Joseph Smith, driver of Virtosi Racing, achieved victory in the reverse grid race of the British Formula 4 held at Silverstone. Smith finished ahead of Ethan Carney and Chiara Battig after a race marked by incidents and a red flag.
The driver made a good start from the fourth position on the grid, taking the lead before an early stoppage due to an accident on the first lap that prompted the deployment of the red flags. This situation forced the race to be restarted with Smith back in fourth position.
During the second start, although his start was not as strong as the first, Smith managed to regain the lead. Carney overtook Battig, but could not shake off the pressure that Smith was exerting ahead. The latter created a considerable gap over the rest of the group.
In the first lap, there was an incident in the middle of the grid that affected Dries Van Langendonck, leaving him with a punctured tire, while Lewis Wherrell, one of his main rivals, suffered damage to the front wing. Both drivers went to the pits, but Van Langendonck’s race ended there.
Emma Felbermayr got stuck in the gravel and Roman Felber along with Alfie Slater were also forced to retire. Although a safety car was initially called, the red flag was activated before the drivers could complete a lap.
Once the race was restarted, Smith was able to quickly move and led the race unopposed until the end, crossing the finish line with a lead of 2.086 seconds over Carney. Battig set the fastest lap in the antepenultimate lap but could not overcome the second position, finishing with a difference of 0.613 seconds from the winner.
Timo Jungling finished fourth, while the fight for fifth was intense between Adam Al Azhari, Lewis Wherrell, and Jarrett Clark. Wherrell tried to overtake Al Azhari on several occasions but to no avail, finishing the race with only 0.138 seconds of margin.
George Proudford-Nalder secured eighth place, overtaking Theo Palmer and Ethan Lennon. The race was complicated for Van Langendonck, who could not restart after the penalties following the first race of the weekend.
Race results (10 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Smith | Virtuosi Racing | 20m41.177s |
| 2 | Ethan Carney | Fortec Motorsports | +2.086s |
| 3 | Chiara Battig | Hitech | +2.699s |
| 4 | Timo Jungling | JHR Developments | +3.164s |
| 5 | Jarrett Clark | Virtuosi Racing | +6.725s |
| 6 | George Proudford-Nalder | Virtuosi Racing | +7.311s |
| 7 | Adam Al Azhari | Hitech | +7.434s |
| 8 | Theo Palmer | Hitech | +7.612s |
| 9 | Ethan Lennon | Rodin Motorsport | +8.522s |
| 10 | Lewis Wherrell | JHR Developments | +11.072s |
Championship standings
1. Lewis Wherrell – 113 points
2. Dries Van Langendonck – 113 points
3. Ethan Jeff-Hall – 83 points
4. Scott Lindblom – 81 points
5. Adam Al Azhari – 71 points
6. Theo Palmer – 71 points
7. Joseph Smith – 64 points
8. Jarrett Clark – 55 points
9. Ethan Lennon – 51 points
10. Tommy Harfield – 46 points
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
