The 2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship was a multi-event
motor racing
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
championship for
open wheel
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...
,
formula racing cars held across
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers competing in 2 litre Duratec single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2014 season was the second BRDC
Formula 4
FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...
Championship organized by
Jonathan Palmer
Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...
's
MotorSport Vision
MotorSport Vision (MSV) is a motorsport organisation and an operator of six UK venues. MSV has a portfolio ranging from major two- and four-wheel championships to organising the PalmerSport corporate driving event.
History
MotorSport Vision w ...
company, with support from the
British Racing Drivers' Club
The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...
in the United Kingdom, and dedicated championship highlights shown on
ITV4
ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...
the weekend after each round, in a prime time slot. The season began at
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
on 26 April and ended on 26 October at
Snetterton
Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...
, after 8 triple header events amassing to 24 races.
Heading into the final round of the championship, six drivers were in mathematical contention to win the championship. Lanan Racing team-mates
Arjun Maini
Arjun Maini (born 10 December 1997) is an Indian professional racing driver, currently competing in the DTM. He has previously also competed in FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Racing, as well as Campos Racing.
Early life
Maini comes ...
and
George Russell led the standings, with Maini 21 points clear of Russell. HHC Motorsport duo Sennan Fielding and Raoul Hyman were split by five points for third and fourth places, with Struan Moore (Lanan Racing) and
Will Palmer
William Palmer (born 15 February 1997) is a British Motor racing driver, the son of Jonathan Palmer and brother of Jolyon Palmer. He is a past winner of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.
He won the BRDC F4 Championship in 2015 having previousl ...
(HHC Motorsport) requiring results to go in their favour, despite being in the running. Russell took pole position for the opening race, but Fielding was the highest placed at the end, in third place; Russell cut Maini's lead slightly with a seventh, while Palmer and Moore could no longer win the title due to their results. Maini took pole for the second race, due to his eighth place and the regulations for the partially reversed grid order stipulating such. Maini led from the start, before Hyman and Russell passed him early in the race. Maini fell to fifth as he made an error later in the race, dropping him behind Fielding and Moore. Hyman held the lead until the end which meant that four drivers could still win the title in the final race.
Maini held a 13-point lead over Russell, with Fielding 5 points further adrift, and Hyman the outsider, 25 points adrift of Maini. Russell started from pole position, with Hyman, Fielding and Maini behind. Hyman made the best start to take the lead from Russell at the start, but Russell regained the lead the following lap, and ultimately went on to win the race; a season-high fifth victory. With Maini down in fifth place, it enabled Russell to clinch the title by just three points. With the championship, he received a prize test with the
Arden Motorsport
Arden International is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently runs teams in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and F4 British Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship ...
GP3 team at the
Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina was ...
in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season, as well as a £25,000 cash prize. Behind Maini, Hyman's second place finish allowed him to jump Fielding for third place in the championship, by a single point. All three drivers won four races over the course of the season, including a hat-trick for Fielding at Silverstone, a first for the series. Other drivers to win races were Moore at
Oulton Park
Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...
, Palmer won twice at the first Snetterton meeting, as well as single victories for
Diego Menchaca
Diego Menchaca González-Quintanilla (born 20 October 1994 in Mexico City) is a Mexican racing driver.
Career
Karting
Menchaca began karting in 2006 at the age of eight, competing in championships across Mexico and the United States.
Lower F ...
(Snetterton), and Brands Hatch victories for Gustavo Lima, Gaetano di Mauro and Chris Middlehurst.
Teams and drivers
Race calendar and results
The first
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...
race weekend was held in support of the
Blancpain Sprint Series
The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) ...
. Later in the season, at the first
Snetterton
Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...
meeting and the second Brands Hatch meeting, the series formed part of the support package to
British GT Championship
The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...
rounds.
Championship standings
;Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top 20 classified finishers in all races.
Drivers' championship
Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup
The Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup was awarded to the driver who started from
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
most often throughout the season. Champion George Russell won the trophy, on a tie-break with Arjun Maini, as Russell took more pole positions from qualifying sessions.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.formula4.com/
BRDC British Formula 3 Championship seasons
BRDC Formula 4
BRDC Formula 4