Records tumbled in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA this season as the UK’s premier single-seater series further cemented its status as one of the most crucial and competitive steps on the road to Formula 1.
Packed with thrills and spills from start-to-finish, history was made at almost every turn in 2025 and it culminated in Hitech TGR’s Fionn McLaughlin securing the championship in what was an unforgettable debut open-wheel campaign.
Touted by many as one to watch before racing had even begun, the Red Bull Junior driver pieced together a sublime season that was packed with wins, podiums, poles and fastest laps to clinch both the Drivers’ Championship and Rookie Cup.
McLaughlin didn’t have it all his own way with Virtuosi’s 2024 Rookie Cup winner Martin Molnár leading the championship in the early part of the season. Latterly Rodin Motorsport’s Jimmy Piszcyk gave the champion a good run for his money to the end, besting McLaughlin’s number of outright wins.
Despite his best efforts, McLaughlin and Hitech TGR couldn’t stop Rodin Motorsport from snatching Hitech’s long-held Teams’ Cup lead at the very last race, with just 1.5 points separating the two rivals as the season concluded.
McLaughlin’s reward for scooping the coveted British championship title was not only an invaluable 12 FIA Super Licence Points, but also solid foundations that will undoubtedly help play their part in allowing him to make his mark as he graduates up to FIA Formula 3 for 2026.
Whilst McLaughlin rightfully claimed a majority of the plaudits, the Irishman was one of a record 36 drivers – spanning 21 nationalities no less – that competed in Britain’s Formula 4 category over the course of the 2025 season.
2025 saw year on year records in average and peak grids, with a whole host of fresh faces nearly every weekend as drivers from other championships took the opportunity to join the fray, underlining that drivers from across the world wanted to test their competitiveness in the British Championship.
In total, a record 14 different drivers from each of the championship’s eight teams claimed victory during the season with a further four drivers also standing on the rostrum. Additionally, there were no less than six different recipients of the C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award across championship weekends.
One winner that will undoubtedly look back on the year with fond memories is Virtuosi Racing’s Salim Hanna as he built on success at Thruxton to grab a brace of famous race wins at the 2025 Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix.
Making history at Silverstone in July, British F4 underlined its position as the first rung on the single-seater pathway ladder by racing on the same bill as Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 for the first time ever.
The Colombian teenager emerged as the driver to beat in front of more than 500,000 fans as he charged to victory in both non-points rounds.
On reflection, Silverstone was the scene for several other memorable moments with the series’ 300th race being staged at the Northamptonshire venue back in May before almost the entire grid was covered by just half a second in qualifying when they returned in September.
The ripple effect of Formula 1 would be on display all year long too as seven F1 Junior Drivers – McLaughlin (Red Bull), Ella Lloyd, Dries Van Langendonck (McLaren), Ethan Jeff-Hall (Mercedes), Nina Gademan (Alpine), Alba Larsen (Ferrari) and Emma Felbermayr (Sauber) – competed.
Female representation was at an all-time high as well with the aforementioned Lloyd, Gademan, Larsen and Felbermayr four of eight female drivers that raced throughout the season; Lloyd, who was a podium finisher at Zandvoort, emerged as the best-placed of them.
Elsewhere, new for this season, was the successful introduction of the Challenge Cup, a class designed to help drivers who could not commit to a full ten-round championship – with competitors limited to a maximum of racing at seven events.
In what was a captivating inaugural season for the competition, Fortec Motorsport’s Ary Bansal eventually walked away as the first-ever champion while Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield underlined the merits of the Challenge Cup as he went from a front-runner in the competition to a multiple overall race-winner.
Finally, record-breaking numbers weren’t just consigned to the track either as tens of thousands of fans tuned in around the world to watch live race day coverage on the official British F4 YouTube channel – further expanding its passionate and unrivalled fanbase.
The 2025 Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA will, for now, go down in history as one of the all-time great seasons, with open and competitive racing to rival no other championship.
Fans will have to wait until Donington Park on April 18-19 next year when the new season gets underway to see how the next chapter unfolds.