As the lights turn on and the countdown starts. The adrenaline rushes down your spine. You can feel your heart beat faster as your dreams become reality and the work you’ve put in finally starts to pay off. Surrounding you are all your competitors, but also the people that helped you throughout the last year. As the light turn green you’re hit with reality, after just a few months of racing, you are competing in Spanish Formula 4.

This is the story of Maximiliano Restrepo, the TCS 11th grader that is currently starting his Formula 4 journey. Facing challenges and gaining experience, he has worked hard throughout the last year and is now training for his first European races. Restrepo has had a surprising career,  starting at the age of 16, racing against drivers who have been racing their whole life. The young driver stood up to the challenge of catching up, and in an extremely short amount of time, he has worked hard on and off the track and is now prepared to compete in Formula 4.

“Starting to race at the age of 16 is really hard because most of my rivals have been karting since they were five years old, however, with a lot of discipline and hard work I believe I can be competitive and work towards my goals,” Restrepo said.

Restrepo’s Racing Journey   

Maxi’s story starts around a year ago when he first started testing for the Tillotson karting category that takes place in Bogotá. In this category rookie drivers of all ages race against each other in entry-level karts with small 200cc engines. After just a few weeks of training, he entered his first race in the Kartodromo Juan Pablo Montoya. From there, he started moving up through categories all the way up to the Karts Senior category, where he joined the Prospeed Colombia team. Restrepo has raced around the country exploring the different tracks of Bogotá and Villavicencio, where he got a podium during a 3-hour endurance karting race at Kartodromo Laguna Viva. 

“The race in Villavicencio was by far my toughest race. It was my first endurance race and racing in extreme heat requires a lot of resistance. Thankfully we put in a great performance and got 3rd place,” Restrepo said.

Last December Restrepo drove in Europe for the first time in Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya and Circuito de Andalucía where he got a chance to show off his skills and be announced as a driver for the Drive-X Formula 4 team. 

“This sport has always been my passion and I am very happy to join Spanish Formula 4 together with DriveX. I can’t wait to start the season and give it my all to get the best results,” Restrepo said.

Balancing School and Racing

During his racing journey, Restrepo has had a tough time trying to balance student life with his racing career. Although TCS has been very flexible with high-performance athletes, Restrepo often has to travel because of the lack of racing infrastructure. Since the start of the school year, Restrepo has been training in Europe which has forced him to often miss school for weeks at times.

“Racing abroad has been extremely hard because I have to find a balance between racing and school, however, I believe that with discipline I can work past this challenge,” Restrepo said.

TCS administrators are working hard to provide students like Restrepo with the tools necessary to learn all the content remotely while allowing the flexibility to train. The school wants to encourage students to become high-performance athletes and wants to make it possible for students to balance school with sports.

“Being a professional athlete requires a lot of discipline, students must visualize the sacrifice and commit to it by putting their social life aside to work on school and their sport, and find a balance between them,” Juan David Lopez, TCS HS principal, said.

What’s Next?

Currently, Restrepo is traveling throughout the Iberian Peninsula testing at various tracks and racing simulators to prepare for the F4 season in May. Meanwhile, Restrepo will debut in the Formula Winter Series, a pre-season Formula 4 championship that takes place throughout Spain. His first race weekend will be on February 10th-12th at Autodromo Jerez. Later this month, he will race in Circuito Ricardo Tormo, before coming back to Medellin to prepare for the start of the season.

“Racing at a high level requires a lot more effort than people think. Throughout the last few months, I have been training every single day looking forward to the season and I believe that my discipline and consistency will take me far,” Restrepo said.

Restrepo’s dreams are set high and he believes that by putting in all this work he will be able to have a competitive season which will boost his career. His biggest aspiration in the long term is to make it to Formula 1 but right now he is focused on the present and hopes to perform well in Formula 4. 

“Like any racing driver my ultimate dream is to drive in Formula 1, it is an extremely difficult target as only 20 drivers per year actually make it there, however, I will continue working hard towards that goal,” Restrepo said.

The young driver could also be involved in the Colombian racing scene in 2023 as he might race in the Campeonato Nacional de Automovilismo and Karting championships in Villavicencio and Bogotá.

“Being successful in this sport requires a lot of hard work and dedication, I believe I have the discipline and passion necessary to be successful and achieve my dream,” Restrepo said.