Gabriel Stilp sets Snetterton pace on cockpit comeback in British F4 test

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Gabriel Stilp topped British Formula 4’s pre-event test day at Snetterton on Wednesday, marking a return to the cockpit after being injured last year.

The 17-year-old [pictured in 2023] won the British championship for X30 Junior karts three years ago then stepped up to single-seaters in British F4 with Hitech GP.

He came ninth in the championship with one win and two other podiums, and also made a Spanish F4 cameo. Stilp continued with Hitech for 2024, but switched to F4 United Arab Emirates where he also finished ninth in the standings and won a race.

A few months later he returned to karting for the Kartmasters British Grand Prix, and finished fourth in the X30 Senior class. At the same PF International circuit he then entered a Champions of the Future round in September and in his second heat injured his left leg in an accident. Extensive physiotherapy was needed before an attempted return to driving in December.

In 2025 he has returned to karting in WSK’s Super Master Series, and his F4 appearance at Snetterton came with Virtuosi Racing rather than Hitech.

Stilp was fastest straight away on his return, leading session one of the day by 0.087 seconds after setting a 1m48.275s on his final lap. Thomas Bearman (Hitech) was second, Martin Molnar (Virtuosi) was 0.166s behind in third and Fionn McLaughlin (Hitech) was 0.476s back in fourth.

Among the 26 drivers on track were Haarni Sadiq (JHR Developments), Emma Felbermayr (Rodin Motorsport) and sportscar racer Stephanie Hobeika (Hitech), none of whom have been racing in British F4 this year.

Bearman lowered the pace to 1m47.771s in session two, pipping JHR’s Joel Bergstrom by 0.043s and Rodin’s James Piszcyk by 0.061s. A further three drivers lapped sub-1m48s, with Stilp shuffled down to fifth place.

Later in the afternoon, Stilp responded in session three with a new 1m47.443s benchmark. He was a massive 0.485s faster than Argenti Motorsport’s August Raber, who rose to seventh overall by being Stilp’s closest rival.

Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield was just a further 0.012s off Raber, and Argenti’s Ethan Jeff-Hall completed a top four covered by 0.576s.

It was slower at the top in session four, and 11 minutes in Raber set a 1m48.029s that went unbeaten until he improved to 1m47.718s two minutes from the end.

The majority of drivers improved in their final two laps as testing came to a close, and Stilp was 0.022s off Raber with his last effort. McLaughlin and JHR’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling trailed by 0.14s and 0.153s, and Harfield was fifth.

Raber, McLaughlin and Campbell-Pilling were among seven drivers who set personal bests in session four, and their laps put them second, sixth and seventh overall.

Absent from the test but racing at Snetterton this weekend is Chloe Chong, who will be making her British F4 return with Rodin. She came 14th in F1 Academy’s 2023 season as a rookie, was 24th in British F4 last year and is currently a Rodin driver in F1 Academy.

Test results