F1weekly Podcast # 947

Matthew is a 17-year-old Junior at The First Academy in Orlando Florida and maintains a 4.0 GPA despite missing a lot of school due to a busy racing schedule. Matt developed a passion for cars and racing at a very young age. Even as a toddler his favorite toy was his collection of “Hot Wheel” cars.

Matthew started racing go-karts at the age of 9 winning many local and regional championships. In 2017 he began racing karts on a national level consistently placing the top 10 and even finding himself on the podium against some of the best drivers in the world. In his final year of karting he was even asked to race for the factory CRG race team in the United States.

In 2020 Matt made the transition from karts to cars racing the Lucas Oil Race Series narrowly missing the championship by a mere 25 points in his first year. During the 18-race series he was able to achieve 6 wins and 12 podiums despite being the youngest driver in the series. In the beginning of 2021 Matthew was 15 which is the minimum age to race F4.

#45: Matt Christensen, Velocity Racing Development, Velocity Racing Development F4

He raced the United States F4 Championship finishing 5th in the championship points in his rookie year. For the upcoming year Matt plans to race the 2022 F4 United States Championship with VRD. He will also be racing the World Racing League endurance series in an NP01 Prototype in an effort to expand his car racing experience. His ultimate goal is to one day become a full time Indy Car Driver.

Matthew made the transition from Pro Karting to cars in 2020. Since January of 2020 he has competed in a total of 26 races and has been on the podium a total 18 times with a total of 9 wins. Some of the most notable moments are finishing a very close 2nd in the Lucas Oils Championship series and collecting a 3rd place finish in Homestead and a 1st place finish in Sebring for the 2021 F4 Winter Series.

Lucas Oil School of racing

​Lucas Oil Championship 2020: Total of 18 races in 6 states across the United States. Matt collected a total of 12 podiums and 6 wins. A tremendous accomplishment for the youngest driver in the series.

​​Lucas Oil Winter Series 2021 (round 1 & 2): Matt competed in rounds 1 & 2 of the Lucas Oil Winter Series winning both events and was able to lead every race lap except for one.

​F4 Winter Series 2021: In his first ever F4 race Matt achieved 3rd place overall at race one in Homestead Florida and 1st place over all at round two at Sebring International Raceway. Another impressive accomplishment considering many of the divers have been competing in the series for 2-3 years.

2021 F4 US Championship: In his rookie year of F4 Matt was able to achieve 7 top five finishes, two podiums, and finished 5th overall in the championship out of 42 drivers that competed during the season.

2022 F4 US Championship: Matt’s goal for 2022 is to win the F4 US Championship. With two rounds completed, he has been on the podium four times in six races. He currently has two first place finishes and two second place finishes.

Play Podcast: 07-12-22f1weekly947.mp3