Photo: British F4
Leo Robinson took his first British Formula 4 victory of the season in a delayed reversed-grid race at Thruxton.
Wet weather meant the final race of the day at the Hampshire circuit had to be delayed and began behind the safety car. However, once racing began the field managed to keep the cars on track for a clean race.
Xcel Motorsport’s Chase Fernandez started on pole ahead of Hitech GP pair Thomas Bearman and Leo Robinson. Bearman was challenged by Robinson off the line, but then came under pressure from Rodin’s James Piszcyk behind.
As Robinson battled to stay ahead, Bearman challenged Fernandez for the lead. Fernandez put up a good defence, but Bearman eventually made a move stick. Once behind, Fernandez continued to slip backwards, and finished fifth.
Robinson and Piszcyk stayed close to the new leader, and Robinson soon swept past his team-mate for the lead.
In the closing stages of the race, Robinson managed to pull away from the rest of the field, finishing 1.987 seconds ahead of Bearman for his fourth career win and first since 2024. Piszcyk kept the pressure on Bearman to the chequered flag.
Fionn McLaughlin, another of Hitech’s drivers, enjoyed a strong climb up through the field to reclaim the points lead.
After the opening laps, he had only made up one position to eighth, but quickly came up behind Argenti Motorsport’s Ethan Jeff-Hall. McLaughlin spent much of the race trying to find a way past him, since Jeff-Hall defended well. As they fought, the two fell away from Rodin’s Adam Al Azhari, leaving McLaughlin with a gap to close when he eventually found his way through.
He swiftly did that and after passing Al Azhari then closed onto the tail of Fernandez, who he passed for fourth.
Al Azhari finished sixth ahead of Virtuosi Racing’s new driver Salim Hanna Hernandez, who started 11th. Hanna’s team-mate Martin Molnar lost the points lead by coming home eighth, and the top 10 was completed by Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield and Jeff-Hall.
Race results (15 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leo Robinson | Hitech GP | 20m39.401s |
| 2 | Thomas Bearman | Hitech GP | +1.987s |
| 3 | James Piszcyk | Rodin Motorsport | +2.832s |
| 4 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | +7.337s |
| 5 | Chase Fernandez | Xcel Motorsport | +8.722s |
| 6 | Adam Al Azhari | Rodin Motorsport | +9.288s |
| 7 | Salim Hanna Hernandez | Virtuosi Racing | +9.675s |
| 8 | Martin Molnar | Virtuosi Racing | +9.909s |
| 9 | Tommy Harfield | Chris Dittmann Racing | +10.893s |
| 10 | Ethan Jeff-Hall | Argenti Motorsport | +11.415s |
| 11 | Ella Lloyd | Rodin Motorsport | +15.152s |
| 12 | Cole Hewetson | Xcel Motorsport | +20.977s |
| 13 | Xavier Avramides | Hitech GP | +22.501s |
| 14 | Henry Joslyn | Fortec Motorsports | +29.417s |
| 15 | August Raber | Argenti Motorsport | +32.426s |
| 16 | Theo Palmer | Xcel Motorsport | +32.549s |
| 17 | Alba Hurup Larsen | Chris Dittmann Racing | +38.263s |
| 18 | Yuhao Fu | Xcel Motorsport | +38.269s |
| 19 | Rowan Campbell-Pilling | JHR Developments | +40.617s |
| 20 | Ary Bansal | Fortec Motorsports | +41.760s |
| 21 | Charlie Edge | Chris Dittmann Racing | +41.879s |
| 22 | Henry Mercier | Argenti Motorsport | +51.423s |
| 23 | Thomas Ingram Hill | Fortec Motorsports | +55.222s |
| 24 | Joel Bergstrom | JHR Developments | +56.047s |
| Fastest lap: Robinson, 1m18.813s
Championship standings |
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