Martin Molnár has climbed to second in the overall standings of the British F4 Championship after claiming his fourth podium of the season. Despite a weekend of mixed fortunes at Snetterton, the Virtuosi Racing driver still managed to secure a P2 finish.
Martin arrived at Snetterton, the venue for the third round of the season, sitting fourth in the championship, but left having moved up to second. He added yet another overall podium to his tally in Race 3, finishing second, and now has four top-three finishes in 2024. He could’ve added another if not for a red flag that neutralized a promising run.
After a relatively low-key performance in Friday’s test sessions, the Hungarian Motorsport Academy (HMA) driver kicked off Saturday on a much stronger note. He posted the third-fastest time in qualifying and showed pace that could’ve challenged for pole position—had he not been held up in the final corner of his best lap.
In the classification of second-fastest laps, Martin ranked sixth, giving him P6 on the grid for Race 1. He went on to finish fifth in that race, crucially ahead of key title rivals James Piszcyk, Fionn McLaughlin, and August Raber. As a result, he vaulted up to second in the drivers’ standings going into Sunday.
Race 2 featured a partially reversed grid, and Martin started from ninth on a damp but drying track. He made an excellent start, slicing through the field on the inside line at Turn 2 to move up into third. However, a series of collisions led to a red flag stoppage. By the time the race was restarted, the track had fully dried, and with Martin still on the same set of tyres used in qualifying and Race 1—and with fewer first-lap incidents—he remained in P9 until the chequered flag.
The final race of the weekend provided redemption. Lining up third on the grid based on his qualifying result, Martin made a lightning start and slotted into second place by the first corner. With leader Fionn McLaughlin managing his tyres better, Martin focused on maintaining second place and successfully held off a strong challenge from Henry Joslyn.
“Considering how Friday’s practice sessions went, I think we made the most of this weekend,” said the Virtuosi driver. “In qualifying, I put together a lap that would’ve been good enough for pole, but I got held up in the final corner and lost about seven-tenths. Aside from the opening laps of Race 2, there wasn’t much action in the races. The highlight was definitely Race 3 and the podium—there simply wasn’t more in it.”
“The conditions at the start of Race 2 were really tricky, and I made a conscious decision to be more cautious after seeing the wet patches on the formation lap,” he continued. “It paid off—I moved up to third and think I could’ve gained another place, but then came the red flag. That’s racing. Overall, I’m happy with how the weekend went. This isn’t one of my favorite tracks, but I still managed to move up two spots in the championship.”
Tamás Pál Kiss, sporting director of Motorsport Talent Management (MOTAM) and Martin’s on-site mentor also praised the 16-year-old’s approach:
“On Saturday morning, you could tell Martin was tense after not meeting his own expectations in the Wednesday test and Friday practice. So instead of diving into technical analysis, we focused on mental reset. I shared how I’ve also had weekends in my career where overthinking killed my pace. He understood, calmed down, and from that point on, delivered everything he could from the weekend.”
The next round of the British F4 Championship takes place in two weeks, on June 7th at Thruxton. Martin currently sits second in the standings with 94 points—just nine points adrift of leader Fionn McLaughlin.