As previously reported, Martin Molnár will continue his career in the British Formula 4 championship from 2024. The talented driver embarks on the series of ten stations and thirty races in the colors of Virtuosi Racing, and can engage in battles on such legendary tracks as
- Silverstone,
- Brands Hatch
- or Donington.
He decided what would become of it next to Lake Balaton
Martin Molnár was born on August 21, 2008 in Budapest. When asked by our newspaper, he recalled that shortly after his eighth birthday, at Lake Balaton, he decided that he wanted to become a professional car racer.
His father, Zoltán Molnár, who had previously also gained experience in car racing, put him in a go-kart, from which it was difficult to get him out. According to him, he pressed the gas every time he went to the track from morning to night.
After they saw the talent in him, he first competed in their family racing team (Xforce Racing), then with the support of Révész Racing, the factory team of Kart Republic submitted his technique.
Martin – who is very grateful to his family for the sacrifices made – has been fighting for success in the highest-level go-kart championships since he was 10 years old, and his name was recorded among the best in Hungary and in the surrounding countries. In 2019, he also took part in the races of the Hungarian, Slovak and Austrian Rotax championships (at that time on a case-by-case basis), won several pole positions, and set a lap record in Bruck.
In 2020, the young Hungarian achieved 43 victories in 64 races and reached the championship title in the FIA Central European zone championship, the Central European Rotax Max Challenge. By the way, he also won the Austrian Rotax Max Challenge Championship in the MiniMax category.
He had to learn two languages in the same country
That’s when a big change happened in his life: at the age of 12, he flew out of the family nest and went to Italy alone to continuously accumulate kilometers. Martin told Index that he competed practically every weekend, which is why he was given private student status at his request. His school helped him, he also got access to the course material online, and when he could come home, he took exams.
By the time he got on the plane to Italy, he was already fluent in English, but he didn’t get very far because they didn’t speak English where he lived. He did not despair, in just seven months he learned to speak Italian fluently so that he could easily understand himself and his surroundings. Yes, but his mentor was from Naples, who brought with him the words and expressions that, let’s say, a citizen of northern Italy would not be able to accept easily, let alone a foreigner.
If we take it as such, I can communicate in three and a half languages, in addition to Hungarian, English and Italian, I also speak Neapolitan to some extent
Martin Molnár commented jokingly.
He added that he is already used to the fact that he practically always travels alone, since he was 14 years old he has managed his affairs completely independently.
In 2021, Motorsport Talent Management (MOTAM) embraced him, currently Tamás Pál Kiss ex-car racer smooths Molnár’s career. The specialist, born in 1991, won a bronze medal in the British Formula Renault Championship in 2010, and then won a race in GP3, the legal predecessor of Formula 3. At that time, he also competed against multiple F1 race winner Valtteri Bottas.
Even with a racing technique completely unknown to him, he was immediately fast
In the summer of 2022, Martin completed his first Formula 4 test at the Hungaroring, where, despite the fact that he was driving a formula car for the first time, he completed the prescribed program excellently. Then he got back into go-karting, with the Italian Energy Corse factory team at the FIA (International Automobile Federation) go-kart world championship in the OKJ (Original Kart Junior) category for 12- to 14-year-olds.
After two seasons, he changed categories and joined the adults, OK. He performed well there as well, at one point even leading the FIA Karting world rankings in the OK category.
And now the opportunity has come for him to show off his talent in British Formula 4. The season starts on April 27, Martin told our newspaper that the first few races should be about gaining experience, there will be a lot of new things that he still has to get used to.
As an example, he mentioned that the go-kart weighed 150 kilograms with it, compared to more than 500 kilograms for the model car. The seating position is completely different, the operation of the brakes is completely different, and of course the top speed is also higher at this level.
Martin’s primary goal was to finish in the top five among rookies. It is a good sign that he drove the third best result in the pre-season F4 test at Brands Hatch. At the end of the test day, which took place in several stages, Deagen Fairclough, who finished in the lead, was ahead of him by only 162 thousandths of a second, but his two teammates were, to put it bluntly, “pressed”.
It should be noted that the appearance of our young compatriot in England is a milestone in the history of domestic car and motorsport, as he is the first Hungarian driver to compete in an FIA-certified British championship.
Two Hungarian drivers in F1? It might even come together!
Tamás Pál Kiss confirmed in March: the main goal is for Molnár to reach Formula 1. According to the theoretical timetable, he may have a chance for this around 2029-2030, but everything must go perfectly for this, and there are many pitfalls waiting for him on the path he has set out on.
“Training, school and racing. At the moment, these three things fill my life, I am fully focused on becoming a better pilot,” Martin Molnár emphasized to Index.
Another great talent of Hungarian motorsport, Ádám Hideg, continues his career in the Italian Formula 4 championship. The two used to go karting together and used to watch each other’s results, but they are not in close contact with each other. Of course, the really big bang would be if we could support two Hungarian drivers in Formula 1 at the same time.
