Adam Al Azhari produced a masterful performance in the opening race of the weekend at Snetterton to secure his second win of the season in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA.
Starting from fifth on the grid, the Rodin Motorsport driver carved his way to the front of the field within a handful of laps – and once out front, he was not to be denied as Henry Joslyn (Fortec Motorsport) and Ethan Jeff-Hall (Argenti Motorsport) completed the podium.
The day began with a captivating battle for the C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award around the 2.968-mile circuit, culminating in Fionn McLaughlin (Hitech TGR) snaring double pole by just a tenth of a second, with 14 drivers within one second of his time.
On an ever-drying track, McLaughlin was among a number of drivers that all staked their claim at the summit of the times, but a late charge from the Red Bull Junior driver proved enough to secure the bragging rights for the first time this season.
Behind him, Joslyn – who was the fastest qualifier at the season-opener – secured second on the grid while Martin Molnár (Virtuosi Racing), Theo Palmer (Xcel Motorsport) and Yuhao Fu (Xcel Motorsport) completed the top five.
With the second fastest lap times from qualifying deciding the grid for race one, McLaughlin was sadly unable to convert his front row start into a maiden victory, as he suffered front wing damage while controlling proceedings early on.
Breaking clear of the chasing pack as soon as the lights went out, the Irishman was over a second clear out front; however, having clipped a bollard, he soon began to drop into the clutches of those behind.
Leading the chase was Al Azhari, who had made a number of eye-catching overtakes to move up to second – and as McLaughlin battled to maintain his advantage, the 15-year-old struck with a decisive move at Williams.
McLaughlin soon pitted for repairs and his demise promoted Joslyn up to second who, despite his best efforts, was unable to launch a meaningful attack on Al Azhari and instead shadowed him all the way to the chequered flag.
Rowan Campbell-Pilling (JHR Developments) had run as high as third, but a five-second time penalty for a false start dropped him down the order, and in-turn promoted Mercedes F1 Junior Jeff-Hall onto the podium for the first time this season.
Others to benefit from the Campbell-Pilling penalty included Joel Bergström (JHR Developments) who was fourth, Molnár in fifth, and leading rookie Palmer in sixth – who started P3 after a fantastic Qualifying performance.
August Raber (Argenti Motorsport) finished seventh on track but received a penalty, demoting him to P12. This meant that Campbell-Pilling, Chase Fernandez (Xcel Motorsport), Thomas Bearman (Hitech TGR) and Chloe Chong (Rodin Motorsport) completed the top ten.
Bearman in particular stood out with an impressive drive from the back of the grid into the points, making up 10 places on Lap 1 alone.
Further down the order, Tommy Harfield (Chris Dittmann Racing) clinched Challenge Cup honours after finishing on the fringes of the points-paying positions, while there was trouble for championship leader Jimmy Piszcyk (Rodin Motorsport) as he failed to finish. Cole Hewetson (Xcel Motorsport) completed the Rookie Cup podium.
Races two and three of the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA at Snetterton are scheduled to take place at 10:35 and 16:00 respectively on Sunday, with both races forming part of ITV4’s free-to-air coverage that commences at 10:45 BST. Both races are livestreamed on the Championship’s YouTube channel outside of the UK.
Click here for all the links you’ll need for the remainder of the weekend – including coverage on our social media channels, live timing, commentary from the circuit, results & standings, race reports, podcast and post-race interviews.
