Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Louis Sharp began 2024 as the reigning British F4 champion, and against more experienced rivals was able to end it as the reigning GB3 champion while Joel Granfors similarly outshone the locals to win a title
Winning slicks-and-wings titles at multiple levels on the British single-seater ladder is a rare sight these days, particularly with calendars that now also reward experience of racing in Europe. But Luke Browning won the British Formula 4 championship and claimed the GB3 crown two years later, and Louis Sharp has managed to deliver the same but in consecutive years.
Driving for Rodin Motorsport in both campaigns, the 17-year-old Sharp immediately cemented his reputation as one of GB3’s 2024 title favourites by taking a double pole in the season-opening qualifying session at Oulton Park and converting the first of those into victory.
He lacked the wet-weather pace in the sequel and had to settle for second as John Bennett, having switched to JHR Developments for his third GB3 assault following a difficult 2023 campaign with Rodin Carlin, mastered the conditions to take a confidence-boosting maiden victory.
Will Macintyre, Sharp’s chief rival in British F4, won race three to begin a run of seven straight victories for Hitech GP.
Despite a tricky start at Oulton, where he suffered a costly non-finish following an optimistic lunge on Sharp in race two, Tymek Kucharczyk led Hitech’s charge at the next two rounds. Joining the team following a fast but erratic 2023 season with Douglas Motorsport, the Pole took a maiden win at Silverstone and then two more victories in an emphatic weekend at Spa-Francorchamps to move into the points lead. Macintyre also won twice more, and Sharp soon sat third in the points.
It initially looked like another weekend of damage limitation for Sharp when GB3 visited the Hungaroring for the first ever time, with first-time winner Gerrard Xie leading home team-mate Kucharczyk in race one. But, despite starting from fifth in the sequel, Sharp passed Hitech’s three drivers in a stunning first lap charge into the lead and end an eight-race win-free spell.
Kucharczyk was the pacesetter in the season’s first half
When Kucharczyk was then disqualified for a technical infringement, Macintyre became the year’s third different points leader. but Sharp reclaimed top spot in the standings in race three, won by team-mate Arthur Rogeon, as Kucharczyk non-scored.
The European leg of the season concluded at Zandvoort, and Kucharczyk snatched back the advantage with his fourth victory. Returning to form following some low-scoring races of his own put him on the back foot in the title fight, Bennett also took another win though a collision with Sharp cost the pair valuable points.
Arriving back on UK soil over 30 points behind his main rivals, Bennett moved firmly into contention with a strong showing at Silverstone, prevailing in a three-wide battle with Sharp and Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell to win race one.
Kucharczyk compounded a difficult qualifying by colliding with Cresswell in that contest while trying to make up ground, allowing Sharp to head the standings for a third time, while Cresswell bounced back for his first victory in a year in race two.
Bennett and Kucharczyk were four and 13 points behind respectively going into the last two rounds, but Sharp then hit form.
At Donington Park, he produced his strongest performance by converting a double pole into two victories to leave himself in a commanding position going to the Brands Hatch finale. Bennett slashed his margin by finishing second behind Cresswell in race one, but Sharp held Bennett at bay to win race two and only needed to follow him home in the decider to be crowned.
Sharp took the most wins and poles, and led the most laps, en route to the title. But as important for his year being recognised by Britain’s massive motorsport industry was his own UK roots, as that made him eligible for the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award. He was selected as one of the four finalists, and took part in a two-day shootout at Silverstone in October. The winner, who will recieve a prize Formula 1 test with Aston Martin and a £200,000 cheque, will be named at the start of 2025.
Three wins and eight other podiums helped Bennett reinvigorate his career
The prize for being GB3 champion was an FIA Formula 3 test, and before even driving the car Sharp confirmed he would step up to the championship next year with Rodin. It was little surprise, since he’s a protege of team owner Rodin Cars.
Strong showings at Donington and Brands helped Bennett beat Kucharczyk to second in the standings, the pair having accumulated the joint-highest podium haul. Despite those results, and claiming more fastest laps than anybody else, the incidents and disqualifications across the season as well as a late dip in form ended Kucharczyk’s title hopes.
While Kucharczyk has not confirmed his 2025 plans yet, Bennett’s vastly improved form has already helped him make two steps up the single-seater ladder as he joined Van Amersfoort Racing for the final two rounds of the Formula 2 season.
Cresswell ended a slightly frustrating season on a high with another victory at the final round, by which time he was no longer a title contender due to lacking consistency early in the season, but he still matched his 2023 position of fourth in the standings. Macintyre’s challenge faded despite his strong start to the year, with qualifying woes leaving him on the backfoot far too often despite displaying some strong race pace, and he slipped to fifth in the points table.
Jarrod Waberski showed improved form after moving to Elite for his second GB3 season, and while the South African lacked the pace to fight for wins he did have consistency as the only driver to finish every race. He took three podiums and with an average race position of 8.4 came sixth in the standings.
Xie arguably should have been higher than seventh in the points, his campaign blighted by several reliability issues and incidents. He will step up to F3 next season with Hitech, having impressed the team with his speed throughout this year, and of the full-time drivers his single-lap pace was only bettered by the championship’s top four.
Single-lap pace
| Pos | Driver | Pace | Pos | Driver | Pace | Pos | Driver | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor | 100.024% | 12 | Waberski | 100.693% | 23 | Murray | 101.126% |
| 2 | Slater | 100.088% | 13 | Stenshorne | 100.701% | 24 | Rashid | 101.132% |
| 3 | Sharp | 100.151% | 14 | Le | 100.797% | 25 | Douglas | 101.154% |
| 4 | Kucharczyk | 100.196% | 15 | Kattoulas | 100.798% | 26 | Pearson | 101.262% |
| 5 | Bennett | 100.252% | 16 | Voisin | 100.803% | 27 | Sagrera | 101.408% |
| 6 | Cresswell | 100.410% | 17 | Heuzenroeder | 100.862% | 28 | Jackes | 101.469% |
| 7 | Ugochukwu | 100.482% | 18 | Schwarze | 100.876% | 29 | Wharton | 101.537% |
| 8 | Xie | 100.503% | 19 | Hedley | 100.929% | 30 | Kulkarni | 101.745% |
| 9 | Macintyre | 100.638% | 20 | Queen | 100.966% | 31 | Luzio | 101.802% |
| 10 | Rogeon | 100.651% | 21 | Ping | 101.051% | 32 | Mills | 101.938% |
| 11 | Johnson | 100.675% | 22 | Irfan | 101.093% | 33 | Jain | 102.495% |
The format of reversed-grid races was tweaked for 2024, with the top 12 from qualifying reversed to form the grid, a departure from the fully reversed grids of previous seasons. A gearbox issue on the last lap cost Rogeon a likely victory in the first of those contests at Oulton Park, but he responded by winning three of the others across the campaign.
Two of Macintyre’s three victories came in reversed-grid races, while Velocity Racing Development by Arden’s Nikita Johnson also benefited from the format to take two wins, having joined the grid from round three onwards after turning 16.
In 2025 Johnson is leaving the VRD stable, which he has been a part of throughout his car racing exploits in the USA and Europe since debuting in 2022, and will contest a full GB3 campaign with Hitech. One of his two team-mates will be Deagen Fairclough, who will be aiming to emulate Sharp in winning back-to-back British F4 and GB3 titles.
McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu scored three podiums from his half-season in GB3 with Rodin, while Italian F4 champion Freddie Slater (Rodin) and USF2000 race-winner Max Taylor (Arden) impressed during camoes.
The number of entries declined year-on-yeaer from an average of 24.3 to 21.3, but that trend may be reversed in 2025. As well as Monza featuring on the calender for the first time, the new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car will be introduced, ending a successful three-year spell for the outgoing MSV GB3-022.
Featuring revised aerodynamics expected to deliver 35% more downforce and new Mountune engine producing an extra 30bhp compared to the current unit, GB3 is hoping for a capacity 29-car grid. The changes to the championship have already helped attract Emirati outfit Xcel Motorsport, which is planning a two-car assault, while Argenti Motorsport is enabling its expansion from British F4 and karting into GB3 by joining forces with single-seater powerhouse Prema.
Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Team | Wins | Poles | Fastest laps | Podiums | Laps led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | 5 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 68 | 478 |
| 2 | John Bennett | JHR | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 27 | 456 |
| 3 | Tymek Kucharczyk | Hitech | 4 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 443 |
| 4 | McKenzy Cresswell | Elite | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 376 |
| 5 | Will Macintyre | Hitech | 3 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 372 | |
| 6 | Jarrod Waberski | Elite | 1x 2nd | 3 | 286 | |||
| 7 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 261 | |
| 8 | Arthur Rogeon | Rodin | 3 | 1 | 4 | 54 | 258 | |
| 9 | Hugo Schwarze | Elite | 2x 4th | 1 | 219 | |||
| 10 | Noah Ping | VRD by Arden | 2x 3rd | 2 | 211 | |||
| 11 | Nikita Johnson | VRD by Arden | 2 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 193 |
The force is with Linus in GB4
Fortec Motorsports’ Linus Granfors was another driver to clinch his second single-seater title in as many years, the Swede following up his Formula Nordic crown (in a Formula Renault 1.6 car) by becoming champion in the F4-spec GB4. Granfors was already familiar with Fortec from 2022, when he watched older brother Joel finish runner-up to Browning in GB3.
The same rapid pace that his sibling displayed two years ago was evident straight away when he comfortably finished fastest in his sole day of pre-season testing at Silverstone in March.
Fears that the season would be a one-horse race were quickly extinguished at the opening round of the season (which supported GB3’s British rounds and raced at Donington and Snetterton while its parent series went abroad) as Granfors struggled to get to grips with the circuit’s bumpy nature.
Instead, it was Alisha Palmowski who stole the headlines by winning her single-seater debut after graduating from Ginetta Junior with Elite, but a grid stall and a collision prevented her from challenging for more victories in the other two contests.
KMR Sport’s Brandon McCaughan – stepping up from Formula Ford 1600 after winning a GB4 scholarship – converted pole into a maiden win in race two. Despite being tipped into a spin in the fully-reversed-grid race, Granfors stormed from last place to take his first win, while three podiums across the weekend left KMR’s Harry Burgoyne Jr at the top of the standings.
Granfors quickly got into his stride following that, winning twice at Silverstone then making it four in a row in race one at Donington. McCaughan ended that streak in the sequel, but it was not enough to keep his season going as budget issues resulted in him dropping off the grid after the weekend.
Granfors took six wins on his way to the title
Palmowski’s title hopes were also dented during round three by a gearbox issue in race one and startline collision in race two, where she displayed impressive car control to wrestle a car hobbled with suspension damage to score points in ninth.
She bounced back emphatically next time at Snetterton, taking a double pole and two victories to score the largest single-event points haul of the season. Granfors struggled all weekend and failed to make the podium, and a race-ending clash as he contested the lead in race three cost him his points lead to the consistent Burgoyne.
Another to make a big impact at Snetterton was Esports star Lucas Blakeley, making his first GB4 appearance for KMR since his two-round cameo in 2023. Quickly on the pace, Blakeley took his first slicks-and-wings in his comeback race was only denied another triumph in race three by a post-race penalty for a formation lap infringement.
Granfors regained the ascendancy next time out at Silverstone with another win but, after sustaining damage in a clash with Palmowski, had to settle for a distant second in race two behind Blakeley who took victory by a whopping 15.4 seconds – GB4’s biggest ever winning margin.
Blakeley won again at the penultimate round to begin an unbeaten run of five consecutive podiums, while Granfors scored his fifth victory to leave himself in a commanding championship position. Burgoyne finally made the top step of the podium for the first time in the reversed-grid race to keep his title hopes alive, and didn’t have long to wait to taste victory again.
Burgoyne led home Blakeley in race one at the Brands Hatch finale but, by finishing third in that contest and then taking second in race two behind Blakeley, Granfors sealed the title with a race to spare. Receiving a £50,000 prize for taking the feat, Granfors is hoping to put it towards a GB3 drive in 2025.
Palmowski shone in her first single-seater campaign
The final race of the year was won by Finn Harrison who led an Elite one-two for his second reversed-grid win, having also triumphed during round five at Silverstone. With Burgoyne hampered by front wing damage, second place was enough for Palmowski to snatch runner-up in the standings by one point and it was also her 11th podium finish – more than anyone else.
Palmowski will drive a Red Bull Racing-branded car for Campos Racing in the F4-spec all-female F1 Academy series in 2025, having received a €30,000 (£24,873) prize from GB4 promoter MotorSport Vision for being the highest-placed female driver.
Fox Motorsport’s single-seater rookie Branden Templeton was fourth in the points, having taken one win and three other podiums. Blakeley’s imperious form after joining the grid put him fifth in the standings, and he averaged 25.5 points per race.
Granfors’ tally was 23.4, while fellow part-timer McCaughan averaged 21.4, the fourth best in the field behind USF Juniors runner-up Liam McNeilly who took two podiums in a cameo at Donington after coming third in GB4 last year.
Harrison was sixth in the standings, Graham Brunton Racing’s Callum Baxter took two mid-season podiums and ended the year seventh, while Chloe Grant returned to GB4 with KMR after a year in F1 Academy and scored her first single-seater podium at Oulton Park and was a distant eighth in the standings.
There were 21 drivers in total who made a race start this year, but only 11 full-timers. That was however an improvement on the tally of nine for GB4’s first two seasons.
In 2025, GB4 will adopt GB3’s current car but with some chassis modifications to extend its alorea
Blakeley took the most wins and points across the last four rounds
Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Team | Wins | Poles | Fastest laps | Podiums | Laps led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linus Granfors | Fortec | 6 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 47 | 467 |
| 2 | Alisha Palmowski | Elite | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 422 |
| 3 | Harry Burgoyne Jr | KMR | 2 | 1 | 9 | 32 | 421 | |
| 4 | Branden Templeton | Fox | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 317 | |
| 5 | Lucas Blakeley | KMR | 4 | 7 | 9 | 45 | 306 | |
| 6 | Finn Harrison | Elite | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 291 |
| 7 | Callum Baxter | GBR | 2x 2nd | 2 | 285 | |||
| 8 | Chloe Grant | KMR | 1x 2nd | 1 | 5 | 208 | ||
| 9 | Jack Taylor | Fortec | 1x 2nd | 1 | 8 | 202 | ||
| 10 | Leon Wilson | Arden | 1x 3rd | 2 | 1 | 202 | ||
| 11 | Megan Bruce | Fox | 1x 6th | 183 |