COVER FEATURE
McLaughlin’ s team-mate, Thomas Bearman, already knows what it’ s like to climb the ladder all the way to F1. His older brother Ollie, four years his senior, completed that route in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year as a stand-in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. Now in his first full season with Haas, his pathway started with the ADAC and Italian F4 Championships – both of which he won in 2021, in his second season of racing.
The younger Bearman chose the British Championship instead, defining it as“ a necessary step on the ladder” and“ a really important place to hone your skills.” He explains:“ You can learn a lot of things on a grid like this with a lot of competition and my ambitions are to follow in my brother’ s footsteps to F1, then see what happens from there. That’ s what I’ m striving to achieve, with my family and everyone behind me.”
In contrast to the other drivers in the leading teams, rookie Harfield had more modest expectations than many of his rivals this year. He had originally only planned to compete in the Challenge Cup, which covers just seven of the 10 rounds, but after some good results, including four podiums, he felt there was still unfinished business at the end of his seventh outing – so he gave it one more roll of the dice and hit the jackpot.
“ It’ s a very competitive championship with many contenders at the front and the trick to success is to qualify well and be consistent,” he said after his Donington win.“ It just felt like a pole or race victory was missing to what has been a great season, so we decided to have one more to try. It was really cool to get the win, and it was such a relief after so many moments when I got so close … but after that, I don’ t know yet if we can do any more.”
Building Skills
Lake-Grange acknowledges that single-seater racing is“ not the most economic racing” on offer in the UK, given the breadth of club and arrive and drive formulae on offer, however but she believes its status makes it the place to go for anyone who has ambitions to race in F1. That presents an interesting challenge when it comes to its organisation, as it requires a delicate balance between a highly professional setup and one that allows competitive racing for drivers a wide range of budgets.
“ It’ s difficult to grapple the economics when trying to develop an affordable championship and it is fair to say that affordability is all relative,” she concedes.“ The Challenge Cup was developed to give drivers who might not have full season availability or budget, the opportunity to race in British F4, showcase their talent and prove they can be competitive against full-season drivers who might be better funded.
“ That has certainly been the case with a number of drivers and the hope is that it will then create a platform from where they can raise additional sponsorship and develop more opportunities to compete. We have also worked with partners who have provided partly funded programs to drivers, including in 2023 a fully funded drive courtesy of our previous title sponsor ROKiT, so we try to make it as accessible as we can.”
The importance of the championship is clearly demonstrated by the presence of several drivers backed by different F1 outfits. Alongside Red Bull, with McLaughlin, and McLaren, with van Langendonck and Ella Lloyd, Mercedes-AMG has elected to put their junior driver Ethan Jeff-Hall on the grid, and in previous years Alpine has also been represented by Jack Doohan and Abbi Pulling.
Ella Lloyd is one of several female racers in the British F4 Championship >>>>>
Photos: JEP
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Revolution- September 2025