British F4: Chiara Bättig returns to the podium at Silverstone
Chiara Bättig secured her second podium finish of the season in the British F4 Championship with the Swiss racer enjoying another superb weekend at Silverstone, charging through from 12th on the grid to finish inside the top-5 in race one, before finishing in third position during the reverse grid contest.
Chiara Bättig secured her second podium finish of the season in the British F4 Championship with the Swiss racer enjoying another superb weekend at Silverstone. The Hitech driver charged through from 12th on the grid to finish inside the top-5 in race one, before Bättig finished in third position during the partial reverse grid contest.
Following a breakthrough performance last time out at Croft, Bättig arrived at Silverstone aiming for further milestones during the penultimate round of the season. After qualifying in second position. Bättig equalled the highest-starting position by a female driver in the history of the British F4 Championship. Securing two top-5 finishes, the Hitech driver climbed to 12th in the overall standings and she was now targeting a return to the rostrum.
On her Silverstone debut back in May, the Swiss driver finished in third position during race two while also securing the overall fastest lap. She backed up this performance with a stunning drive as the F1 Academy Wild Card by claiming pole position and fastest lap during the course of the weekend, ultimately achieving a second-place finish in race two.
Now tackling the high-speed National layout, Bättig was looking for a fast start to the weekend as the drivers participated in a number of short test sessions on Thursday. The Swiss driver continued her excellent form by setting the fourth fastest overall time with a quickest lap of a 54.667. This time placed her less than two tenths of a second away from Dries van Langendonck with all four Hitech drivers showing impressive speed.
Two free practice sessions were held on Friday with Bättig continuing to fight among the leading drivers. Completing 61 laps across the day, the Hitech driver again set the fourth fastest overall time. Coming within four thousandths of a second of her quickest lap from the previous day, Bättig set a fastest time of a 54.671 as she was only one of two drivers inside the top-15 who set a quicker lap during the warmer conditions of the afternoon session.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with the drivers split into two groups due to the short nature of the circuit. Bättig drove in the first, 15-minute session in a closely contested group. With lower track temperatures, generating heat into the tyres was a challenge with some of the quickest times coming at the very end of the session.
Bättig showed particularly competitive speed through the challenging Copse corner with the Hitech driver setting the overall fastest first sector in her group. The Swiss racer clocked a quickest time of a 54.895 which placed her fourth within the first group of drivers and this lap firmly put herself in the mix for the trio of races which followed.
The opening race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the second fastest times set in qualifying, Bättig lined up from 12th on the grid. It was a phenomenal start for the Hitech driver who got a superb launch and used her racecraft to move forward on lap one. Gaining five positions, Bättig was up to seventh before Ethan Lennon was spun at Becketts on lap two.
With his Rodin Motorsport car requiring recovery, the safety car was deployed and after the misfortune for the South African racer, Bättig was up to sixth. The race resumed on lap seven and the Swiss racer was soon inside the top-5 after Lewis Wherrell spun at Copse while battling Dries van Langendonck for the overall lead.
Wherrell's car was stranded in the gravel trap and this necessitated a second safety car period. It was a lengthy intervention with the race resuming with a little under five minutes left on the clock. Bättig made a fast restart as she looked to find a way past Jarrett Clark, while the battles for the podium positions intensified.
Remaining less than half a second behind her rival, Bättig completed an excellent race by taking the chequered flag in fifth position, a remarkable result from 12th on the grid with so little green flag running. This performance underlined Bättig's improved racecraft as she made considerable progress in a highly-competitive grid of drivers.
Race two at Silverstone took place on Saturday morning with cool and cloudy conditions. The grid positions were based on the results of qualifying with the top-12 positions reversed and as a result, Bättig lined up from fourth on the grid. As the lights went out, Bättig was immediately defending her position into Copse and as a result, light contact was made between herself and teammate Adam Al Azhari. Fortunately, both cars escaped with any significant damage and the Swiss racer completed lap one in fifth position.
The racing among the leading drivers remained extremely close in the opening stages before the first six drivers began to use the powerful slipstream to break away. On lap four, Bättig set the overall fastest middle sector with the Hitech driver continuing to show impressive speed through Becketts and onto the Wellington Straight. This enabled her to briefly claim the overall fastest lap, before JHR Developments teammates Lewis Wherrell and Haarni Sadiq improved upon this time by mere hundredths of a second.
This momentum allowed Bättig to make a superb move on Josepth Smith for fourth position on lap five. In an attempt to break clear of her rival, Bättig once again set a new benchmark time in the middle sector on lap six as she began to apply pressure on Jarrett Clark. Replicating this feat again on lap 10, Bättig was now on the gearbox of her rival while she remained less than two seconds away from the overall race lead.
By lap 11, the Hitech driver was just a tenth of a second behind her rival as she forced Clark to defend into Copse. With both drivers losing time in this battle, this briefly brought Smith back into contention who was now under pressure from Bättig's teammate Theo Palmer. On lap 15, Palmer overtook Smith and with a small gap opening out behind, Bättig could once again focus forward on attacking Clark.
Two laps later, Bättig set the overall fastest time through the final sector as the Swiss racer continued to show phenomenal pace. Although she was unable to make a move on Clark in the final laps, Bättig secured a podium result following a track limits penalty assessed to second-place finisher Arjen Kräling. This was a fully deserved result for the Swiss racer who stood on the podium for the second time this season while matching her best result in the British F4 Championship.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results from qualifying, Bättig lined up from eighth position. Before the green flag was displayed, Bättig was promoted to seventh after Jaber Alsabah encountered a technical issue prior to the start.
As the lights went out, Bättig stalled and despite the best efforts of her rivals, she was collected by the JHR Developments machine of Cameron Nelson. Fortunately, both drivers walked away from the incident unharmed with Bättig suffering her first retirement of the year.
Although it was a disappointing end to the weekend at Silverstone, Bättig enjoyed a fantastic weekend of racing as she returned to the rostrum. Her racecraft was particularly impressive with her charge through to a top-5 result in race one another highlight. Bättig will be looking to end her campaign on a high when the British F4 Championship returns to Brands Hatch for the season finale on the weekend of 10th/11th October.
