The Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA returns to the Home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone, this coming weekend (September 20-21) with the destiny of this year’s title still firmly up for grabs
Just six races now remain in the UK’s premier single-seater series, and the battle for supremacy is poised to reach fever pitch across Saturday and Sunday, as the lead contenders fight to position themselves ahead of next month’s finale at Brands Hatch.
In a season that has seen various milestone moments reached already, the championship is poised to write another chapter in the pages of its history as a 26-car grid – a championship record high on UK soil – will go wheel-to-wheel for honours.
British F4 is no stranger to the hallowed Silverstone tarmac this year either, having already made two visits to the Northamptonshire track; the most recent being a non-championship outing on the Formula 1 support bill.
Both trips were on the Grand Prix layout, however, which is an altogether different challenge to the shorter National configuration that teams and drivers will face over the coming days.
At the top of the standings, all eyes are sure to be on Martin Molnár (Virtuosi Racing) and Jimmy Piszcyk (Rodin Motorsport) as they bid to put the brakes on Fionn McLaughlin’s (Hitech TGR) burgeoning title momentum.
After wrapping up the Rookie Cup at Donington Park, the overall crown is now McLaughlin’s sole target, and he heads to Northamptonshire with a 34.5-point advantage; meaning main protagonists Molnár and Piszcyk need to make serious inroads into the Red Bull Junior driver.
Piszcyk in particular will be optimistic of what he can achieve, having hit a real purple patch in form recently; he was also victorious at Silverstone back in May too. Molnár can never be discounted either, which in turn sets up an intriguing three-way, gloves-off fight.
While not in the title race, one driver that will be well worth keeping an eye on is Dries van Langendonck (Rodin Motorsport). The McLaren Junior driver enjoyed a debut to remember at Donington Park, becoming the youngest-ever pole sitter and race winner in British F4 history.
Overall, a total of 13 drivers have stood on the top step of the podium this season – and for the first time, all eight teams have experienced victory too, with Tommy Harfield’s maiden triumph at Donington giving Chris Dittmann Racing their first British F4 win.
Other race-winners include August Raber (Argenti Motorsport), Adam Al Azhari (Rodin Motorsport), Thomas Bearman (Hitech TGR), Rowan Campbell-Pilling (JHR Developments), Ary Bansal (Fortec Motorsport) and Chase Fernandez (Xcel Motorsport).
Such has been the competitive nature of this year’s championship, there are still a number of other drivers that could yet tally a breakthrough win as well.
Fortec Motorsport’s Henry Joslyn has been a constant threat throughout the season, whilst the Argenti Motorsport trio of Mercedes F1 Junior Ethan Jeff-Hall, Henry Mercier and Arjen Kräling have shown an abundance of pace and potential.
Elsewhere, Challenge Cup leader Ella Lloyd (Rodin Motorsport) is back from F1 Academy duties and will be hoping to add to her ever-growing silverware collection – having stood on the podium when the series visited Zandvoort.
Over at Xcel Motorsport, the trio of Theo Palmer, Cole Hewetson and Yuhao Fu have delivered stellar performances recently, and they’re likely to be battling the likes of Thomas Ingram Hill (Fortec Motorsport) and the Hitech TGR pairing of Joseph Smith and Xavier Avramides.
The grid for this weekend’s pivotal triple-header at Silverstone is completed by Chris Dittmann Racing duo Alba Larsen – another F1 Academy star – and Charlie Edge, Virtuosi Racing’s Oleksandr Savinkov and JHR Developments’ Haarni Sadiq.
Though McLaughlin has already clinched the Rookie Cup title, the battle for P2 and P3 remains ongoing. Bearman is looking fairly comfortable in second, but Hewetson, Palmer, Avramides and Mercier are all in with a shout of a top-three finish.
In the Challenge Cup, Lloyd and Bansal are separated by just 3.5 points, and either driver could well wrap up the title this weekend. One person to keep an eye on here is fifth-placed Kräling. The four drivers above him will not feature at the final round at Brands Hatch – and should the German have a positive weekend at Silverstone and the Cup remain undecided, he is in with a chance of snatching it at the finish.
Qualifying for the C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award takes place at 10:40 on Saturday before Race 1 gets underway later that afternoon at 14:55. Two more races – at 09:55 and 15:25 respectively – will then play out on Sunday.
Fans in the UK can tune in to ITV4 and ITVX to watch live on Sunday, while those following around the world can tune into Sunday’s races live on the official British F4 YouTube channel.
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