Czech Formula 4 - Meet the Female Driver Line-Up
Get to know the seven women competing in this year's Championship.
With the first round of 2026 Czech Formula 4 Championship behind us, it’s the perfect time to not only take a closer look at the female talent competing in the series this year, but to also see how they all got on at the opening round of the season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Let’s take a closer look.
Alexia Danielsson
The Swedish driver made her single-seaters debut in 2024 in the Nordic 4 Series. She is also part of the More Than Equal project and secured her first win in Nordic 4. The 17-year-old from Uppsala also competed in Nordic 4 last year, her second full campaign in the series with a best result of P1 in the second race at Karlskoga and finished ninth overall in the standings.
In 2026, she has joined the STEP Motorsport team as she enters the Czech Formula 4 Championship. At the opening round at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, she finished in P17, P13 and P15 respectively across the three races.
Ava Dobson
While F1 Academy will be the 17-year-old American’s main focus this year, Dobson will also be competing in Czech Formula 4 too. She did however miss the first round at the Red Bull Ring last weekend.
In 2025, Ava competed full-time in both GB4 and Saudi Arabian F4, finishing 19th and 11th overall in each Championship respectively. She secured one podium in the former at Donington Park and had a best result of P6 on multiple occasions in the latter. Back in F1 Academy this year, she scored one point in the second race at Shanghai which opened up the 2026 season.
Ginevra Panzeri
Another driver who isn’t a newcomer to single seater racing is Ginevra Panzeri. The Italian driver has raced previously in the Formula Winter Series where she competed for six races at the tail end of the 2025 season before returning full time in 2026. Ginevra finished in an impressive P9 on her debut in Estoril before finishing the season in P29 overall with a next highest finish of P18 at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.
Prior to last weekend’s opening round in Austria, Ginevra also competed in the French Formula 4 season opener where she suffered an unfortunate shoulder injury which prevented her from competing in the majority of the races held that weekend. She was able to compete at the Red Bull Ring though where she finished in P11 and P12 in the first two races she contested before DNFing in the third.
Mathilda Paatz
A more experienced hand at single seater racing, the 17-year-old German made herself known to many for the first time when she made her F1 Academy debut in 2025 when she competed as the Wild Card entry in Montreal.
Paatz has also competed French F4 in 2024 and achieved two wins in the 2025 E4 Championship – Trophy Woman and a podium finish in the F4 Central European Zone Championship, going on to finish eighth in the standings overall.
This year, she returns to F1 Academy full time with the backing of Aston Martin. She also competed in Czech F4 last year, finishing once on the podium and coming seventh in the overall standings. Earlier this year, Paatz took part in three rounds of the Formula Winter Series, scoring a podium at Estoril with a third place and finishing 18th overall.
At the opening round of the 2026 Czech Formula 4 Championship, Paatz finished as the best of all the female drivers across the weekend, with a P12, P7 and a P9 result.
Jade Jaquet
The French driver made her F4 debut last year in French Formula 4, finished 24th in the standings with her best finish being 11th at Le Mans. This year, she too is competing in F1 Academy, supported by the Williams F1 Team. as the series’ Williams-supported driver. In the season opener at Shanghai, she finished 13th in the first race before DNFing in race two after contact with Kostermann.
Jade Also raced in French Formula 4’s season opener recently but DNFs plagued her again for two of the three races. In Austria, she faired better as she finished all three races that she contested, in P22, P12, P25 respectively,
Ella Hakkinen
The Finnish driver won at the 2024 Champions of the Future Academy in Cremona and has achieved further wins and podium finishes across Europe too. She is also one of nine karting drivers supported by the F1 Academy - Discover Your Drive in the Champions of the Future Academy Programme and is part of the McLaren family as a junior driver for the Papaya outfit with an eye on joining the F1A grid in 2027.
Last weekend in Austria, Ella finished consistently in the top end of the top twenty, in P8, P11, P12.
Michalina Sabaj
Michelina Sabaj has been a part of the AS Motorsport’s F4 CEZ program since 2024. The 21-year-old Polish driver finished fifth place overall in 2024 with 84 points. Last year was a lot tougher though as she was only able to score two points, finishing 15th overall. Michalina also took part in the F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra, finishing 13th and 15th in the morning and afternoon sessions.
Returning to Czech Formula 4 this year, Sabaj had a clean weekend as she finished in P13, P19 and P23. Solid seat time and keeping out of trouble is key to building a strong foundation from which to build on what Michalina will want to be a bounce back year after 2025. This is a good starting point from which to do that.
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Czech Formula 4 returns May 29th at the Salburgring in Plainfield, Austria.