British F4 now heads into its tenth season after last year’s title fight between Louis Sharp and Will Macintyre that went all the way to the final race in Brands Hatch. Rodin’s James Higgins and Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough look set to provide as close a battle for the championship as their predecessors, while Mercedes junior Yuanpu Cui makes his debut and F1 Academy championship leader Abbi Pulling returns to the series for a partial campaign. Feeder Series is here to provide all the key details ahead of the 2024 season.

By Gavin Guthrie

With both of last season’s title contenders moving up to GB3, where reigning F4 champion Louis Sharp has taken an early lead after a win on debut at Oulton Park, the stage looks set in British F4 for another high-stakes season at the front of the field. The second-year drivers – such as Hitech’s Mika Abrahams and Deagen Fairclough as well as Rodin’s James Higgins and Jack Sherwood – will be hoping to take the title as they prepare to move up the feeder series ladder, while rookies like Rowan Campbell-Pilling and karting superstar Joel Bergström will aim to make an early impression as they adapt to single-seater machinery. 

The calendar

British F4 will be going international for the first time, heading to shores of the North Sea for a round at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Of the other nine rounds, eight will be taking place as part of the support bill for the British Touring Car Championship – as has been the case since the championship’s days as a Formula Ford series – with the round at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit accompanying the Britcar series.

• Round 1: Donington Park National Circuit (27-28 April)
• Round 2: Brands Hatch Indy Circuit (11-12 May)
• Round 3: Snetterton Circuit (25-26 May)
• Round 4: Thruxton Circuit (8-9 June)
• Round 5: Silverstone GP Circuit (15-16 June)
• Round 6: Circuit Zandvoort (13-14 July)
• Round 7: Knockhill Racing Circuit (10-11 August)
• Round 8: Donington Park GP Circuit (24-25 August)
• Round 9: Silverstone National Circuit (21-22 September)
• Round 10: Brands Hatch GP Circuit (5-6 October)

The format

Like last year, there will be two practice sessions, a qualifying session and three races. The grid for race one will be determined by the second-fastest time achieved by a driver during qualifying. Race two’s grid will be formed by reversing the top 12 of the qualifying order; the rest of the field will start where they qualified. The full qualifying order is used to set the grid for race three. 

Also unchanged from last year is the points distribution. Two points will be awarded to whichever driver sets the fastest legal lap in qualifying.

Races one and three will award points in the standard FIA distribution: 25 points for the lead, 18 for second, and so on down to one point for the tenth-placed driver. The reverse grid race awards 15 points for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 8 for fourth, 6 for fifth, 4 for sixth, 2 for seventh, and one point for finishing eighth.

Race two also awards a point per position gained relative to the driver’s position on the starting grid up to a maximum of 10 points. All three races also award one point for the fastest lap.

Teams and drivers

Rodin Motorsport

Returning to the series with a shortened moniker, the reigning teams’ champions will be looking to continue their run of form into 2024 as they bring an all-new driver lineup.

Abbi Pulling (#9), who currently leads the F1 Academy championship also with Rodin, makes her return to British F4 after being forced to leave midway through the 2021 season due to budget issues. Pulling won’t be competing in the rounds that clash with F1 Academy, so she sees the championship title as “kind of out of the question,” as she told Feeder Series. Nonetheless, the Alpine Academy member will be aiming to take wins and podiums wherever opportunity presents. 

Alex Ninovic (#12) comes to British F4 for the first time, having competed in Spanish F4 with Rodin in 2023, where he finished 10th overall. Coming into his second season in F4, Ninovic will be hoping to continue his upwards trajectory from the back end of last year’s campaign.

Making the switch from Fortec ahead of his second full season in the series, James Higgins (#18) has his sights set on the drivers’ title, taking two wins and a further four podiums on his way to sixth in last year’s standings. Higgins looks to emulate his Rodin predecessor Louis Sharp as he mounts a title charge of his own.

Jack Sherwood (#78) will also move to Rodin for his second season in the series, having competed with Chris Dittmann Racing. Sherwood managed three podiums in 2023 but will be working to improve his consistency after multiple race weekends without points on the board cost him championship positions that were within reach.

Hitech GP

Teams’ championship runners-up Hitech will be looking to snatch the Teams’ Cup away from Rodin with their new lineup after missing out by 40 points last year.

Reza Seewooruthun (#4) spent 2023 racing in the Ginetta Juniors championship where he became the first driver in the series’ history to lead every lap of each race at Brands Hatch on his way to third in the championship. He made his single-seater debut earlier this year in F4 UAE, managing one podium in an otherwise modest outing as he adapted to F4 machinery. 

Mika Abrahams (#5) joined last year’s grid late, forced to wait until round four to compete due to British F4’s minimum age requirement. The 15-year-old makes the switch from Fortec – where he scored one podium – for his sophomore season.

Title favourite Deagen Fairclough (#7) managed a lofty third place in the standings in his single-seater debut with JHR in 2023, taking three wins and a further five podiums. As the fastest driver throughout testing, Fairclough looks to be in an excellent position to fight for the championship win. However, the 17-year-old will need to work on keeping his nose clean, having 18 points subtracted from his final tally in 2023 due to an accumulation of penalty points.

JHR Developments

Beating Fortec Motorsport by just 10 points last season, JHR look to start bridging the gap to the top two teams, bringing on four very talented new drivers.

Chloe Chong (#11) made her car racing debut in F1 Academy with only a month’s notice but made an early impression, taking sixth place in round one at the Red Bull Ring. Having tested with JHR prior to her F1 Academy debut, Chong returns to the team in British F4 as she continues to develop her skills as a driver.

Swedish karting star Joel Bergström (#22) makes his single-seater debut following victories in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the E20 Junior class in 2021 and contesting the WSK Super Master Series in the OK class last year. Bergström has high hopes for his first season in cars, targeting not only the Rookie Cup win but also the drivers’ title.

Leo Robinson (#33) started 2023 in the Ginetta Junior series, becoming their youngest ever race winner, before making the switch to Danish F4. Robinson scored 10 podiums in 10 races en route to fourth in the standings despite  only competing in half of the season. The Anglo-Algerian driver will be certainly looking to continue this impressive form into 2024.

Welsh driver – as well as national-level show-jumper and skier – Ella Lloyd (#44) will be starting her first full season in single-seaters after taking 10 wins and a further eight podiums in the GT5P class of the Ginetta GT Championship in 2023, followed by a modest performance in the final two rounds of the Formula Winter Series.

Fortec Motorsport

After only competing in two rounds of the 2022 season, Fortec turned their fortunes around in 2023, narrowly missing out on the top-three in the teams’ championship. Unlike rivals JHR, Fortec will stick with a three-car line-up this year.

Nina Gademan (#3) made her car racing debut in the 2022 ACNN PTC Cup before competing in the 24 Hours of Zolder in the TB class. Gademan did not compete in any championships in 2023, instead focusing on her career as a social media personality and driver coach, producing F1 game content for her own platforms as well as for Veloce Esports. 

Second-year driver Kai Daryanani (#8) made the most of 2023, competing in F4 UAE, Euro 4, Spanish F4, and three rounds of GB4 alongside his maiden British F4 campaign, before contesting the Macau and Sepang rounds of the South-East Asia F4 championship. Daryanani makes the switch to Fortec from Virtuosi Racing as he looks to make the most of his experience in F4 machinery.

Son of ex-F1 driver Allen Berg, Canadian driver Alex Berg (#48) will be hoping to build on his experience in the F4 US Championship, where he took his maiden win last season. Having represented Team Canada in the finals at both the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy, Berg will now make his full-time UK debut.

Chris Dittmann Racing

CDR enters 2024 with a scaled-back line-up, running only one car this year, down from the three that the team started 2023 with.

Rookie Bart Harrison (#77) will be the one to take the lone seat, having spent the last two years competing in karting in the X30 senior category. He will likely benefit from having the full team’s support as he makes the step up to single-seaters.

Virtuosi Racing

While the senior team in Formula 2 has undergone a rebrand to Invicta Racing, the British F4 division retains the name it entered the series with in 2022. Looking to move up the field in 2024, Virtuosi brings a trio of fresh talents to the grid.

Maxwell Dodds (#17) originally sought to enter British F4 before budget constraints pushed him towards Ginetta Juniors and ultimately left the then 15-year-old without a drive. Two years out of the car combined with having only signed with Virtuosi in late March – which resulted in reduced testing time – put Dodds on the back foot. However, the 18-year-old has since impressed, ending a test day on the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in fourth, less than two tenths behind session leader Fairclough.

Hungarian driver Martin Molnár (#24) makes the step up from karts this year after a successful karting campaign. Molnár spent 2023 contesting a range of karting championships, most notably finishing second in the WSK Champions Cup in the OK class and becoming the first Hungarian to win the 27º South Garda Winter Cup, also in the OK class. Coming into British F4, Molnár will have the continued support of former GP3 and European Rallycross driver Tamás Pál Kiss.

Yuhao Fu (#99) begins his first full season in single-seaters. He made the step up from the WSK Super Master series at the end of 2023 to compete in two rounds of the South-East Asia F4 championship, in which he collected 10 points over the six races. Fu had a quiet season in the F4 UAE championship earlier this year, finishing 37th, and will likely have his work cut out for him in British F4. However, with support from Virtuosi, the gap to the front of the field has been steadily decreasing throughout testing.

Argenti Motorsport

Argenti had a torrid season last year, only managing to score a quarter of their 2022 points haul. Pre-season testing has shown signs of a return to form, with the team’s two rookie talents setting times at the sharp end of the field.

Rowan Campbell-Pilling (#42) moves up into single-seaters after contesting the Daniel Ricciardo series and both the junior and senior classes of the IAME X30 series. Campbell-Pilling has been a regular feature of the top ten so far during testing.

His teammate, Mercedes junior Yuanpu Cui (#56) spent 2023 competing in the IAMA Winter Cup in the X30 Senior category and the WSK Super Master series, before moving to F4 UAE alongside Yuhao Fu to get his eye in ahead of his British F4 debut. Cui has already shown why he earned his Mercedes backing, finishing testing at the Silverstone National Circuit on top of the timing sheets as he targets regular podium contention for this season.

Xcel Motorsport

Though new to British F4, the Emeriti outfit has several years of experience in F4 UAE, having run drivers such as Pepe Martí and Nikita Bedrin in the past. The team look set to make the most of that experience with F4 machinery, regularly setting times in the top ten during testing.

Zack Scoular (#23) made his car racing debut at the end of 2023 in the F4 UAE Trophy Round at Yas Marina after a season in the Rotax Max Euro Trophy championship. Having worked with Xcel for the last seven years in both karting and F4, Scoular is in a good position to maximise the potential of the team throughout this season as they settle into the championship.

The last driver to be announced for the championship, 15-year-old August Raber – another product of Xcel’s karting outfit – will partner with ex-karting teammate Scoular as he adapts to single-seater racing.

Header photo credit: Dom Bessell