McLaughlin wins incident-packed final Zandvoort British F4 race

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Fionn McLaughlin won an incident-packed final British Formula 4 race of the weekend at Zandvoort to open up his points lead.

Multiple safety car interruptions and two red flags broke up the race, with a final red flag calling an early end after only nine laps.

The first stoppage came after just two laps when Alba Hurup Larsen spun towards the back of the field. Charlie Edge tried to avoid the stationary car but hit the barriers at the banking. Initially, marshals tried to clear the incident behind the safety car but the red flags had to be thrown.

The race resumed behind the safety car, with the track going green again with 15 minutes on the clock. Adam Al Azhari had made his way up to third before the first red flag and challenged Martin Molnar for second on the restart. Molnar locked up as they approached the first corner, but managed to avoid contact. However, a few corners later, Molnar locked up again and hit Al Azhari, taking him out of the race. 

The safety car was brought out once more to clear the car of Al Azhari while championship contender Molnar limped back to the pits and retired.

McLaughlin once again got a good restart, pulling away from James Piszcyk and Ethan Jeff-Hall who now occupied second and third. He was beginning to build a gap when a spin for Cole Hewetson put his car into the gravel at Tarzan. Hewetson was able to continue, but left gravel strewn about the track which needed to be cleared. The safety car returned to the track once again.

Less than three minutes remained when the track went green for a third and final time. McLaughlin got a good restart, shaking off Piszcyk. There was little that could be done to challenge the race leader before an incident for Emma Felbermayr brought her to a stop on track, prompting another red flag with just 90 seconds on the clock. The session would not be resumed.

McLaughlin claimed the victory, ahead of Piszcyk and Jeff-Hall.

Between the stoppages, Tommy Harfield had challenged Ella Lloyd for fourth. Harfield kept the pressure on Lloyd, but safety car interventions left him with little time to actually make a move. Lloyd held onto fourth, with Harfield and Chase Fernandez close behind.

Thomas Bearman got a good start before the initial red flag to move up to ninth. He was then promoted to seventh by the incident for Al Azhari and Molnar. Henry Joslyn took eighth, as August Raber and Oleksandr Savinkov completed the top 10.

Race results (6 laps)