After a breakout debut season in British F4 last year, Tommy Harfield has struggled to reach the same highs in his second year in single-seaters. Before the action began at last month’s Thruxton round, Feeder Series caught up with the 17-year-old to get his perspective on how his 2026 has gone.

By Seb Tirado

In 2025, Harfield finished fourth in the standings with three wins and six further podiums, including a second-place finish in the non-championship round at the British Grand Prix. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver ‘had a highlight every race’, but he picked out as the zenith his performance in race three of the penultimate round on the Silverstone National circuit, where he took his second victory of the year. 

“I came through from fourth. [My] pace was like crazy and I made a good move for P1,” he said, referencing his race-winning dive on Fionn McLaughlin at Brooklands. “It was a very good year last year.”

Harfield had the opportunity to move up the ladder for 2026 but saw the chance to mount a title charge in British F4 as more beneficial.

“We knew how competitive this championship was going to be this year, so we felt winning this would mean a lot,” he explained. “Obviously, it’s looking tough now. But what I think we should always do is try to do the best championship we can do. I had a couple of offers for GB3, but we felt it would do more for my career if I won this.”

Ahead of the sixth round of the season at Thruxton, Harfield was 11th in the standings with 62 points. Compared against the first five rounds of 2025, he is five positions lower in the standings with 29 fewer points. 

“We’ve had issues every round almost,” he said. “Qualifying has never been good this year. We’ve had a couple times in practice sessions when I’ve been up there, but we’ve just been really inconsistent.

“This year just feels like a different championship almost. I think something might’ve changed in the tyre slightly, so it’s been a bit confusing for everyone I think. It’s affected us quite a bit, but I think we’re finally getting on top of it. Hopefully we get a bit of luck for this round and the last four rounds.”

In the end, Harfield’s qualifying times at Thruxton put him 10th on the grid for race one and 11th for race three. He finished fifth and eighth respectively. 

In between, Harfield scored his second podium of the year in the reverse-grid race, finishing second following a tense battle with Scott Kin Lindblom. His first podium came in the opening race of the Brands Hatch Indy weekend when he finished third from fifth on the grid after quickly dispatching Lewis Wherrell and Theo Palmer at the start.

Outside of British F4, Harfield has already started to sample FRegional-level competition. After discussions with Double R Racing team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, he began competing in Eurocup-3 in the team’s #26 car, starting at Portimão. The seat was previously occupied by former IndyCar racer Linus Lundqvist for the season opener at Le Castellet. 

“Boyo seemed to see something in me and offered, and I’m very thankful,” he said. “I did some testing with them last year in F4, so they obviously knew me a bit. I’m very grateful to them for offering it. It’s been really fun.”

Having also tested GB3 machinery, Harfield has been able to experience the differences between the series’ Tatuus MSV GB3-025 and Eurocup-3’s Dallara 326, which he has now driven in seven races. 

“They’ve got so much downforce,” he explained. “Not crazy power, but a lot of downforce. Obviously, it takes time to build up to knowing how much grip you really have. But I think I got there quick at Portimão. The [collective] test was my first time driving the car, and I got up to speed quick.”

Eurocup-3’s push-to-pass system, which grants an extra 25 horsepower for a maximum of 60 seconds, also took Harfield by surprise in how effectively it helped him and others race in close quarters with one another.

“It’s amazing how good the racing is and how close you can follow,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any single-seater championship where you can follow as closely [as] Eurocup. The push-to-pass does a lot, so everyone’s kind of side by side every corner.”

Looking ahead to the rest of his British F4 campaign, Harfield has already reconciled with his earlier results. He now knows what he must do for the rest of the season, which he continues this weekend on Donington Park’s Grand Prix layout, the site of his maiden single-seater victory. 

“It’s obviously been not what I wanted this year, but there’s definitely now potential to have good results,” he said. “[I’ve] just got to forget about the first half of the year. My aim is to score the most points in the second half. Whether that’ll be maybe P5, P3 maybe at best [in the standings], that’s all I can do now.”

Header photo credit: Connor Botha