Protected: British F4 returns to Silverstone for penultimate round
Round 9 – Silverstone National – Preview
Hitech returns to Silverstone this weekend for the penultimate round of the F4 British Championship, with six races remaining in the 2026 season.
It will be the championship’s second visit to the Home of British Motor Racing. After racing on the full Grand Prix circuit in May, Round 9 switches to Silverstone’s much shorter National layout for three races on 26-27 September.
The team heads into the weekend following another strong showing at Croft, where Scott Kin Lindblom claimed second place in Race 2 and Chiara Bättig produced one of her best weekends of the season.
Chiara qualified on the front row with P2 overall, becoming the highest-qualifying female driver in British F4, before twice finishing fourth. Theo Palmer added two top five finishes, while Scott’s podium followed his maiden British F4 victory at Donington.
The results leave Theo third in the Drivers’ Championship, with Scott sixth, Adam Al Azhari eighth and Chiara 12th, while Hitech remains at the top of the Teams’ Championship.
There will be a change to the Hitech line-up at Silverstone, with Scott sitting out Round 9 after reaching the championship’s penalty-points threshold. Archie Owen will race alongside Theo, Adam and Chiara. The 15-year-old is making his British F4 race debut before competing in the 2026 Saudi F4 Championship. Scott will be back for the season finale next month.
At just 1.64 miles, Silverstone National produces a very different style of racing from the Grand Prix circuit the drivers tackled earlier in the season. The lap is short and fast, with only a handful of corners and little time to recover from a mistake.
From Copse, the cars run through Maggotts and onto the Wellington Straight before the heavy braking zone at Brooklands. Luffield then leads into the flat-out run through Woodcote and back across the start-finish line, with lap times of under a minute keeping the field closely packed.
That compact layout puts extra emphasis on finding clear track in qualifying, while the Wellington Straight and braking zone into Brooklands provide opportunities to race side-by-side and make up places.
The weekend begins with collective testing on Thursday before the three-race programme gets underway, giving Archie valuable track time alongside his team-mates ahead of his first British F4 race weekend.
With Silverstone followed only by the Brands Hatch GP finale in October, the 2026 season is approaching its conclusion, but there are still six races and plenty of points to fight for.
Dominic Stott, Hitech British F4 Team Manager:
“Croft was another strong weekend for us, and it was particularly good to see Chiara qualify on the front row and come away with two fourth-place finishes. Scott added another podium, Theo was consistently up there and Adam showed good pace, even though the results didn’t reflect that.”
“Scott will sit this weekend out, and Archie will join us for Silverstone. He’s already done some testing, so he knows the team and has experience of the car. Making your British F4 race debut is a proud moment and one we’re looking forward to seeing.”
“The National circuit is very different from the Grand Prix layout we raced on earlier in the season. It’s a short lap, so everything happens quickly and the gaps are going to be very small. We have testing on Thursday before racing begins, which will be particularly useful for Archie, and then the focus is on making the most of the weekend across all four cars.”
