INTERVIEW: F1 Academy’s Mathilda Paatz feels right at home at Aston Martin

Alongside the natural interest in karting in those early days, Paatz was also prolific on skis, aided by the fact she lived in Austria for three years during those formative years.

"Skiing was a very big part of me," she said. "It was the first professional sport I fell in love with. It's a passion my dad and I also shared.

"For him, it was just a hobby, but for me, I wanted more. I was always quite a competitive person, and when I noticed I was not that bad, I was like, 'Let's do this'.

"I started training to go to the Olympics because kids are trained from a very young age to grow up very fast, and I was in the national team.

"But then at one point, I started karting as well because that side never let me go. I actually did two years doing both — full-time skiing and full-time karting. Obviously, it was too much, with dates clashing and so on."

It was at that point that Paatz had to make what she describes as "one of the most difficult decisions" she has faced: "I had to ask myself which sport I could live without doing, and it wasn't motorsport.”

“I had to do motorsport. I had to continue. It was such a big story that really took hold of me and fulfilled my heart."

Paatz concedes that, despite her father's motorsport career, he never swayed her towards four wheels over a pair of skis.

"Of course, he loved to see his daughter as well in a racing car," said Paatz. "For him as a father, it was also a bit of a difficult decision, but he really let me go through it.

"He didn't push me towards becoming a racing driver, which is really nice because then I could really commit to what I wanted to do."

From that moment, it was full focus on karting, trying to climb the precariously slippery motorsport ladder, and facing the numerous obstacles posed in a male-dominated sport, despite her father's support and backing.

"My first national championship was a bit of a mess," reflected Paatz, with honesty. "I was the only girl in the field, and the boys didn't really like me. I was like, 'Am I in the wrong place?'"

"People were crashing into me just because I was a girl and they didn't want me in front of them. It made me really question, 'Did I make the right choice?' because there was no turning back."

Undaunted, Paatz ploughed on, making her presence felt the following year in 2020, notably claiming a double victory in the ADAC Kart Masters, finishing third in the Championship, whilst also claiming the Ladies Cup. She was also crowned West German ADAC Kart Cup Champion.

The double win was a clincher. "That's when people were like, 'Okay, damn! She's fast'. The guys around were actually starting to respect me, and that meant a lot. That weekend was a big confidence step."

Remarkably, as Paatz progressed and encountered additional female racers on the international stage, she found it was not just among the boys where she faced animosity.

"My first international race was in Italy, and different to Germany as there were over 100 karts," she said. "I finished P5 in the pre-final, which was huge, and as the best female I got to stand on the podium."

"I looked down into the crowd, and there were other girls there who had been racing there for years. They knew the international scene, but they were showing me the middle finger. I started to cry on that podium, even though I was the best.

"When I look back now, I'm like, 'Why would we not support each other?' That has all changed now that we have F1 Academy, with the girls trying together to move up, which is so important.

"If I could tell my younger self anything, I'd say, 'You did good. Don't be hurt by those words and actions'. They were just jealous I could do what I did."

After appearing as a finalist in the junior category of the 'Girls on Track Rising Stars' programme in 2022, and a senior finalist the following year, Paatz naturally progressed to single-seaters in 2024, initially in the French F4 Championship, finishing 20^th, with a race best of tenth in Dijon.

Opportunities flowed last year as she competed in numerous series, including Italian F4, the Formula 4 CEZ Championship for her father's team, appropriately named Mathilda Racing and, perhaps most significantly, appearing as a wildcard in the F1 Academy round in Montréal.

It was an inauspicious outing as across the three races with Hitech TGR, Paatz crashed in the first and third, and was 11^th in the second. She concedes now to being "nervous" and "overwhelmed by everything", understandably so as she was just 16 and given the experience of some of the female drivers around her.

She felt, though, she had shown pace and that she "made good moves". She did enough to earn an invite from Aston Martin to a shoot-out in Mugello to become the team's F1 Academy driver for 2026.

Underlining the confidence she possesses, Paatz stated that she "dominated that. I was really pushing myself to convince them that I'm the fastest."

Paatz rightfully earned her place in F1 Academy for this year, which she recognises has been "a rollercoaster" due to her failing to score in the two rounds in Shanghai and Silverstone, either side of a superlative weekend return in Montréal.

She scored her first podium in the series in the first race, followed by a brilliant victory in the second, with fifth in the third.

"This season is really a learning season," Paatz said. "Everybody's working hard, trying to do their best, and sometimes you can't. I'm not mad at myself or at anyone. It's just I think we need this season to really prepare myself to be ready for next season and go for the Championship."

Paatz could not be in better hands than with Aston Martin, one of the most well-funded teams on the F1 grid — even if this season has been one of bitter struggle with new power unit supplier Honda — and with state-of-the-art facilities.

The team's support has been crucial in helping her find her feet this year. "They're taking really good care of me," she said.

"I not only get support on the track, but also off it with a coach to help me with training, nutrition, but also on the mental side," she said. "I have a lot of people taking care of me, trying to help me."

Paatz feels there was something about Aston Martin that proved irresistible when it came to taking that next step on her motorsport journey.

"I had many offers to choose from before this season," she said. "But there was something about Aston Martin that really took me to them. It was really the energy.

"When I first went in that building, it was just a magical way. I cannot describe it. Everybody is just working so hard, and the passion they have, how they take care of things, how they present themselves, was just such a wow."

"I just felt right at home, and it still feels special. Every time I go there, I'm like, 'Oh my God! I'm part of this'. It's just an incredible feeling."

And even though it is still very early days in her single-seater career, and she is only a teenager, it is perhaps a statement of the obvious that her "goal is F1". But then there is this air of confidence about Paatz you cannot ignore, along with a maturity that belies her years.

"I know it's still a very far-away goal; the chance is not big. But in my opinion, I need to have this big of a dream to keep every day moving, to have this motivation going on. Yes, I also have small dreams which are part of it, but the ultimate thing I want to achieve is F1.

"Even if I don't achieve it, I'm happy to work to get there, to become a better driver and person, and that this journey will change me as a person so much. F1 is a big part of my life, whether I'm going to be a driver there or if it just structures my life journey."

Images courtesy of Getty Images.