10 podiums – tough racing – challenging conditions
It’s hard to believe my first season of racing in the UK is over and that 2019 is drawing to a close.
Although the race calendar has concluded, there is no time for rest, as now there is only a small window in which to make some huge decisions, ones that will shape my racing in 2020.
Now is the time to make decisions about which series I will compete in and what team I will be joining, and everything I do now, every decision I make, will have important consequences for the year to come.
But before that, I want to look back and reflect on my year in the British F4 championship, even though this feels like a bit of a turnaround, when I’ve spent so much time looking forward to the next race weekend, test or preparation.
Although I didn’t, perhaps, achieve what I hoped to this year, I still experienced many massively enjoyable moments, such as getting my first win and first podium of the year in Round 2 at Donington Park, in April. Then, following this up by really settling into stride later in the season, even if the results at times did not always reflect this. I felt I was able to consistently apply myself to be competing at the front of a tough field, in practice sessions and racing.
The changeable UK conditions were a new experience and they allowed me to develop my wet weather driving and gain an understanding of all the little niches that are required in order to go quicker on the tracks around here in damp, wet and monsoonal conditions.
The UK is home to such a huge variety of tracks, each with its own unique challenges, and I feel as though, by the end of the year, I managed to be competitive on every single one of these circuits and am also really happy with how I was able to improve my driving over the race weekends.
Knockhill was looking as thought it could have been a dominant weekend for me, out front on a very special track. I managed to put myself on top during testing and practice and achieved the fastest time in qualifying before being put to the back of the grid for the races.
Still, it’s hard to be too unhappy with the year’s results, given I succeeded in standing on the podium 10 times during the season, with a visit to the podium on each track, except for Knockhill, where I clocked the fastest lap in the last race.
Highlight of the Year
My highlight of the year would be coming back strong, from a poor qualifying at Donington, and standing on the British F4 podium for the first time with a 3rd and then a 1st in the first two races of the weekend.
Best Race of the Year
In my opinion, my best drive of the year was at Snetterton Circuit, in Race 3, where I managed to hold onto second position all race long. Despite lacking a bit of pace, I managed to hold off the pack of cars behind me as it went down to the last lap, in what was for me, a near faultless race.
And now, I can’t wait for what next year holds. Even the small taste of F3 experience I have had so far has got me so excited about what could be possible in 2020.