COVER FEATURE
Over the course of the weekend, Kent is then on hand to help the teams fault-find whenever any issues occur. During sessions, he is stationed in the pit lane along with the team of engine experts from Neil Brown Engineering and tyre technicians from Pirelli, all ready to jump in and support teams if any cars come in with a problem, helping to ensure the drivers get as much track time as possible.
Mason, meanwhile, manages the safety and technical compliance of the cars, carrying out pre-event checks and working with a small team throughout the weekend to answer any questions that may come up.“ The teams love to ask the‘ can we do this?’ questions,” he says.“ Their job is essentially to get as close to the line as they can without crossing it, and there is always that balance.
“ In scrutineering, you’ ll never be more of an expert than the teams are with the cars because they build them, they live and breathe them. Even with a car that’ s four years down the line, they’ re always finding new things, new ideas of what to do with it, new scenarios and new people coming in with new approaches, so the biggest challenge is keeping on top of the constant request for clarifications and interpretations.
“ We watch everyone very closely, but it’ s not like in F1 where they’ re restricted what they can do between sessions. When the cars come off track, we have a platform in the Wera Technical Centre where the cars get weighed, we check tyres and take measurements to ensure they meet the dimension requirements, then they go back to the team so they can make set-up changes for the next time they go out on track.
“ There’ s a lot of mutual respect between what Tony and I are trying to achieve at a championship level and what the teams are trying to achieve, and generally the goals are aligned. Ultimately, everybody wants to have the cars out there on the track, running around reliably, knowing that they’ ve got equal equipment, so that success on the track is all down to the skill of the drivers and engineers to maximise what they’ ve got.”
Putting on a Show
Over the years, the UK has had number of successful first-step feeder formulae including Formula Ford, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, and Formula Renault UK, all of which used to lead into a British F3 series that teamed with the hottest drivers at the time. In the modern era, British F4 has taken up this mantle, feeding into the now well-established international FIA pathway that flows through F3 and F2 and into Formula One
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Photos: JEP
Drivers and teams working together helps teach technical prowess for future Formulae
British F4 was part of the Silverstone Grand Prix weekend in 2025
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Revolution- September 2025