The world karting champion went on a weekend to test his pace at the F4 level. The imprint was crushing.
Tuukka Taponen is on his way to becoming the next Finnish F1 driver. Pete Anikari
Finnish formula promise Tuukka Taponen16, demonstrated his skills over the weekend at the national F4 series race weekend at the Botniaring.
Even this season, Taponen is fully engaged in go-karting. The jump from the karting car to the formula wheel is big, but Taponen didn’t let it scare me.
The imprint on the Botniaring was superior. Taponen took all three F4 series races with pole positions.
Last year, Taponen was the first Finn in history to win the world karting championship in the OK class. He is considered to be the brightest promise to continue the handsome F1 traditions of the Finns.
Taponen did not drive the F4 for the first time. However, it was more than half a year since the last time, while the other drivers in the series have already raced F4 cars this season.
– It went well. It’s always nice to win, Taponen said modestly to Iltalehti.
Karting will keep Taponen busy this summer. After the F4 race in Finland, a race trip to Italy is ahead. Midsummer will also be celebrated there.
The F4 car is set to drive even later this year. Taponen thinks the next experiment will be in the autumn.
According to Taponen, the plan for next year is to switch to driving mainly F4 cars. However, nothing concrete has yet been locked.
Taponen’s talent has also been noticed in F1 circles. Last year, a young Finn was nominated for Ferrari’s Young Drivers Program. Although the choice was not made for Tapos, Ferrari praised the world karting champion, saying he would keep a close eye on his development this season.
Along with Ferrari’s junior program, the F1 series has hurt from current drivers Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Mick Schumacher.