Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
New Alpine Formula 1 junior Aiden Neate will spend a third season in British Formula 4, having signed with Fortec Motorsports.
The 16-year-old debuted in the series in 2021, contesting all but the first two rounds with Argenti Motorsport and coming ninth in the standings with three podiums. He also did two French F4 rounds, with two fourth places being his best results.
Neate stayed with Argenti for 2022 and improved to sixth in the points table, winning two races – including one of them from one of his two pole positions – and making the podium three other times.
For the last two winters, Neate has also done campaigns in the Middle East. At the start of 2022 he came third in F4 United Arab Emirates with Prema, claiming nine podiums, and this year he stepped up to Formula Regional Middle East with the same team and took one podium en route to 12th in the standings. However he will now step back down to F4.
“I’m super excited to announce I’ll be racing in British F4 again this season, my second full season in the championship,” said Neate. “I’m even more excited for the championship fight and pleased to be taking it on with Fortec Motorsports.
“As a team, we definitely have the capability to go to the top of the standings this year. A massive thank you to everybody that has made this possible, particularly The Green Group, and to Fortec for giving me the opportunity.”
Fortec now have a three-car line-up, with Neate joining Danish F4 race-winner Mika Abrahams and James Higgins. Abrahams will not be eligible to race until he turns 15, meaning he will miss the first two rounds.
“It’s fantastic to welcome Aiden to our British F4 team for 2023,” said Fortec’s team principal Ollie Dutton.
“Naturally, achieving results on track is the most important thing, and it’s what any driver – or team – is judged upon, but we also get a real kick out of helping the drivers under our roof develop.
“I’m confident we’ll be able to help Aiden take that next step from race winner to title contender, and together with James and Mika, we’re in a really strong position to kick on and enjoy a good season.”