Recently, Kiwi Motorsport announced Viktor Andersson in their 2021 driver lineup for Formula 4 USA. We caught up with the young swede before his inaugural US F4 season to talk about his journey to single-seater racing, his Dad in racing, and his passion for Indycar.
Interviewed By Sage Hou, Edited By Justin Tan
Karting has been the basis for many drivers and for you it’s no different. No doubt you’ve had some great moments in karting, you won the Ton Trana Trophy in 2015. But what was your most emotional moment in karting, and at which track?
Yes. I began to race karts in Sweden when I was 8 years old. The most amazing memory I have from Karting is the World Championship 2016 in Bahrain. I didn’t get the best results but we had good pace and everything was very unique.
2019 was one of your best years by far, with 4 victories, 16 podiums, 9 pole positions, and 8 fastest laps, and a formula Nordic Swedish junior champion. How did you keep your focus during this time? What are the challenges you faced amid so many victories? Was staying consistent challenging?
I think a lot of practice and preparation are the reasons behind the success that season. And because we were so prepared there weren’t any problems to stay consistent. We just improved during the season and in the second to last race of the season, I won by 11 seconds.
We understand that your dream series to compete in is Indycar. Compared to F1 or GT, what about Indycar attracted you the most compared to these other series?
The main reason why we focus on the American racing-ladder is because of their scholarship system. For example, if you win F4 you get a scholarship to Formula Regional. I want to give single-seater racing a chance so that’s a reason for not racing GT. I believe you could always switch to GT after a single-seater but doing the opposite is more difficult. Indycar is also less complicated than F1 and still going almost 400kph at Indy which makes it very cool.
Not all fans understand that success in motorsport is a team effort. What lessons/experiences did you gave while working with engineers, mechanics, and other professionals?
You’re right. Without the right people around you’re nothing. And it’s very important to both have people that are professional and people you get along with.
Your father Matthias Andersson had a brief stint in Indy Lights in the late ’90s. Did he get you into racing? And what did you learn from him?
Yes. And he is still racing here in Sweden with touring cars. Obviously, I’ve learned almost everything racing related from him but also a lot from my grandfather who is still very engaged with racing.
You were meant to race for Jay Howard Driver Development in US F4 last year, but coronavirus and travel restrictions meant that you only contested in the season finale. This year, you’ll finally be racing in US F4. How excited are you, and has the eagerness to race in this series kind of piled up in a sense?
I’m very excited and as you said it was the plan for 2020. I got very good impressions from the team at COTA so I’m looking forward to finally beginning my first full season in America.
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