As featured in the September 2025 issue of Motorsport UK’s Revolution magazine:
British F4 is the place where many of the world’s best young drivers hone their skills. Revolution spoke to those involved to discover why it is the perfect place to build the stars of tomorrow.
By Will Gray
When Tommy Harfield climbed up on the top step of the British F4 podium after taking a popular victory at Donington Park in September, he completed a statistic that demonstrates exactly why the Wera Tools British F4 Championship, the UK’s FIA-approved feeder series, is recognised worldwide as a top proving ground for young up and-coming drivers.
British driver Harfield was the 12th different winner of the season and his maiden triumph for Chris Dittman Racing means that all eight teams on the grid have now tasted victory in 2025. On the same weekend, McLaren-backed Belgian Dries van Langendonck, a former junior karting champion, celebrated his 15th birthday with a debut pole-to-flag victory, and Irish Red Bull Junior driver Fionn McLaughlin wrapped up the Rookie Cup.
As Championship Manager Eve Lake-Grange explains, there could not be a more open and competitive environment to showcase young talent.
“One of the most important reasons drivers join us is the parity of performance, because it ensures that success is all about the talent in the car,” she says.
“We also have several internationally renowned teams on our grid who can continue to support successful drivers all the way to the top of the pathway.”
The British title has become a coveted prize, with inaugural winner Lando Norris now in F1 alongside McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, British F4 runner-up in 2017.
Other champions include Formula E’s Zane Maloney; F2 drivers Alex Dunne and Luke Browning (backed by McLaren and Williams respectively); Louis Sharp in F3; Deagen Fairclough in GB3; British GT drivers Jamie Caroline and Kiern Jewiss; and Porsche Carrera Cup rookie champion Matthew Rees.
Lake-Grange believes the impressive and ever-growing alumni list is also down to the unique racing challenge that the British championship delivers, explaining: “Many of the tracks are tight and technical and we can also pretty much guarantee a few wet races in the course of the year. That requires the utmost concentration, with little room for error, so it allows drivers to develop skills they might not encounter in other championships.
“Our graduates have gone on to compete in a very wide range of different series and as well as the big stars in F1, there are also former British F4 drivers in other single seater formula such as Indycar and Formula E, as well as GTs and endurance racing. It’s fascinating to watch so many alumni carving out their careers in motorsport and earning a living off the back of the skills that they first developed in our championship.”
Current title leader McLaughlin drives for last year’s Teams’ Champions Hitech TGR and, like all those on the grid, he has aspirations of future stardom. He hopes the combination of intense competition on the track and technical analysis in the garage will prove valuable on the journey ahead and explains: “High-level sport is competitive and to be successful you need to be talented, hard-working and make the right steps to become a more complete driver.
“There has definitely been a lot to learn in British F4 this year, particularly on the technical side. It has been challenging adjusting to the car and it has been tough being a rookie up against more experienced drivers, but I’m doing well to overcome that. My favourite moment so far was becoming the Rookie champion at Donington, and I’m hoping to add another title to my name by the end of the year.”
McLaughlin’s team-mate, Thomas Bearman, already knows what it’s like to climb the ladder all the way to F1. His older brother Ollie, four years his senior, completed that route in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year as a stand-in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari.
Now in his first full season with Haas, his pathway started with the ADAC and Italian F4 Championships – both of which he won in 2021, in his second season of racing.
The younger Bearman chose the British Championship instead, defining it as “a necessary step on the ladder” and “a really important place to hone your skills.”
He explains: “You can learn a lot of things on a grid like this with a lot of competition and my ambitions are to follow in my brother’s footsteps to F1, then see what happens from there. That’s what I’m striving to achieve, with my family and everyone behind me.”
In contrast to the other drivers in the leading teams, Harfield had more modest expectations than many of his rivals this year. He had originally only planned to compete in the Challenge Cup, which covers just seven of the 10 rounds, but after some good results, including four podiums, he felt there was still unfinished business at the end of his seventh outing – so he gave it one more roll of the dice and hit the jackpot.
“It’s a very competitive championship with many contenders at the front, and the trick to success is to qualify well and be consistent,” he said after his Donington win. “It just felt like a pole or race victory was missing to what has been a great season, so we decided to have one more to try. It was really cool to get the win, and it was such a relief after so many moments when I got so close.”
Lake-Grange acknowledges that single-seater racing is “not the most economic racing” on offer in the UK, given the breadth of club and arrive and drive formulae on offer, however she believes its status makes it the place to go for anyone who has ambitions to race in F1. That presents an interesting challenge when it comes to its organisation, as it requires a delicate balance between a highly professional set- up and one that allows competitive racing for drivers a wide range of budgets.
“It’s difficult to grapple the economics when trying to develop an affordable championship and it is fair to say that affordability is all relative,” she concedes. “The Challenge Cup was developed to give drivers who might not have full season availability or budget, the opportunity to race in British F4, showcase their talent and prove they can be competitive against full-season drivers who might be better funded.
“That has certainly been the case with a number of drivers, and the hope is that it will then create a platform from where they can raise additional sponsorship and develop more opportunities to compete. We have also worked with partners who have provided partly funded programs to drivers, including in 2023 a fully-funded drive courtesy of our previous title sponsor ROKiT, so we try to make it as accessible as we can.”
The importance of the championship is clearly demonstrated by the presence of several drivers backed by different F1 outfits. Alongside Red Bull, with McLaughlin, and McLaren, with van Langendonck and Ella Lloyd, Mercedes-AMG has elected to put their junior driver Ethan Jeff-Hall on the grid, and in previous years Alpine has also been represented by Abbi Pulling.
Drivers can race from the age of 15 and typically come from a karting background, with some already having a season of racing experience in Ginetta Juniors or other junior formulae. Typically, however, their racing know-how is very limited and for many, getting into a British F4 car will be the first time circuit racing – which means there is a huge range of maturity levels when it comes to track and technical knowledge.
Technical Delegate Rob Mason explains: “There’s a real mix around the paddock and it’s not always where you would expect it either. The drivers are all relatively young but the maturity and approach of some is impressive, and that reflects in your interactions with them. Some are a bit quiet, but others are very engaging, will always say hello to you in the paddock and want to discuss and learn more.
“Some of the drivers have already done some racing in the UK or around the world, but quite a lot have come straight from karting, so this is a bit like a university of racing. The learning is very much not just on track, it’s around everything, and that is what we want to encourage going up the ladder, because these days the drivers need to be fast, but also be approachable, and have plenty of technical knowledge to do well.”
The Championship is constantly exploring how to help its drivers develop, and as it organised by Motorsport UK, it has access to the Motorsport UK Academy and their cohort of coaches. As a result, there is a Motorsport UK Academy coach at every round to support the drivers, and they also get to improve their off-track skills in front of camera through dedicated media training, which all drivers are enrolled in at the start of the year.
This support, and the assistance the drivers receive from within their own teams, ensures a season of British F4 helps them to improve their racecraft and also become better rounded drivers – and this year the champion will additionally get a special prize from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, with the opportunity to put themselves to the test on the same simulator used by the team’s current drivers.
Mason adds: “Naturally, they’re all learning so they have lots of questions and we do our best to explain what we do and why we do it. For example, there are some general practices to learn – like putting the steering wheel back on the car every time you get out of it and making sure you get weighed at the right times – and those things carry on all the way up the ladder right the way to F1.
“There are other training aspects as well, like last year we had some of the FIA safety team come and do a presentation on why the safety clothing and helmets are important, how to wear them correctly and why you should look after your equipment. As a feeder series, we have a responsibility to help these drivers to learn, and it is important that we start ingraining the key things in them from this early age.”
While British F4 is a good place for drivers to cut their teeth, it is also perfect to help budding young engineers take their talent to the next level. The teams are all highly professional, with lots of expertise in the garages – and while some long-termers prefer home-based racing over the non-stop travelling involved in an international series, others build their skills and quickly progress up the ladder to the highest level.
The championship has been running the same car – the second generation Tatuus T-421 – for the last four years. It is fitted with a specially tuned 1.4-litre Abarth engine producing 180bhp and, with a weight of just 605kg (including driver), it can reach a top speed of 155mph. The same car is used across many different F4 championships and in F1 Academy, but the ones in the British championship have some important differences.
To keep the racing close and the budgets in check, there is a strict and tightly controlled policy to keep the cars as similar as possible and Mason explains: “The engine is tuned in the UK by Neil Brown Engineering and also equalised by them, so every engine, twice a year, goes back to them and is run on the dyno set to a strict performance window. As a result, we get really good engine parity across the whole grid.
“There’s also a really comprehensive set of documentation behind the chassis which includes the FIA regulations and homologation documents; individual homologation documents for the engine, gearbox and so on; and a set of documents form Tatuus that show an exploded view of the car, listing out every component, defining its orientation and detailing how it must be fitted and whether it can be modified and repaired.
“The tyres are also very tightly controlled, they all come from Pirelli and they’re all the same compound. There’s one wet and one dry and to stop people throwing money at it, the teams are limited to four sets of slicks and two sets of wets for each event. They’re all scanned whenever they’re used, just like they are in F1, so we know exactly which tyres are on which car at all times during the race weekend.”
The carbon fibre chassis has a halo, front and rear carbon crash structures, wheel tethers and an extrication seat – which Mason says makes it one of the safest options at this level of racing. “It absolutely has to be,” he adds. “When you’re racing at that kind of age, there’s a massive focus on safety. There are always little tweaks here and there, but these cars are very good, and they’ve basically stayed as they were since they were introduced.”
The British championship also works hard to offer a good level of car set-up options without making it too complicated and overwhelming for drivers at such an early stage of their career. The number of onboard sensors permitted is heavily restricted by the FIA, again to prevent teams blowing their budgets, but there is still plenty of information to be extracted after a session and plenty of options to adjust and improve the car.
Many drivers will have already learned to understand data outputs and modify their machines during their karting years, so it is essential that the championship bridges the gap between that and the next level up the ladder, and Mason confirms: “There’s quite a bit they can adjust on the car, such as ride height, wing angles, a set number of spring rates, damper settings, casters and cambers, so there’s plenty they can do.
“The front wing has a single plane with three settings, and the rear wing has two planes, the upper of which has a lot of adjustment options. The teams like to keep it simple in some areas, though, to focus more on the driving side, so we do restrict some things, but there’s still enough to play with for a driver to start to understand what the set-up changes are doing from a mechanical and an aerodynamic point of view.”
There are other ways to expand knowledge beyond the official sessions, however, and although wind tunnel testing is banned, Mason acknowledges that many teams will load up their cars with sensors during private testing sessions in an effort to gain the upper hand. Likewise, he says, the teams are “massively active” with simulators, which are now pretty much an essential tool for every team and driver on the grid.
“Once you get into a race, the FIA regulations are quite restrictive,” he continues. “You can’t run any suspension data logging or anything like that. We don’t want to overload the drivers, so there are set-up parameters on the car that we have controlled as well for that reason and also, the more sensors, data and set-up options you give to a team, the more testing they all have to do to be effective, so we are quite tight on that too.”
At the track, all the teams benefit from the championship’s centralised engineering support, which is led by Technical Manager Tony Kent. It is his role to make sure all the cars get out on track, so he spends a lot of time liaising with suppliers and partners in advance of the race weekends to get everything set up as well as making sure the in-car smart marshalling that the championship runs is functioning before the event begins.
Over the course of the weekend, Kent is then on hand to help the teams fault-find whenever any issues occur. During sessions, he is stationed in the pit lane along with the team of engine experts from Neil Brown Engineering and tyre technicians from Pirelli, all ready to jump in and support teams if any cars come in with a problem, helping to ensure the drivers get as much track time as possible.
Mason, meanwhile, manages the safety and technical compliance of the cars, carrying out pre-event checks and working with a small team throughout the weekend to answer any questions that may come up. “The teams love to ask the ‘can we do this?’ questions,” he says. “Their job is essentially to get as close to the line as they can without crossing it, and there is always that balance.
“In scrutineering, you’ll never be more of an expert than the teams are with the cars because they build them, they live and breathe them. Even with a car that’s four years down the line, they’re always finding new things, new ideas of what to do with it, new scenarios and new people coming in with new approaches, so the biggest challenge is keeping on top of the constant request for clarifications and interpretations.
“We watch everyone very closely, but it’s not like in F1 where they’re restricted what they can do between sessions. When the cars come off track, we have a platform in the Wera Technical Centre where the cars get weighed, we check tyres and take measurements to ensure they meet the dimension requirements, then they go back to the team so they can make set-up changes for the next time they go out on track.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect between what Tony and I are trying to achieve at a championship level and what the teams are trying to achieve, and generally the goals are aligned. Ultimately, everybody wants to have the cars out there on the track, running around reliably, knowing that they’ve got equal equipment, so that success on the track is all down to the skill of the drivers and engineers to maximise what they’ve got.”
Over the years, the UK has had number of successful first-step feeder formulae including Formula Ford, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, and Formula Renault UK, all of which used to lead into a British F3 series that teamed with the hottest drivers at the time. In the modern era, British F4 has taken up this mantle, feeding into the now well-established international FIA pathway that flows through F3 and F2 and into Formula One.
As with its predecessors, British F4’s role is to not only nurture new talent but to entertain the fans who watch. This is one of the UK’s premium single-seater racing series, with eight of the ten rounds run in support of the high-profile British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), so there is plenty of opportunity for fans to get involved – and it is Lake-Grange’s task to make the show is as entertaining as possible.
Having grown up in Silverstone village and worked at the race circuit in various departments, she became a coordinator for several different championships, and since she took the helm of British F4, as Championship Manager, the grid has grown from 15 cars to a roster of 39 different drivers. Among them are 20 different nationalities from outside the UK.
“The championship has always had so much potential, and it was tough for a while trying to get the momentum going and help it realise that potential,” she recalls.
“Growing the numbers has taken a lot of work but we now enjoy healthy grids, and they seem to still be growing. That, to a certain extent, is down to us investing and building the championship into what it is today: the look, the atmosphere, the mutual respect and camaraderie within the paddock.”
Its presence on the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) bill has given British F4 even greater gravitas, as did the coup of getting it added to the British Grand Prix support races earlier this year. That was the first time the entire F1 feeder ladder had appeared on the same bill and Lake-Grange fondly recalls standing on the grid with her team as the F4 cars lined up for their first race. “I wish I could have bottled that moment,” she says. “Proud just doesn’t seem to do it justice!
“It was an incredible experience and something that we reflect on with a great sense of pride because it was another fantastic platform for our drivers to showcase their skills. The link with BTCC is also very important for the championship as it provides a fantastic place within the UK to showcase our young drivers as they develop, getting to race in front of bumper crowds with a big sense of occasion.”
Currently, the championship only separates from the BTCC on two occasions – once in May to race on the Silverstone GP circuit (a different event to the non-Championship F1 support race) and once in late July, when it heads overseas to race at Zandvoort. “Those two events give the drivers access to current F1 tracks,” she continues. “They’re keen to test themselves on the larger tracks as they could be racing there again in the future as they progress.”
In a world where everything is becoming slicker, more professional and more exclusive, Lake-Grange is also keen to keep the championship accessible and open and to appeal to every generation of motorsport fan. Indeed, just as the championship is a feeder for young drivers, it is also a feeder for the next generation of spectators who, being of a similar age to the drivers on the grid, will ultimately follow them all the way up the ladder.
That has led to a significant investment in British F4’s online content and its global profile and Lake-Grange explains: “We continue to explore ways to bring our audience closer to the championship and we have seen tremendous growth in social media in recent years. We have also been able to facilitate our UK broadcast races to be live streamed overseas, which has helped grow our audiences considerably through the course of this season.”
As a result, interest at the track has also grown and driver autograph sessions, which take place every Sunday outside the championship’s race centre, are extremely well attended.
The fact that series alumni Norris and Piastri are now fighting each other for the F1 title underlines the reality that British F4 is genuinely shaping the future – and for many race fans, getting a selfie or having a chat with their future heroes is what it’s all about.
Speaking in a feature video on British F4’s official YouTube channel – which now has more than 11,000 subscribers – race fan Finn McLaren said: “I like watching junior series because it helps you notice the patterns of a great driver and allows you to meet who’s going to be the big names in the future. It’s such an in-person experience and the racing is fantastic and entertaining to watch.
“The British F4 community is very welcoming, and I like how close fans can get to the drivers. They’re all very lovely, very supportive, and because it’s an open paddock, you can go and see the cars, say hi to everyone, see the engineers working on the cars and get autographs from potential future F1 stars. It’s so surreal to walk through the paddock, see them in person and then see them on track racing.”
Fellow fan Jess Smith has turned her interest in the championship into a career as a content creator after building up a rapport with some of the drivers – check out her ‘favourite colour Skittles’ videos. Her journey began in 2023, when she was invited to a British GT race at Brands Hatch and met lots of drivers. The following year she started going to British F4 races as well as Ginettas and now spends most weekends away at racetracks.
“The drivers, the community, the fans, it’s all so welcoming and so accessible,” Jess said on the YouTube channel. “A lot of motorsports, like F1, isn’t as accessible because of how expensive it is, but British F4 is quite affordable for youngsters, and the junior drivers are so lovely to their fans. A lot of bigger drivers don’t have as much time because they’re so busy, but in British F4, the drivers will stop, and you can have a conversation with them.
“It’s good when you find a driver to support and then follow them through all the different championships – so, when you get the likes of Lando Norris, who was racing in F4, you can say you followed them all the way through their motorsport career. A lot of those small memories could mean a lot more in a few years when they’re all higher up in their motorsport careers.”
That is also one of the most enjoyable parts for Mason, who loves seeing drivers move on to bigger things. “It’s nice to see them get their chance and to know you’ve played a part in helping them on their journey,” he says. “We ensure they have that level playing field, from a technical side and a training side, and they’ve had the equipment to do the job, and in five or six years we get to see some of the lucky ones make it all the way to Formula One.
“For the Donington weekend, we had first-time winners in Tommy and Chris Dittmann Racing, both driver and team, and that’s a real good story. It shows we’ve got the likes of Hitech TGR and Rodin Motorsport, who go all the way up to F2, and the likes of Chris, who’s operating a UK-focused operation, and they can all be competitive in this paddock; we can give drivers with all levels of budget an opportunity. I think that’s really important.”
As the championship continues to evolve, growing awareness and building its fanbase, it is drawing in an increasingly diverse range of talent. That includes a growing number of female drivers, rising from just two in 2020 to nine in 2024, many running parallel programmes in the F1 Academy. Similarly, the international profile has grown immensely, from just one overseas winner in 2020 to 10 different nationalities winning races so far this year.
Lake-Grange says she feels “very fortunate” that the championship has such a diverse grid and concludes: “I’m proud of what we have achieved so far and we will continue to raise the profile, keep attracting the brightest and best talent from all over the world and bring it to a wider viewing audience. In the last couple of years, we have seen a massive increase in our fanbase, and we love to engage with them – so long may it continue.”
