The driver Rodrigo Seabra will be, this year, the first Portuguese to participate in a Formula One (single-seater) championship at just 12 years old, when the minimum age is 14.
Rodrigo Seabra, born in Maia, at 11 years old, became Rookie of the Year in 2022 in the German OK Junior karting championship (DKM Deutsch Kart Masters), where he faced drivers between the ages of 12 and 15, having finished fifth in general. He was also fourth in the ADAC Kart Masters, also in Germany.
He ended up being selected by the Portuguese Automobile and Karting Federation (FPAK) to represent Portugal at the FIA Motorsport Games, in France, where he was the Portuguese flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
In 2023 he will compete in the Formula Aquila 1000 championship in Sweden, for which he had to obtain a special license for single-seaters, granted to drivers with a minimum age of 14 years.
Rodrigo Seabra went through intense practical and theoretical tests, as well as physical and psychological evaluations carried out in Sweden, having entered the Aquila Driver Academy, through the Swedish Automobile Sports Federation.
The objective of the Portuguese driver is to fight for one of the top positions, facing the dream of reaching Formula 1.
“It is not enough to participate, you have to evolve little by little and show ability, give my best, have good results and be at least among the top 10 or five”, said the Maiato driver.
Rodrigo Seabra admits that good results are essential to maintain “real hopes of one day reaching the highest level, in Formula 1.”
“Even for a Portuguese, I want to think that it can be possible,” he stressed.
So far, he has impressed Swedish officials and Dan Suenson, head of construction company Aquila, is enthusiastic about the Portuguese’s skills.
“It will be a great privilege to have someone so young and so talented at the Aquila Driver Academy. Rodrigo is a young man that any team would love to work with, very responsible and very focused on what he does,” he described.
The same official also believes that Rodrigo Seabra “learns very quickly.” “This invitation was unanimous after having impressive test results,” he added.
The championship starts on May 7 with the first of 24 races, with a grid of 25 cars.
“In terms of driving, there is a huge difference with karting, just being a car. The aerodynamics, the way of driving, the gearbox and gears, the weight and mass of the car in the corners and under braking… super excited”, he underlined. Rodrigo Seabra, considering that “what does not change anything is the focus of the race”, promised to remain “focused” on giving his best.
Ni Amorim, president of the FPAK, considers Rodrigo Seabra “a very talented young driver”, which is why he believes that “he will go far in his sporting career”.
“We are aware of the importance and difficulties of moving from karting to car competition. We bet on Rodrigo’s success”, he stressed.
Currently 12 years [cumpre os 13 a 22 de dezembro]Rodrigo Seabra is in his seventh year of school, having the status of a highly competitive athlete.
His taste for racing came to him at the age of four, when he tried motocross. At five he tried Karting, with the help of his father, and, at seven, he was already doing his first race.
He was Rotax National Champion, in the Micro Max category, for Portugal and Spain in 2020, and at just nine years old.
He has participated in several races in the Benelux championship, as well as races in the Italian championship. The following year, he also represented Portugal at the Iame World Finals in Adria, Italy, after placing sixth out of 78 riders in the 2021 Iame Euro Series European Championships.
He also did the British championship with the team of Oliver Rowland, a Formula E driver.
At the end of 2021, Rodrigo Seabra ended the season at the “Super Nationals USA” in the city of Las Vegas, where he won one sleeve and finished the other two in second and third place, against 70 opponents.
In 2022, at the age of 11, he started the season in the United States of America in Super Karting USA, with four races, one of them finishing in the top 10, before participating in the German championships.
Source: TSF
