Martin Molnár will launch his campaign for the overall British F4 championship title this weekend at Donington Park. Following an impressive winter testing period, the Hungarian driver is aiming to prove he belongs among the top contenders as racing begins in earnest.
After completing the full season of the F4 Middle East Championship earlier this year, Martin is now set to begin his 2025 British F4 campaign. The reigning Rookie champion stays with Virtuosi Racing, the team that gave him his single-seater debut last year. In 2025, the goal is clear: go all-in for the overall title. As a Hungarian Motorsport Academy (HMA) driver, Martin has completed an intensive pre-season testing program, earning several standout performances along the way.
“Just three days after the final round of the F4 Middle East Championship in Qatar, we were already testing at Oulton Park – so you could say there’s been no real off-season since I kicked off 2025 back in February. Since then, we’ve pretty much run at every circuit that’s on the British F4 calendar, and we’ve been strong across the board. We consistently ran near the top, which is a good indicator heading into the season. At Zandvoort, for example, we had four sessions – two in the morning, two in the afternoon – and I topped the timesheets in three of them and was third in the other. So, for now, we’re quick, and we’re hoping that form carries over into race weekends,” the 16-year-old driver said.
Of course, the real test is always race weekend performance – testing doesn’t always reflect the true competitive order. Still, Tamás Pál Kiss, sporting director of Motorsport Talent Management (MOTAM), said: “The test results confirmed what we suspected – and there were days when Martin had such a confident edge that even we didn’t expect it.”
“There’s always that element in F4 where some teams aren’t running the exact race setups during tests – unlike F1, though, they’re not usually trying to hide their pace, but rather show themselves in the best possible light for various reasons. We didn’t play any of those games. What you saw from us in testing was our true pace,” confirmed Martin, who draws additional confidence from the fact that – with just one exception – he has already raced on every track featured in this year’s British F4 calendar.
“Every test felt different compared to where we were last year. At Donington, for instance, we struggled during the race weekend in 2024, but this time we were solid right from day one. I can feel that I’m more experienced now, and it’s no longer unfamiliar territory. But that’s normal,” said Martin.
Delivering From the Green Light
Martin’s 2025 campaign will be significantly different from last year in that, while the focus then was on steady development, this season it’s all about results. “Everyone’s aware that we need to deliver results – our goal is the overall title. That obviously means winning races and avoiding DNFs, so we’ll need to perform at a consistently high level. Everyone in the team is highly motivated, we’re ready, and we’re really looking forward to round one,” the Hungarian driver of Virtuosi Racing added.
“There’s a different atmosphere in the team now. Expectations are higher, but we also see our strategy working: the idea at MOTAM was for Martin to stay in a familiar environment where he could feel at home, build confidence, and gradually shape the team around himself. I often skipped tests so that he could take on more of a leadership role – because he’s the main act. And it’s worked. The team at Virtuosi is incredibly enthusiastic, motivated by the testing results, and they’re hungry for success. Everyone’s openly saying: we want to win with Martin,” said Tamás Pál Kiss.
While it can’t be said enough that race weekends are a completely different challenge from testing, both Martin and the team have been preparing with that mindset.
“A test day is more relaxed – sometimes your best lap doesn’t come at 9 a.m., or even by 10, but by 10:30 it clicks. In qualifying, though, you’ve got 20 minutes, and if there’s a red flag, you might only get one shot – or none at all. That’s mentally intense. Some people say race weekends involve fewer laps than a full test day, where you might run 150 laps. And that’s true – but the difference is, on a race weekend, you’ve got to be on it immediately,” explained Pál Kiss. “We knew this, and from mid-testing onwards, we prepared accordingly. No warm-up laps, no easing in – just immediate performance. There were sessions where Martin went out late on purpose and had to deliver right away. He handled those scenarios really well, which gives me a lot of confidence going into the season.”
As in 2024, the British F4 championship will consist of 10 rounds. The 2025 campaign kicks off on April 26–27 at Donington Park, on the shorter National layout of the historic circuit first opened in 1931 – now one of the UK’s and the world’s best-known race tracks.
The schedule of the Donington weekend (GMT+1):
Saturday
09.10 – 09.35: Qualifying
14.30 – 14.50: Race 1
Sunday
09.50 – 10.10: Race 2
15.15 – 15.40: Race 3
