Summarize

South African Aqil Alibhai closed his FIA British F4 season with a rollercoaster weekend at Brands Hatch in the south of England over the weekend. Qualifying fifth, a dramatic first race saw Alibhai tumble to 13th before starting well back in the field and then delivering a strong finish to the season with a fine sixth in the finale. After winning a race and scoring two more podiums through his maiden single seater season, Aqil ended eighth in the championship.

“We had a very busy final weekend!” Aqil admitted. “It started on the front foot when I put it fifth on the grid for both race 1 and the final. “We have finally got on top of the challenges of qualifying in British F4, so that’s a good omen! Unfortunately I had contact on the first lap and pitted, but the team sent me straight back out and I was last, and a long way back. 

“Then the Safety Car came out and I was able to get back to the pack and had a great race from there and managed to pick up four places to come home 13th. Unfortunately I picked up a three race grid penalty for race 2, so I started back in 17th again. That was a tough race once more and I fought hard to end up 13th and keen to break that unlucky connotation! 

“The final however went much better as I was fifth on the grid again off my good qualifying run and I had a great race to close off my season with sixth. We ended up eighth overall in the championship, which is well within our objective of a title top ten for my maiden open wheeler season following a tough thirty-race championship.

We struggled often, and had a lot of bad luck, but we also won, had a few podiums and other great weekends, so it was a fantastic experience overall. To my Virtuosi team, a huge thank you for an incredible season. Massive thanks also to my dad, family and friends, and to my fans back home in South Africa, and here in the UK, we hope we did you proud!”