British F4: Chiara Bättig ends her season on a high at Brands Hatch
Hitech driver Chiara Bättig finished her maiden season in the British F4 Championship with three points-scoring results after a top-5 qualifying effort led to a highest finish of sixth at Brands Hatch.
Hitech driver Chiara Bättig finished her maiden season in the British F4 Championship with three points-scoring results after a top-5 qualifying effort led to a highest finish of sixth at Brands Hatch.
Bättig’s rookie season in the British F4 Championship has seen the Swiss racer take significant steps forward with her performances last time out at Silverstone a particular highlight. After charging through from 12th on the grid to finish inside the top-5 during race one, Bättig then secured her second podium finish of the season in race two. Bättig therefore entered Brands Hatch just 15 points away from an overall top-10 championship position with the Red Bull backed driver achieving four top-5 finishes in her last six races.
The Brands Hatch Grand Prix layout was set to provide a significant challenge for the drivers with just one in-season test session to gain valuable experience. Gaining knowledge of the circuit in September, Bättig finished the sole test day in 17th position overall with the Hitech racer setting a quickest time of a 1:25.641.
Now aiming to push towards the top-10 during the main race weekend, Bättig was looking start the event on the front foot during Wednesday’s test session on the Indy layout. The drivers faced wet conditions throughout the day with the Swiss racer completing a total of 58 laps. Bättig’s fastest time of a 51.924 came in the morning session with the Hitech driver ending Wednesday’s running in 22nd position overall.
The drivers returned to Brands Hatch on Friday for two free practice sessions on the Grand Prix circuit. In a damp opening session, Bättig set the 14th fastest time while making further progress during the afternoon. With all drivers fitting the slick tyres for free practice two, Bättig ended the day in 13th position with the Swiss racer setting a quickest lap of a 1:25.867.
Qualifying was held in dry conditions on Saturday morning and Bättig immediately began contending at the head of the field. Despite failing to set a top-10 lap time in either testing or free practice, the Hitech driver was enjoying a superb opening qualifying run. At the halfway point of the session, Bättig sat in fourth position with a fastest lap of a 1:25.264.
Her speed through the first two sectors was particularly strong and after improving by a further quarter of a second on her second set of tyres, Bättig ended the session inside the top-5. Setting a quickest time of a 1:24.953, the Swiss racer continued her superb form by qualifying in fifth position with three Hitech racers inside the top-5.
The opening race at Brands Hatch took place on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the second fastest times from qualifying, Bättig lined up from fifth position. It was a challenging start for the Hitech driver who lost a position off the line, before being shuffled down the order as the drivers turned through Druids. At the end of the opening lap, Bättig was in tenth position and she was now targeting a strong recovery through the field.
On lap two, the Swiss racer set the overall fastest time through sector two and this enabled her to remain within striking distance of South African driver Cole Hewetson. Bättig’s speed through on the Indy circuit was among the quickest of the entire field and on lap five, the Red Bull backed driver was the fifth fastest driver on track. Excellent corner exits were seeing Bättig regularly lead the way within the speed traps as she tucked in Hewetson’s slipstream.
On lap seven, Bättig was the fourth fastest driver on track as she one of few drivers who was showing intent to move forward. The battle between Hewetson and Bättig was the closest on track with the Swiss driver regularly shaping for a move into Surtees.
Despite her best efforts, Bättig was unable to find a way past Hewetson with the Hitech driver taking the chequered flag in tenth position. This result ensured that Bättig scored championship points in each round of the season, a superb achievement in her debut season of F4 level competition.
Race two at Brands Hatch took place on Sunday morning and with the top-12 positions from qualifying reversed, Bättig lined up from eighth on the grid. As the lights went out, Bättig lost one position on the initial launch before she held off champion Dries van Langendonck on the run up to Druids. The Hitech driver briefly slipped to ninth, before smart avoidance following a spin for Ethan Lennon promoted the Swiss racer back into eighth position.
After settling into her rhythm on lap two, the safety car was deployed on lap three following a sizeable incident for Roman Felber. With Charlie Smith’s Virtuosi Racing machine also requiring recovery, the intervention was extensive before the green flag was displayed with six minutes remaining.
Bättig was keen to move forward on the restart and she immediately applied pressure to the Rodin Motorsport machine of Alfie Slater. After getting a good run out of Druids and down into Graham Hill Bend, Bättig shaped for a move into Surtees while resisting the challenge from the drivers behind. Almost drawing level with her rival, Bättig then settled back into eighth position as close battles continued to unfold throughout the top-10.
On lap 10, Bättig ran just a quarter of a second behind her rival as she looked to utilise the slipstream effect to make a move. It was a strong end to the race for the Hitech driver with Bättig taking the chequered flag in eighth position and less than half a second behind Slater.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results from qualifying, Bättig was set to line up from fifth. However, following a grid penalty assessed to teammate Scott Kin Lindblom, Bättig was promoted to the second row of the grid.
As the lights went out, it was a challenging start for Bättig as she initially lost a number of positions before fighting back at Druids. Completing lap one in sixth position, Bättig successfully kept champion Dries van Langendonck behind who was also looking to end his season on a high.
By lap three, Bättig had pulled out a gap of over a second between herself and van Langendonck with the Hitech driver once again displaying excellent pace. On lap five, Bättig was the fastest driver through the first sector as she applied pressure to teammate Lindblom. Once again, overtaking was proving challenging, however Bättig continued to show her intent to move up through the order.
As the race reached the halfway mark, Bättig remained just half a second behind Kin Lindblom with little pressure from van Langendonck behind. A strong run to the finish saw Bättig take the chequered flag in sixth position to round-out a superb debut campaign in the British F4 Championship.
Courtesy of three points scoring finishes at Brands Hatch, Bättig finished 13th in the overall championship standings. Scoring points in eight of the last ten races, Bättig’s late season form was especially impressive as she firmly established herself as one of the leading female drivers in F4 level competition globally throughout the 2026 season.
