Just this past weekend in Velocitta, TMG’s Rafaela Ferreira took her maiden Brazilian F4 victory, becoming the first female driver to win in the championship. Feeder Series speaks to the Brazilian driver to learn more about her season thus far.

By Laura Anequini

“Above expectations.” 

That’s what Rafaela Ferreira replied when we asked her to define how her season in Brazilian F4 is going, and she is definitely right! Ferreira just became the first woman to ever win a race in the South American championship – an achievement only few have done in single-seaters racing in general. 

Ferreira’s career in single-seaters started last year when she first joined Brazilian F4. She ascended the racing ladder coming from karting where she also had major achievements – such as being the first woman to take pole in the Copa Brasil de Kart and coming fourth in the Campeonato Brasileiro de Kart in 2022 in the Graduates A category. 

In 2023, she was one of the only two women driving in the Brazilian F4 Championship. Her rookie season was certainly a roller-coaster, filled with highs and lows, but as she adapted with the car, her results started showing. In the last round of the season, Ferreira achieved one more first for Brazilian F4, as she became the first woman to stand on the podium. Happily, this result was just a glimpse of how her following season would go.

Staying with TMG Racing, she started the season off strong. “It’s the year we’ve been making history”, she says. 

In both free practices at Velocitta, the season opener, Ferreira placed in the top three. Qualifying fourth, she finished races one and three on the podium – leaving this round third in the driver’s championship.

Then came Interlagos. Ferreira was on top for the second free practice of the day, giving a preview of what would happen in qualifying, where she took pole by one-thousandth of a second from Matheus Comparatto. 

Although starting from pole, Ferreira’s teammate for this round – Filippo Fiorentino – ended up taking the lead off the line in race one. She started to close the gap, cutting it down to only five tenths by lap nine of the race, but Fiorentino managed to defend his position, thus having to settle for second. 

Race two had the inversion of the grid, though she still came back to finish eighth. In race three, Ferreira had to serve a drive-through for contact with Fiorentino, finishing the race in ninth. However, even though she did not win during this round in Interlagos, it was clear that it was only a matter of time for Ferreira to get her first win.   

And the time came soon after! Ferreira qualified fourth last weekend at Velocitta but had a tough first race. She had a penalty for an incident in the practice sessions that meant she would start the race from ninth. In addition from starting at the back of the grid, she had to serve a drive-through penalty during the race, ending up in eighth.

However, with the inversion of the grid for race two, Ferreira started from pole. She had a great start and managed to defend herself from the pressure of the other drivers that came right after her. It was a race filled with action, and Ferreira kept performing – even despite safety car restarts. 

After 14 laps, the moment that Ferreira dreamed off finally came: she had just become a Brazilian F4 race winner! And as she said it herself, this was “a first step for me, but also for all the other women in motorsports.”

As the first woman to ever win a race in the championship, Ferreira made history. This achievement, she says, “opens doors and shows the girls who are in karting, in the beginning, and anyone else, that we can achieve anything with dedication and training.” 

She emphasises that “with dedication, we can get there, regardless of being a woman in the field. We have to stand proud and go at it equally, on the same level.” 

Thus, Ferreira’s victory is not just a personal milestone, but an undeniable source of inspiration for future generations of female drivers.

Header photo credit: Bruna Nishida