Daniella Sutton makes international racing debut, scores points at Zandvoort

Daniella Sutton scored championship points on her first visit to Zandvoort as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver showed competitive speed on her international racing debut in the latest round of the British F4 Championship.

Photo credits: JEP

Daniella Sutton scored championship points on her first visit to Zandvoort as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver showed competitive speed on her international racing debut in the latest round of the British F4 Championship.

Approaching the halfway point of the 2026 season, Sutton has made sustained progress in her debut season of single seater competition. With each round, the Chris Dittmann Racing driver has brought herself closer to the competitive midfield while continuing to challenge for points scoring finishes via her progression. Competing in the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone last time out was another milestone for the British racer and now Sutton was targeting success at her first international event.

Racing at Zandvoort was set to be an exciting challenge for Sutton with on-track action beginning on Thursday as the drivers participated in four short test sessions. Sutton’s quickest lap came during the final session with the Chris Dittmann Racing driver setting a fastest time of a 1:39.361. It was a valuable day of learning for Sutton who completed 58 laps across the course of Thursday’s running.

Friday’s action consisted of a pair of free practice sessions and although the afternoon session was heavily disrupted by multiple red flag periods, Sutton made substantial progress in the first session. Improving by over half a second from Thursday, Sutton’s quickest lap of a 1:38.780 placed her in 30th position overall. However, Daniella was less than one second away from the top-10 to underline both her progress and the competitive nature of the British F4 Championship at Zandvoort.

Qualifying was held on Saturday morning with the drivers given 25-minutes to set a fast lap time. It was a consistent session for Sutton who banked further valuable experience at the demanding Zandvoort circuit. A late red flag disrupted the rhythm of the drivers with Sutton setting a quickest time of a 1:39.305. This placed the Chris Dittmann Racing driver in 31st position, however she remained in contention with those ahead as she targeted progress in the trio of races.

Photo credits: JEP

Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and with the starting positions based upon the second fastest times from qualifying, Sutton lined up from 31st on the grid. With teammate Henry Mercier not taking the start after an incident in qualifying, Sutton was promoted one position and as the lights went out, Daniella made a good start as she challenged for positions on the run to turn one.

Sutton enjoyed a positive opening lap as she battled with her rivals before completing lap one in 30th position. Sun Anzhe was just half a tenth of a second behind as the drivers began lap two and the Chinese racer shaped for a move into the first turn. Contact was made between the drivers with Anzhe’s car becoming beached in the gravel, while Sutton was delayed.

The safety car was then deployed to retrieve Anzhe’s machine and this allowed Sutton to catch the rear of the field with the Chris Dittmann Racing driver remaining in 30th position. The race got back underway on lap five and Sutton was showing good pace against her more experienced rivals. On lap 7, Sutton was faster than the next seven drivers ahead while she was lapping on pace with those inside the top-15.

This allowed Sutton to remain on the tail of both Jackson Wolny and former race winner Adam Al Azhari. On lap nine, Alba Larsen went off the road with the Danish racer rejoining just behind Sutton. This allowed Daniella to move into 29th position, before she was forced to defend from a recovering Larsen.

On lap 11, Larsen made her way through with Sutton settling back into 30th. It was an extremely competitive end to the race and Sutton remained in close contention with the next eight drivers ahead. Crossing the line in 30th position, it was an encouraging opening race at Zandvoort with Sutton taking the chequered flag less than one second behind Larsen.

Photo credits: JEP

Race two at Zandvoort took place on Sunday morning and provided a good opportunity for Sutton to add to her championship points tally via her progression. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver lined up from 31st on the grid courtesy of her qualifying result and Sutton made a good launch as the lights went out.

It was a positive opening lap for Daniella who negotiated incidents around her, while moving up to 28th position as the drivers began lap two. While battling for a podium position, Tommy Harfield and Mate Kobakhidze made contact at the Hugenholtzbocht with the Xcel Motorsport machine stranded in the gravel trap.

As a result of this incident, in addition to the stopped car of Kit Belofsky requiring recovery, the race entered a lengthy safety car period. With multiple drivers pitting to repair damage, Sutton moved up to 24th position, before climbing to 23rd after Cole Hewetson also brought his car to the attention of the crew.

The race restarted on lap six and immediately following the green flag, multiple cars made contact through Tarzanbocht and Gerlachbocht. Sutton did another superb job in avoiding the spun cars of Roman Felber, Alfie Slater and Henry Mercier with this incident unfolding just ahead of the Chris Dittmann Racing driver.

Therefore, the safety car was deployed for a second time with Sutton now up to 22nd position and provisionally scoring nine championship points. Good work from the marshals allowed the race to be resumed for one final lap with Sutton shuffled back on the restart. With a number of more experienced drivers fighting back through the field after their earlier pit stops, it was challenging for Sutton to maintain her position.

Nonetheless, Sutton completed a clean race and took the chequered flag in 27th position, later being promoted to 26th following a five-second time penalty applied to debutant Lyuboslav Ruykov. Therefore, Sutton banked five valuable championship points via her progression to bring her season total to 18.

Photo credits: JEP

The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results from qualifying, Sutton lined up from 31st on the grid. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver made another good start as she completed lap one in 28th position.

Sutton began lap two almost side-by-side with Jackson Wolny, Sun Anzhe and Joseph Smith as Daniella continued to enjoy close wheel-to-wheel battles. Although Anzhe and Smith moved ahead, Sutton overtook both Ella Lloyd and Haarni Sadiq who made contact at Scheivlak. With Ruykov also pitting, Sutton was up to 27th position as the safety car was deployed to retrieve the car of Sadiq.

The race resumed on lap six and Sutton initially held her position while Lloyd and Ruykov battled behind. As the drivers began lap seven, Ruykov moved ahead with side-by-side racing just ahead of Sutton as she exited Hugenholtzbocht. As the battles ahead remained extremely close, Emma Felbermayr was spun on approach to Scheivlak and while taking avoiding action, Sutton went off the circuit and made contact with the barriers.

It was an unfortunate end to the weekend for Sutton who displayed extremely competitive pace at Zandvoort. Nonetheless, the Chris Dittmann Racing still banked further championship points while competing on a historic European circuit.

Sutton will now be looking ahead to the next round of the British F4 Championship which takes place at Thruxton on the weekend of 25th/26th July.