Preview – Round 9 – Silverstone
Our British Formula 4 squad make the short trip to the team’s home circuit this weekend for the penultimate event of the season.
Championship leader Deagen Fairclough has a 138-point lead in the driver’ standings. The West Sussex-born racer has enjoyed a stellar season so far, taking ten wins across his second season in British F4. Deagen will be hoping to edge one step closer to this year’s title at the Northamptonshire venue.
Deagen’s tenth victory in 2024 came last time out at Donington Park when he led all 12 laps at the Derbyshire track. The 18-year-old started the weekend strongly by claiming his fifth C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award and followed it up with three podium finishes. With just six races of the 30 remaining, Deagen will be hoping to carry his momentum forward when British F4 takes to Silverstone’s National layout this weekend.
“Silverstone has always been a circuit I’ve enjoyed competing on,” said Deagen. “The shorter version of the track always produces close and exciting racing and with the season I’ve had so far I’m looking forward to giving it my all. Every race counts now and I want to leave nothing on the table.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the F4 crew, fresh from their journey back from the Red Bull Ring last weekend. Deagen, alongside team-mates Reza Seewooruthun and Thomas Bearman, participated in the second round of the Euro 4 series in Austria. In a fiercely competitive weekend of racing, the trio gained invaluable experience on the Formula 1 circuit against European-wide competition. Despite limited track time and freezing conditions, Reza secured an impressive eighth-place finish in the third of three races.
“The Red Bull Ring was an incredible experience,” said Reza. “The result there against some of the best drivers in Europe has given me a lot of confidence for the last two events of the British F4 season. Hopefully we can make the most of that momentum, starting with one of my favourite tracks at home.”
For rookie Thomas Bearman – younger brother of F1 ace Oliver Bearman – the Euro 4 weekend provided a tough baptism of fire. The transition from karts to single-seaters in rain-affected conditions was a challenge, but after significant simulator preparation, he now feels ready to take on the shorter 1.64-mile Silverstone National layout.
“I’m excited to race at Silverstone,” said Thomas. “It’s a circuit I’ve dreamed of competing on in single-seaters for years. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m ready to push myself. Every lap is a learning curve, and I’m eager to make my mark this weekend.”
Silverstone is the UK’s biggest and most important circuit and was the site of the very first FIA Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix in 1950. The self-proclaimed home of British motor racing started life as a World War II airfield and held its first major international race in 1948 on fast perimeter roads connecting the runways.
The smaller National circuit uses the old pits, with the awesomely-quick Copse corner as the first bend on the lap, before a return loop down the Wellington Straight and into technical Priory/Brooklands and Luffield sequence at the end of the lap.
