Thessaloniki (Greece): Eleven-year-old Atiqa Mir reinforced her status as India’s leading racer on the world stage with the most dominant performance of her career in Round 2 of the Champions of the Future Academy Program, making a clean sweep of qualifying, heat races and the finals here.
Atiqa, the first Indian to be supported by the Formula 1 Academy, set the benchmark in a highly competitive field in the OK-NJ category (age 12-14). It is remarkable what she has managed to achieve in her first season in this category, giving the more experienced drivers (mostly male) a hard time on the track.
Be it the qualifying, heats or the two finals, Atiqa was in a league of her own throughout the weekend. With her sensational show, she became only the third driver to in the series’ history to sweep the qualifying, heats and finals.
While she led with admirable poise and calm on track all through the week, the little girl in her understandably got emotional when the Indian national anthem as she stood atop the podium. Atiqa is aiming to become the first female in Formula 1 since the early 1990s.
She won Round 2.2 by a more than 2.6 seconds, a massive margin in motorsport considering all 25 drivers were running on the same equipment.
Born in Mumbai with family roots in Jammu and Kashmir, Atiqa bagged the pole position in qualifying with a record time of 56.77, almost three tenths ahead of the second place driver, demonstrating skill well beyond her age and experience.
In Heat Race 1, Atiqa dominated the race from start to finish. In Heat Race 2, she bossed the field again, winning by more than a second ahead of her nearest competitor, putting her in P1 grid position for the final.
In the gruelling 15 lap final, Atiqa took control of the race at the start and demonstrated a racing masterclass, pulling away to a 3.9 seconds advantage in merely eight laps.
“It is such a difficult and physical track and I managed to win all the races. I was very emotional when the National Anthem played and there is no better feeling for me than that,” said Atiqa.
A day earlier in Round 2.1, Atiqa had qualified fourth due to setup issues but she still finished P2 and P1 in the two heat races.
Atiqa’s father Asif Mir, a former Formula Asia vice-champion, was a happy man after a special weekend.
“I was surprised by her pace, aggression and professional approach all weekend. She wa every upset from Day 1 after the crash in the Final. I think that drove her to give such a commanding performance. A proud moment for Indian Motorsport,” said Mir.
