HHC Motorsport’s Sennan Fielding became the first driver to win all three races in a single BRDC F4 weekend with two victories (Sunday) on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, adding to his first victory of the season secured on Saturday.
Having also taken two pole positions, it was a perfect weekend for the 18-year-old Chesterfield driver, who jumps to third in the championship standings after a 95 point clean sweep, and is now just 29 points off the championship lead.
Like in yesterday’s encounter, Fielding had to work hard for his victories again, holding off Petroball’s Gaetano di Mauro by just 0.157s in a stunning race two, and then beating team mate Raoul Hyman by 0.411s in the final event.
A heavy rain shower an hour before the start of race two left the surface damp at the start, but with a dry line already visible from previous races. The drivers were split on tyre choice with those towards the front of the grid playing it safe and opting for wets, while those further behind gambled on dry rubber.
Pole sitter Rahul Mayer led early on before title rivals Raoul Hyman and George Russell hit the front, but it soon became clear that those runners on dry tyres would have the advantage at the end of the race.
Fielding on dry tyres was making rapid progress from eighth on the grid, and was already in the top three on lap three. He took the lead on lap four, passing Hyman and then pulled out a gap of over a second.
But Petroball’s di Mauro, who started 11th, was even quicker, at times three to four seconds faster per lap than the cars in front, and the Brazilian quickly sliced his way through to challenge Fielding.
Starting the last lap, just fractions separated Fielding and di Mauro, and the pair engaged in a thrilling final lap duel. Di Mauro was able to pass Fielding briefly down the Hangar Straight, only for Fielding to go around the outside of Stowe to regain the lead. Di Mauro fought back and passed at Club corner, but defended heavily at Village corner, allowing Fielding to storm by on the Wellington Straight and complete the move at Brooklands. Holding on to take his second win, Fielding crossed the line just 0.157s ahead of di Mauro, who clinched his, and the Petroball team’s first F4 podium.
Joining them on the podium was Fielding’s team mate Will Palmer, who also raced on dry tyres, and carved his way through the field from 20th on the grid after yesterday’s misfortune to take his sixth podium of the year.
Rodrigo Fonseca climbed from 15th on the grid to take fourth for Douglas Motorsport, his best result so far, while Tom Jackson claimed fifth after starting from the pit lane, opting to change to dry tyres at the end of the formation lap. Russell completed the top-six for Lanan Racing, finishing clear of Hyman in seventh.
Fielding completed his hat trick with a slightly more straightforward drive in race three. Starting from his second pole of the weekend, Fielding made a good start to lead throughout, at one time holding a margin of 1.7 seconds over Struan Moore.
Hyman passed Moore on lap six, and then began to close in on Fielding, and was within touching distance of challenging for the lead on the final lap. Fielding rebuffed any challenge however, and took his third successive victory, this time by 0.411s. Moore claimed third to take his second podium of the weekend after finishing second yesterday.
Maini took fourth, with Alex Palou fifth for Sean Walkinshaw Racing and Russell taking sixth once more for Lanan Racing.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all at the start of the weekend,” Fielding commented. “We weren’t the quickest on Friday, but it’s just been a perfect weekend with two pole positions and three wins.
“I’m the first driver to do that in F4 and it’s done my championship the world of good. I can’t wait to move on to the next race and keep this up.”
In the championship standings, Russell still leads the way on 317 points, but his margin has been trimmed to just 11 points courtesy of Hyman’s double podium. Fielding jumps to third after his perfect weekend ahead of Will Palmer and Arjun Maini. The top-five are covered by just 40 points.
BRDC F4 Championship, Silverstone GP, round 14 result:
1. Sennan Fielding, HHC Motorsport, 9 laps2. Gaetano di Mauro, Petroball Racing, +0.157s3. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, +2.900s4. Rodrigo Fonseca, Douglas Motorsport, +22.429s5. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, +22.812s6. George Russell, Lanan Racing, +30.433s7. Raoul Hyman, HHC Motorsport, +32.931s8. Arjun Maini, Lanan Racing, +42.934s9. Rahul Mayer, Hillspeed, +45.228s10. Diego Borrelli, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +46.422s
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BRDC F4 Championship, Silverstone GP, round 15 result:
1. Sennan Fielding, HHC Motorsport, 10 laps2. Raoul Hyman, HHC Motorsport, +0.411s3. Struan Moore, Lanan Racing, +3.498s4. Arjun Maini, Lanan Racing, +5.353s5. Alex Palou, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +5.814s6. George Russell, Lanan Racing, +6.950s7. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, +8.516s8. Chris Middlehurst, Mark Godwin Racing, +12.298s9. Gaetano di Mauro, Petroball, +20.947s10. Diego Menchaca, Douglas Motorsport, +21.921s
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BRDC F4 Championship standings after race 15 of 24*
1. George Russell, Lanan Racing, 317pts2. Raoul Hyman, HHC Motorsport, 306pts3. Sennan Fielding, HHC Motorsport, 288pts4. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 281pts5. Arjun Maini, Lanan Racing, 277pts6. Struan Moore, Lanan Racing, 239pts7. Chris Middlehurst, Mark Godwin Racing, 201pts8. Diego Menchaca, Douglas Motorsport, 188pts9. Gustavo Lima, Hillspeed, 173pts10. Gaetano di Mauro, Petroball Racing, 163pts
*Provisional standings
The next rounds of the BRDC F4 Championship take place on 30-31 August on the Brands Hatch GP circuit. For more information visit www.formula4.com.
