Formula Four:

A new addition to the undercard of the British Grand Prix weekend would be the FIA-backed Formula Four championship, which saw a double header of non-points scoring races on the home of British racing. The series has been supporting the British Touring Car Championship and takes in iconic circuits around Britain such as Oulton Park, Donington Park and Brands Hatch. The field of twenty-four drivers and eight teams, the competition is fiercely competitive and the championship also honours the rookie drivers and those with slightly more experience. This non championship round would potentially be the biggest event of these young drivers' careers and with the Formula One circus in attendance, everyone will be keen to impress as the ultimate aim is to return here in a few years at the very highest level.
Arriving at Silverstone, the exciting rookie driver Fionn McLaughlin, driving for Hitech GP with backing from the Red Bull Young Driver Program. The seventeen year old Irishman held a five and a half point lead over the Hungarian Martin Molnar after winning the first race at Oulton Park at the previous round. Other multiple winners in the series this year include Tom Bearman, younger brother of Formula One driver Ollie, Australian James Piszyck, Swede August Raber and Dubai driver Adam Al Azhari. With drivers from six different continents, the global talent on display bodes well for the future. 

Formula Three:
The FIA Formula Three is the lowest permanent category on the Formula One calendar and is seen as the first major step towards a seat in the big league. Since its reformation in 2019, two drivers on the current Formula One grid have won this championship, Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoletto, both of whom went back to back by winning the Formula Two title a year later.

This season, the championship would arrive at Silverstone for round seven of ten in 2025 and the title race has really started to heat up. Previous races have seen the emergence of highly rated rookie Rafael Camara, the Trident driver who is supported by Ferrari. The Brazilian has impressed onlookers with three feature race wins in Australia, Spain and Bahrain, all of which came from pole position. He hasn't had it his own way however as the title challengers have been snapping at his heels throughout the season. Second season drivers Nikita Tsolov and Tim Tramnitz sit in second and third in the table having both won a sprint race each this year. Further down the order, the Mexican Santiago Ramos has shown flashes of brilliance with two wins this year, but his season has been hindered by incidents and non finishes. 

A week ago in the Styrian mountains of Austria, the sprint race would see an all-the-way success for Australian James Wharton, who landed his first success in the series in the process. There would be another pole to win victory in the longer Feature race, this time for championship contender Nikola Tsolov, The Red Bull-backed Bulgarian produced another strong drive to take the flag first, but there would be drama after the race as Tsolov would be disqualified for a technical infringement on his car. The explosive news would filter through the paddock and promoted McLaren junior driver Martinius Stenshorne to first, German Tim Tramnitz into second and Spaniard Mari Boya into third. The new result allowed a large sigh of relief for championship leader Rafa Camara, who still holds a 24 point advantage over Tim Tramnitz with Nikola Tsolov still in third, a further four points back. Tsolov will undoubtedly be fired up for this round and Camara will make a bold defence of his title lead. 

Formula Two:

The FIA Formula Two championship has been a perennial breeding ground for the newest generation of Formula One drivers on the grid. Since 2019, three quarters of twenty Formula One drivers have graduated from Formula Two, namely Lando Norris, Alex Albon, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri and  Liam Lawson. Four drivers would make the graduation from Formula Two to Formula One last year in an unprecedented season which saw championship winner Gabriel Bortoleto, runner up Isack Hadjar, Kimi Antonelli and Franco Colapinto all make the jump to the big league. 

The championship arrived at Silverstone for the midway point in the season, round eight of fourteen. The previous rounds that have stretched from Australia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Europe have been filled with the traditional drama and brilliance between the steering wheel that is often expected each year. The Irish-born rookie Alex Dunne would lead the championship table having won feature races at Imola and Bahrain, but his season hasn't gone without incident. The title race remains tightly balanced with just fifteen points separating the top five in the standings. Series veteran Richard Verschoor has shown his experience by taking two wins and two podiums along the way, while British rookie Arvid Lindblad has shown maturity beyond his young age by winning a sprint race and feature race each this year. American Jak Crawford is another multiple winner this season while another Brit, Luke Browning, has been remarkably consistent by finishing on the podium numerous times to remain in contention.

Last week in Austria, the sprint race would see plenty of chaos as usual, including a scary crash for Sami Meguetounif, whose car came to a stop upside down, but he thankfully walked away unharmed. Red Bull-backed Spaniard "Pepe" Marti made progress through the field to overhaul Joshua Duerksen and take his second win of the year. In the longer Feature race, there would be a notable change in the title race as Dutchman Richard Verschoor drove to a calculated victory to take over as leader in the points table. Championship rival Alex Dunne finished second, but was disqualified due to a technical infringement. Verschoor arrived at Silverstone with a 24 point lead, but there would be a large amount of points on offer over the weekend. 

British Formula Four Race One: 

For the first time ever and to mark the 75th anniversary of the British Grand Prix, Formula Four joined the undercard of a Formula One weekend along with F3 and F2. This non-points scoring round would take a break from the main championship and all the constructors would be present. In a slight change, a handful of wildcard entrants took their place with the intention of gaining more experience of this historic track. 

Qualifying would be the first on track action to take place, shortly after the gates opened for the public. The grid line up would be determined in unusual fashion as drivers second fastest time in the single session would determine the order for race one later in the afternoon, while the fastest times in the session would decide tomorrow's race two line up. The exciting Irishman Fionn McLaughlin would go fastest overall in qualifying with a lap of 2:00.832. Back in second would be the Briton Tommy Harfield with Columbian teenager Salim Hanna, Hungarian Martin Molnar and Tom Bearman completing the top five in qualifying. The countback of the second fastest times would see Salim Hanna land pole for race one, ahead of Ethan Jeff-Hall and Rowan Campbell-PIlling in third. 

After the excitement of the F3 and F2 races, as well as all the F1 action had commenced, the F4 field returned to the track at the close of day. As the sun finally burst through the clouds, the action got underway on track. From third place, Campbell-Pilling moved up into second off the line and set his sights on Hanna. With a move around the outside under braking into Brooklands, Campbell-Pilling took the lead of the race. Leading the pack through Maggots, Becketts and Chapel, Campbell-Pilling suddenly spun out of the race in dramatic style. A failed front suspension led to an early retirement which was disappointing after a brilliant start. In the melee of the pack further down the order, Formula Academy title contender Ella Lloyd was tripped into a spin on lap one and found herself a long way back in last. The safety car was called which bunched the pack up once again. After a small number of slow laps behind the safety car, the race got back underway and Ethan Jeff-Hall piled on the pressure on Salim Hanna for first. The front two began to battle hard for the race win throughout the timed race. Further back, the field would be closely grouped, but with no DRS wing flap available in this season, the young drivers had to follow each other or have to outsmart the driver ahead. Martin Molnar and Ella Lloyd would provide the entertainment as they both made up numerous places. A coming together between some of the tail enders led to another safety right at the end of the race. The field would trundle around and across the finish line to complete a part of history at Silverstone. The race win would go to the Columbian Salim Hanna, who held off the attentions of Ethan Jeff-Hall for the entire race and Fionn McLaughlin was unable to make an impression back in third. Tom Harfield would take fourth, ahead of Tom Bearman, Theo Palmer, Martin Molnar, Adam Al Azhari, Leo Robinson and Yuhao Fu, who finished tenth after starting well down the grid.

It would be a second win in the series for the fifteen year old Hanna, who joined midway through the season and won at Thruxton previously. Mentored by former F1 driver and fellow countryman Juan Pablo Montoya, Hanna didn't panic and drove very maturely to win on this big stage. With time on his side, Salim Hanna could be a name to remember.

Race Result:
1st) S. Hanna (Col)

2nd) E. Jeff-Hall (GBR)

3rd) F. McLaughlan (Ire)

4th) T. Harfield (GBR)

5th) T. Bearman (GBR)

6th) T. Palmer (GBR)

7th) M. Molnar (HUN)

8th) A. Al Azhari (UAE)

FIA Formula Three Sprint Race: 

Qualifying for the Formula Three race would take place during the previous afternoon as all thirty drivers produced a lap to the best of their capabilities. The top ten finishers in qualifying would be reversed for the sprint race in a bid to mix the order and produce irregular winners. Therefore, the twelfth placed qualifier would lead the field away for the shorter race. In the previous afternoon's qualifying session, there would be a theme of status quo at Nikola Tsolov placed his Red Bull backed Campos car at the top of time sheets, producing a lap time of 1:45.043. Second quickest would be the American Ugo Ugochukwu, who has found good form recently and was just 0.023 seconds away from pole. Championship rival Rafa Camara had to settle for third with a 1:45.176 in a very tight session. These three would face a test for this race as they lined up tomorrow in the pack, but there would be an all Asian front row for the sprint as Thai driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak finished twelfth fastest, but would move up to pole position.  He would be joined on the front row by Singaporean Christian Ho, with an eventful first lap in the offing. 
Starting Grid:
1) T. Inthrapuvasak, 2) C. Ho, 3) N. Leon, 4) T. Nael, 5) L. Van Hoepen, 6) M. Stenshorne, 7) C. Wurz, 8) T. Tramnitz, 9) M. Boya,  10) R. Camara,  11) U. Ugochukwu, 12) N. Tsolov

The Race:

As the five lights lit up the gantry and the engines revved loudly, the first main race of the day would get underway. It would be a relatively equal start as the front two Inthrapuvasak and Ho kept their positions into the first braking point of turn three and the field behind them would jostle for position. The slow nature of this section can cause bottlenecks and Brando Badoer tried a a daring divebomb on Nikola Tsolov into turn four, which saw him stumble over the curbs and into the championship contender. Tsolov spun around and fell to last while Badoer suffered race ending damage. Further up the field, Theophile Nael got an excellent run on Christian Ho on the Wellington Straight and moved into second at the Brooklands corner. Shortly after, the safety car was deployed as Badoer's car remained on the grass so the race was neutralised. 
After two and a half laps, the safety car returned to the pit lane and drivers were ready to race again. Inthrapuvasak timed his restart to perfection and gained a few car lengths on Nael. Christian Ho would come under more pressure on the restart, this time losing out to McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne. As the race settled back into its flow, the pace of Nael looked strong and it was only a matter of time before he got the move done to take the lead. The overtake was completed just outside track limits, so after a few laps, Nael returned the lead to Inthrapuvasak to avoid a penalty. The front three runners remained nose to tail following the halfway stage, but the rest of the field were also producing excellent racing. Mari Boya had fought his way up to sixth as well as Rafa Camara and the all-black car of Ugo Ugochukwu who both gained places.

After his big challenge for the lead at the start of the race, Theophile Nael's tyres began to cry enough and his progress would go in reverse, backing up into the battle for fourth. Stenshorne had breezed past Nael for second with the aid of DRS, but Inthrapuvasak was able to calmly break away in front. As the laps counted down the the final lap 18, the battling for the final step on the podium intensified. Laurens van Hoepen used DRS to close in on Nael's third place and tried to go around the outside of Stowe corner. They would continue to duel on the run to Vale corner, but they both ran slightly wide. As they both had a compromised exit through Club corner, Mari Boya squeezed the accelerator and nipped up the inside to take third place approaching the final tour. Up in front, Stenshorne did his best to bridge the gap to Inthrapuvasak but the leader had already checked out. A calm drive by the leader saw him take his first ever win in Formula Three by just over a second. The Norwegian Martinius Stenshorne took a well earned second, with a sizeable gap back to Mari Boya back in third. Nael finished fourth on track but was given a ten second penalty for forcing van Hoepen off track, so the Belgian van Hoepen was promoted to fourth. Ugochukwu made gains to finish fifth, front row sitter Christian Ho recorded a best finish to date of sixth while Rafa Camara finished eighth, but his championship lead increased as rivals Tim Tramnitz and Nikola Tsolov failed to score points. 

It would be a piece of history as a Thai driver won a race for the first time in Formula Three since its revamp. The second season driver Tasanapol Inthrapuvasak was once highly regarded in his karting days and was even part of the Red Bull development scheme at one point. His highest championship ranking would be fifth in the 2021 UAE F4 championship and even competed in sports cars in his native Thailand. Joining Formula Three in 2024, he would race with tail end team AIX Racing and featured in the team's first 1-2 finish at Hungary, but that result was a flash in the pan and he finished 24th in the standings. Despite this, he has since joined front runners Campos where he sits alongside Mari Boya and Nikola Tsolov. He has been strong in sprint races this season and had previously finished fourth in Melbourne and Austria. An assured drive despite the early pressure, this could be the catapult Inthrapuvasak needs to move up the championship order. 

Race Result:

1st) T. Inthraphuvasak (THA)
2nd) M. Stenshorne (NOR)

3rd) M. Boya (ESP)

4th) L. Van Hoepen (BEL)

5th) U. Ugochukwu (USA)

6th) C. Ho (SIN)

7th) N. Leon (MEX)

8th) R. Camara (BRA)

9th) C. Wurz (AUT)

10th) R. Bilinski (POL)

FIA Formula Two Sprint Race:

Just like in the Formula Three series, qualifying took place less than twenty-four hours ago but this time, the first ten of the feature race grid would be reversed. The session would end with Frenchman Victor Martins taking pole postion for Sunday's feature race with a superb late lap, but he would start from tenth for this dash. At the front of the grid, Leo Fornaroli held the advantageous pole position with a potential first win on the cards and was flanked by second season driver Kush Maini in second. British hopes would lay with Alex Dunne, who showed all of his rapid qualifying pace to take second, while Arvid Lindblad could only manage eleventh having made his F1 debut in free practice, driving the Red Bull around this track earlier in the morning. 

Starting Grid: 
1) L. Fornaroli, 2) K. Maini, 3) D. Beganovic, 4) R. Verschoor, 5) J. Duerksen, 6) S. Montoya, 7) R. Stanek, 8) J. Crawford, 9) A. Dunne, 10) V. Martins 

The Race:

There would be drama even before the start of the race as third placed Dino Beganovic stalled on the grid which left him stranded and needing to start from the pit lane, a timely reminder of the Swedish driver's bad luck this season. As the lights went out, Kush Maini had the better reaction time and surged past Fornaroli into the lead approaching turn three. They would battle hard through the complex of Brooklands and Luffield before Fornaroli had the better exit onto the old pit straight and charged around the outside of Maini at Copse and back into the lead. By the end of lap one, the front two remained the same, but further back, Roman Stanek and Sebastian Montoya had made brilliant starts, weaving their way through the scrimmaging and into third and fourth placings.
The leader Fornaroli began to stretch his legs and opened up a gap of one second to Maini, who began to fall back into the clutches of the chasing pack. With DRS being enable shortly, the Indian driver would start to feel vulnerable. His struggles worsened at lap four with a lock up into the heavy braking zone of Village which saw Montoya make a challenge, but Maini held on for now. The order remained generally the same as DRS trains started to form in the pack. Alex Dunne had lost a couple of places at the start and was running in eleventh, but found himself under pressure from the Italian Gabrielle Mini. A mistake by Dunne at turn three opened for the door for Mini, but the door closed for the Italian and he made contact with Dunne, resulting in a puncture for the Irishman. The frustrated McLaren driver limped back to the pits with three tyres and a rim, put on a set of soft tyres and returned to the race, albeit just in front of the leaders. His pace advantage on the soft tyres meant he was able to avoid getting lapped, but a few laps later, he returned to the garage again to retire the car. A disappointing end for championship contender.

Back up front, Fornaroli continued to set good lap times and had a comfortable lead over Maini, but Montoya was in DRS range now. The Columbian finally got past the Indian driver and shortly after, Roman Stanek was able to demote Maini into fourth. The long queue of cars from fourth down to eleventh places provided plenty of exciting battles for the onlooking crowd. On the exit of Luffield, the two Williams Racing juniors Luke Browning and Victor Martins got too close for comfort and made contact, Martins losing a small piece of bodywork but both continued in the race. Starting the final lap, Leo Fornaroli had checked out and gone up front and was able to bring the car home untroubled.  The Italian would finally end the unwanted streak of going without a win by taking the chequered flag and seeing his name up in lights. Back in second, Sebastian Montoya produced a good drive to take second and Fornaroli's Invicta teammate Roman Stanek came home third. Kush Maini did an excellent job to hold onto fourth, while there was a very close finish for fifth as Joshua Duerksen and Jak Crawford crossed the line together, but the timing page showed Duerksen broke the beam a thousandth of a second before Crawford. Richard Verschoor gained the final points paying position in eighth, slightly extending his lead, but Leo Fornaroli jumped into second place in the standings with this win. The gap between first and second stood at nineteen points while Jak Crawford moved up a place into third as Alex Dunne's non finish could be crucial as he fell to fourth in the table, thirty points behind Verschoor.

The win for Leo Fornaroli has been a very long time coming, but it hasn't come as a surprise. The Invicta Racing rookie became Formula Three champion in the final corner of the last lap of the final race at Monza last September, where he sent a high risk move into third place which is what he needed to win the title from Gabrielle Mini. A promising talent in his karting days where he finished third in two championships. the Italian has amazingly gone without a win of any kind since his days in the Italian Formula Four championship in 2021. All the way through Formula Three, he showed a lot of promise with Trident and even gained a first pole position at Silverstone in 2023. His consistency and numerous podiums carried Fornaroli into contention for the F3 title and he landed the trophy in unique style. In 2025, Fornaroli has hit the ground running in F2. A second placed finish in the Australian sprint race in March was followed by a podium in Bahrain. He has finished in the points in all bar two of the races this season, most notably at Monaco where he led for most of the way before losing the lead in the pit stops and shortly after, a red flag cruelly denied Fornaroli his first win there. A pair of non finishes at Barcelona and Spielberg remain the only blemishes on his season, but the Italian is right in the mix for another championship.  

Race Result:

1st) L. Fornaroli (ITA)
2nd) S. Montoya (COL)

3rd) R. Stanek (CZE)

4th) K. Maini (IND)

5th) J. Duerksen (PAR)

6th) J. Crawford (USA)

7th) R. Verschoor (NED)

8th) V. Martins (FRA)

*Luke Browning finished sevneth, but was given a post race penalty and placed twelfth.