An incident-packed fourth round of the 2025 British F4 Esports Championship saw title rivals Matt Caruana and Remy Gilbert come to blows, gifting the former with a 10-point lead in the championship despite a post-race penalty.
Gilbert dropped to third in the standings as a result, with his Team Benik teammate Henry Moore grabbing two podiums at Oulton Park to emerge as Caruana’s closest challenger.
The leading trio have been the class of the field thus far, but there would be more twists and turns in the title battle at Silverstone, the venue for Round 5 of the British F4 Esports Championship.
Race 1
Gilbert bounced back spectacularly by claiming pole position around the Grand Prix layout, with a margin of 0.2s over teammate Moore – a gargantuan gap at this level. Caruana was fourth, meanwhile, with TC Esports’ Dani Moreno in third.
Gilbert made a clean getaway at the start of the race, while Moreno pressured Moore for second, with Caruana in close quarters. By the Luffield complex, however, Moreno had been pushed back into fourth while Caruana jumped the pair of them to lead the charge on Gilbert up front.
Just like a week ago, the first race of the evening for the FIA F4 cars was a cagey affair, with the leaders focusing on preserving their positions at the front for the most part. However, with two laps to go, the leading pack of five – including Leo Brown – resumed hostilities.
Brown opened fire first by looking for a move on Moreno at Club on the penultimate tour, while Caruana slipstreamed alongside Gilbert heading into Stowe. Caruana cut back on Gilbert on exit, before hanging it around the outside of Vale.
This gave the HYMO Setups by EMM driver the inside line into Club and the lead on the run to the chequered flag. Delayed by the lead battle, Gilbert also lost a position to Moore before the finish line, with Moreno and Brown close behind in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Race 2
The reversed grid draw saw Caruana start way down in 12th position, while BS+ Competition’s Will Murdoch would start from pole position.
Conditions for Race 2 were now damp, and with a condensed midfield, our championship protagonists would need to exercise an extra degree of caution as they moved through the pack.
Unfortunately, Caruana was the innocent victim of a Turn 1 incident between Ghiless Jeanney and Robin Glerum, the contact resulting in left-rear suspension damage for the championship leader.
With Caruana out of the picture, Gilbert made tremendous progress through the pack, climbing up to fourth by the second lap as Moore struggled outside of the top 10.
Up front, Connor Jupp and Murdoch vied for the lead with Ryan Micallef until the latter spun through Maggots-Becketts, promoting Gilbert onto the podium. Murdoch and Jupp’s intense battling brought the Team Benik driver into the fight, and Gilbert duly picked off Jupp first, followed by Murdoch two laps later.
Drive Lounge Racing’s Leo Brown muscled in on the lead battle soon after, demoting the resurgent Jupp to third as Gilbert eased away ahead.
Behind, Henry Moore was making inroads into the pack and was well in the podium fight with three laps remaining. As Moore scythed down the inside of Murdoch for fourth, the BS+ driver got onto the wet kerbs exiting Copse, sending him into a spin and out of the top 10.
The battle for third between Moore and Jupp gained momentum, but the pair were joined by William Chadwick, Issie Smith and Dani Moreno for the final laps. Through some staunch defensive driving, Jupp held on to claim third, with Moore finishing fourth.
Up front, however, Gilbert took his first win of the season while Brown came home a solid second. The result means Moore now leads the championship from Gilbert, with Caruana third. The top three are separated by just 11 points as the drivers head to Knockhill for Round 6 in two weeks.
2025 UK FF1600 Esports Cup, Round 5
Round 4 of the UK FF1600 Esports Cup finally saw Crofton Woodhatch turn his prodigious qualifying pace into a pair of dominant race performances, as the Englishman took an impressive double victory.
The result brings him straight back into the title fight with two drop scores taken into consideration, and he followed this up by claiming his fourth pole position at Silverstone. However, the gap to second-place Teemu Myllykangas was just 0.001s, meaning Woodhatch had a fight on his hands to claim a rare hat-trick of wins.
Race 1
The first few corners saw Woodhatch retain the lead with the pack behind relatively well-behaved, despite the inclement conditions. Myllykangas slotted down the inside of Woodhatch at Brooklands, with some slight contact sending the latter into third.
Woodhatch retook second from Hayden Bramley on the following lap and set after Myllykangas ahead, with the rain now easing off.
Silverstone’s long straights allowed the little Ray FF1600 cars to slipstream effectively, with Woodhatch reeling in Myllykangas with ease down the Hangar Straight before taking the lead at Club.
Bramley spun himself out on the wet kerbs exiting Club, which created a gap between the lead duo and the rest of the pack. However, with two laps to go, Dylan McClements and Sam Sanders broke free to fight for third, with McClements only just holding on to the chequered flag.
Up front, Myllykangas threw the kitchen sink at Woodhatch on the final tour, but the Englishman bravely held the outside line around Club to take his third win on the trot.
Race 2
The reverse grid draw saw Rebecca Morrell start on pole position, with Myllykangas and Woodhatch eighth and ninth, respectively, as the rain resumed once more.
Morrell held a steady lead for the majority of the first lap but ran wide into Stowe, allowing Charlie Summers, Jayden Sherwood and a whole gaggle of cars – including Woodhatch and Myllykangas – through.
The battle for the lead involved nearly half the field, with the damp conditions creating even more jeopardy for the main championship protagonists, including Woodhatch, Myllykangas and Sherwood.
With one lap to go, literally any one of eight drivers was in with a chance of winning the race, with Woodhatch once again heading Myllykangas. Myllykangas took the lead through Copse before the positions were reversed into the Maggots-Becketts complex.
Exiting the fight for the podium at this stage were McClements and Sanders after a contretemps, allowing Bramley into third. Myllykangas slipstreamed Woodhatch down the Hangar Straight for one last attempt but outbraked himself into Stowe, allowing Woodhatch to cross the line first, his fourth win in succession and another step towards the UK FF1600 Esports Cup championship.
Round 6 of the British F4 Esports Championship and UK FF1600 Esports Cup will take place on the 12th November at Knockhill, with all the racing broadcast live on iRacing’s YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels, produced by RaceSpot TV.
2025 British F4 Esports Championship, Round 5, Silverstone GP Race 1 results
- Matt Caruana, HYMO Setups by EMM
- Henry Moore, Team BENIK
- Remy Gilbert, Team BENIK
- Dani Moreno, TC Esports
- Leo Brown, Drive Lounge Racing
2025 British F4 Esports Championship, Round 5, Silverstone GP Race 2 results
- Remy Gilbert, Team BENIK
- Leo Brown, Drive Lounge Racing
- Connor Jupp, Alpine Sim Racing
- Henry Moore, Team BENIK
- William Chadwick, HYMO Setups by EMM
Drivers’ standings after Round 5
- Henry Moore, Team BENIK, 330 points
- Remy Gilbert, Team BENIK, 327 points
- Matt J Caruana, HYMO Setups by EMM, 319 points
- Leo Brown, Drive Lounge Racing, 267 points
- Dani Moreno, TC Esports, 259 points
Teams’ standings after Round 5
- Team BENIK, 657 points
- HYMO Setups by EMM, 409 points
- TC Esports, 387 points
- Drive Lounge Racing, 335 points
- Alpine Sim Racing, 206 points
2025 British F4 Esports Championship and UK FF 1600 Esports Cup schedule
Round 1, Donington Park GP, 24th SeptemberRound 2, Thruxton, 1st OctoberRound 3, Snetterton 300, 15th OctoberRound 4, Oulton Park International, 22nd OctoberRound 5, Silverstone GP, 29th October- Round 6, Knockhill, 12th November
- Round 7, Zandvoort, 19th November
- Round 8, Brands Hatch GP, 26th November
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