British F4’s two races at Donington Park provided plenty of action even with Sunday’s rain forcing a delay to race two and the cancellation of race three. Feeder Series looks at some of the key stories from round one ahead of this weekend’s event at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

By Gavin Guthrie

The opening weekend at Donington Park presented several challenges for rookie and veteran drivers alike. Light rain in the final laps of race one on Saturday caught out Xcel Motorsport rookie August Raber, bringing out the red flag – and with it an end to proceedings – ahead of the final lap.

On Sunday, heavy rainfall saw track action halted for all series at the Leicestershire circuit until more than halfway through the original programme. With race 3 postponed to an as-yet-unconfirmed date, many drivers seemed more willing to race harder in the second, and now final, race of the weekend.

In that race, Virtuosi’s Martin Molnár ended up beached on the exit of the final corner after contact with JHR’s Leo Robinson on lap two, while Zack Scoular, Reza Seewooruthun and Max Dodds were among those who had excursions through the gravel traps.

Repeated track limit violations earned race leader Alex Berg a five-second penalty that stripped him of his maiden British F4 win, with a subsequent penalty for weaving on the straights dropping him off the podium altogether to sixth place.

Fairclough builds early lead

Ahead of the opening round, Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough looked to be the favourite for pole position after having topped testing on Thursday. However, a string of deleted laps stunted Fairclough’s momentum, with the championship hopeful ultimately ending the session in fourth.

Despite the hiccups in qualifying, Fairclough looked rapid in race one. A slow start from the lead for Rodin’s James Higgins allowed the Hitech driver – starting third in the opening event – to move past both Higgins and Alex Ninovic into the lead by the exit of the first corner.

That was the end of the action for Fairclough in the opening race. While Rodin teammates Higgins and Ninovic squabbled behind for the remaining podium places, the Hitech driver built a dominant lead of more than six seconds, collecting several fastest laps along the way. A late smattering of rain reduced this gap to just under 5.5 seconds, but even without the last-lap red flag, Fairclough’s lead looked to be in no doubt.

After a morning dominated by heavy rain and delays, Fairclough lined up seventh on the grid for race two. The Hitech driver made opportunistic moves to rise from seventh to fourth in the opening two laps before the safety car came out on lap three for the incident between Molnár and Robinson.

Fairclough spent much of the rest of the race battling wheel to wheel with Jack Sherwood and Yuanpu Cui before breaking free from the pair to chase teammate Mika Abrahams in second, reducing the gap from 5.8 seconds to 2.9 seconds in just six laps.

Ultimately, Berg’s penalty promoted Abrahams to his maiden race victory, while Fairclough extended his championship lead to 13 points with second and another fastest lap point.

Fairclough achieved his first single-seater podium at Brands Hatch Indy last year. His championship-leading form in 2024 suggests more podiums and wins may follow this weekend.

Tricky start for Pulling

Rodin’s Abbi Pulling had a more difficult weekend than some may have expected. The Alpine Academy driver qualified well, with both her fastest and her second-fastest times putting her fifth, but lost time in race one in a tight battle with JHR driver Ella Lloyd. This cost Pulling two places, as teammate Sherwood and the fast-starting Yuanpu Cui of Argenti slipped through and built a gap to the pair.

Things got worse for Pulling in race two when a slow launch and apparent discomfort with the car saw her tumble down the order through the race. She then earned a five-second penalty for track limits and dropped from 15th to 17th, more than 11 seconds behind nearest teammate Alex Ninovic.

But it may not be all doom and gloom for Pulling. Her results in last weekend’s F1 Academy round at Miami – where she took both pole positions, both wins, and one fastest lap – will boost her confidence as she heads to Brands Hatch.

Mercedes junior Cui leads the Rookie Cup

Argenti driver Cui impressed in his first British F4 race weekend. After qualifying ninth for race 1, the 16-year-old Chinese driver made the most of a good launch, rising to fourth by the end of the second lap. Despite pressure from Sherwood behind, Cui held position for the rest of the race, eventually building a gap of several seconds over the battling Seewooruthun and Sherwood.

Cui started alongside Joel Bergstrom on the front row for race two and held position on lap one, but the trio of Abrahams, Sherwood and Fairclough passed him on lap two.

Once the safety car peeled into the pits at the end of lap six, Cui clung to the rear of Fairclough’s car as the Hitech driver battled with Rodin’s Sherwood. Then on lap 11, as Fairclough moved to the inside at Coppice to put pressure on Sherwood ahead, Cui pounced, dancing around the outside of the silver-and-red Hitech.

But Fairclough re-passed Cui later that lap, and a mistake on lap 12 cost the Mercedes junior several places that he never regained.

Cui’s racecraft through both races showed impressive development from his F4 UAE outings just a few months ago. He now sits atop the Rookie Cup standings, four points ahead of Chris Dittmann Racing’s Bart Harrison, and leads his Argenti teammate, Rowan Campbell-Pilling, by eight points in the overall drivers’ standings entering Brands Hatch.

Header photo credit: Dom Bessell