Fionn McLaughlin storms to British F4 title
Round 10 - Brands Hatch - Drivers' Title
Hitech TGR’s Fionn McLaughlin has clinched this year’s British Formula 4 Championship, winning the title in the opening race of the season finale at Brands Hatch. The 17-year-old brilliantly finished second on the Grand Prix layout — just behind his nearest points rival — to secure the 2025 crown. As the Hitech team celebrated as he crossed the line, an emotional Fionn was delighted with his achievement.
2025 British F4 Champion, Fionn McLaughlin:
“I’m speechless. Since I was seven, it's been a long time waiting for this moment. The Hitech team has done a great job all season and I'm just so proud of all the work we’ve done together. Thanks to all my family who have supported me through my career to this point. My family has sacrificed a lot for me and I’m very proud. Now we’ll try and get the Teams’ Championship wrapped up.”
McLaughlin’s triumph marks back-to-back successes for Hitech, following on from Deagan Fairclough’s record-breaking campaign last year. It’s also the team’s third British F4 Drivers’ Championship in the past four seasons, which includes Alex Dunne’s title in 2022.
After making his single-seater debut with Hitech in the pre-season Formula Winter Series, where he scored two wins, Fionn quickly became a favourite for the 2025 Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA.
At the beginning of the British F4 year, the Red Bull Junior Team driver made a strong impression with two podiums at Donington Park and a further two at Silverstone. But it wasn’t until Round 3 at Snetterton where Fionn scored his first victory of the year.
After taking his first C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award, Fionn was leading the opening race at Snetterton when he made a mistake and broke his front wing. But he didn’t let that error derail his weekend as he came back strongly to take a dominant win in Race 3 and to lead the points standings for the first time.
A rainy Thruxton in June was the only venue the Irishman failed to stand on the podium all year. Despite finishing third on track, a time penalty dropped him to fourth. At the next round, he was victorious twice at Oulton Park (with the final race of the weekend red-flagged early due to a rainstorm).
Fionn was again on Pole Position at Zandvoort for the series’ second overseas visit to the Netherlands, which resulted in another two wins, added to victory in Race 1 at the Scottish venue of Knockhill.
Despite a penalty for track limits, the 17-year-old clinched the Rookie Cup honours at Donington Park in August, in which he has taken an impressive 16 wins (23 podiums in total), amassing over 480 points in class. The Irishman followed that up with another two wins at Silverstone last time out to set up his title-winning outing at Brands Hatch today.
The stats across the 27-race (so far) campaign emphasise what a brilliant job the racer from Ireland has achieved in his rookie campaign: two official C1RCUIT Watches poles, five wins, nine other podium finishes, eight fastest laps, and a total of 336.5 points. The final two races of the year — in which Hitech battle to retain the Teams’ Championship — take place at Brands Hatch tomorrow.
