire after a small collision.
“For the second race we put on new tires, but as it turned out, the pressure was too low. On this track you have to stay on the outside in the first corner after the start, but I wasn’t able to do that this time, which trapped me behind another driver. The tire grip came too late and I had to defend for quite a while. Several drivers overtook me and by the time I regained pace the safety car came out,” explained Martin.
The third race saw another strong start for the Hungarian driver, but soon after, the safety car made another appearance, leading to a red flag. “My engineer told me over the radio about the safety car, but the official boards hadn’t shown it yet. Once the race resumed behind the safety car, I immediately felt something was wrong with the car, which surprised me since I hadn’t had any contact earlier. The steering wheel felt off, and I think something may have broken in the steering column. After a slight contact, the steering locked up, and I couldn’t turn in either direction, which ended my race,” he said, reflecting on the third race.
Despite the setback, Molnár finished the second round of the F4 Middle East Championship with a 7th and a 9th place finish. According to Tamás Pál Kiss, the head of Motorsport Talent Management (MOTAM) and Martin’s coach and mentor, the most important development is how much Martin has improved in key areas compared to the end of last year.
“The pecking order and the strengths of the teams are now very clear, and experience plays a large role in that. However, we need to focus on Martin learning the most from being in the middle of the pack, in the ‘grinder,’ as it’s often called. It may sound strange, but this is more valuable than winning races by a mile. We concluded last year with the goal of improving in direct battles, managing race situations, making quicker decisions, and improving his racecraft. I’m glad to see him consistently in the top 10, but what matters more is what I see on track.”
“Even the commentator for the English broadcast mentioned how much Martin has progressed in his racing skills since last year. From a more reserved driving style, he has now become one of the most exciting drivers in the F4 Middle East Championship, performing spectacular overtakes, wheel-to-wheel battles, and racing hard yet fairly. We’ve achieved our goal for this championship, and if he continues in this vein, I’ll be very satisfied, because it will pay off in the British F4 Championship. This is a preparatory championship, and it’s great to see that the camera often picks him out because the director knows that Martin will deliver some exciting moments.”
The F4 Middle East Championship will continue with the third round in Dubai on February 8th and 9th.