Chiara Bättig returns to the British F4 podium at Silverstone

Chiara Bättig came away from Silverstone with a podium and another strong points haul after an impressive weekend in the penultimate round of the 2026 British F4 Championship.

Bättig qualifies eighth at Silverstone

Qualifying in British F4 can be slightly confusing if you’re new to the series, because one qualifying session actually determines the grids for all three races.

But that didn’t mean she would start eighth in every race.

Race 1 is decided by each driver’s second-fastest qualifying lap, rather than their outright fastest. Bättig’s second-best lap put her 12th on the grid for Saturday’s opening race.

Race 2 then uses a partial reverse grid, with the top 12 from qualifying reversed, while Race 3 returns to the main qualifying order. That gave Bättig three very different starting positions across the weekend: 12th for Race 1, fourth for Race 2 and eighth for the final race.

From 12th to fifth in Race 1

Starting 12th could have made the opening race a difficult one, but Bättig made up a huge amount of ground almost immediately.

She gained five places on the opening lap to move into seventh before a spin for Ethan Lennon moved her up another position. A Safety Car interrupted the early running, and when racing resumed, Bättig was soon into the top five after Lewis Wherrell spun at Copse while fighting for the lead.

A second Safety Car meant there wasn’t much time left for racing, but Bättig stayed close to Jarrett Clark ahead and crossed the line fifth.

From 12th on the grid to P5, it was a strong start to the weekend and, perhaps more importantly, showed how much progress she could make even with limited green-flag running.

Back on the podium in Race 2

The reverse-grid Race 2 gave Bättig the chance to start much closer to the front, lining up fourth on Sunday morning.

There was contact with Hitech teammate Adam Al Azhari at the start, which dropped Bättig to fifth, but she quickly got herself back into the fight. She passed Joseph Smith for fourth and then spent much of the race chasing Jarrett Clark ahead.

The front of the field remained incredibly close, with Bättig showing particularly good pace through the middle and final sectors as she tried to find a way past.

She crossed the line fourth, but a penalty for Arjen Kraling promoted Bättig to third and onto the podium. Tommy Harfield took the victory ahead of Clark, with Bättig completing the top three.

It was a deserved result after a race where she had been right in the fight at the front rather than simply benefiting from the reverse grid.

A difficult end to the weekend

For the final race, the grid returned to the main qualifying order, putting Bättig eighth. She was moved up to seventh before the start when Jaber Alsabah suffered a technical problem, but unfortunately her race was over almost as soon as it began.

Bättig stalled on the grid and Cameron Nelson, starting behind her, was unable to avoid the stationary Hitech. Both drivers were unharmed, but the damage meant neither could take the restart. It was Bättig’s first retirement of the British F4 season.

It was a frustrating way to end what had otherwise been another very strong weekend for the Swiss driver. But with a fifth-place finish from 12th and a podium from Race 2, there was still plenty to take away from Silverstone ahead of the final round of the season at Brands Hatch on 10–11 October.