Meet British F4’s most dominant champion

Since its inaugural season in 2015, several big names in motorsport have kick-started their careers winning races in the British F4 championship.

Future F1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan. IndyCar racers Colton Herta and Linus Lundqvist. All of them first tasted single-seater success in the series.

But even with the pedigree of all those names, not a single one of them was able to achieve what Deagen Fairclough managed to in this year’s championship.

Over the course of this season, the 18-year-old has not just set records, but obliterated them. Heading into 2024, Jamie Caroline and McLaren junior Alex Dunne jointly held the record for the most race wins in the championship’s history with 11 victories. This year alone, Fairclough won 14.

But simply being on the grid to begin with was a massive achievement for Fairclough. When he reached the end of his karting career, his ultimate dream of racing in Formula 1 appeared to have died with it. His working-class parents couldn’t simply pull money out of thin air to help fund him into a drive in Formula 4 or another single-seater category. However, they still managed to find him an opportunity to race – albeit in the underappreciated Junior Saloon Car Championship, a far cry from the road to Formula 1.

Then came a unique opportunity. Fairclough won a simracing competition organised by British F4 title sponsors ROKiT on Assetto Corsa, winning a fully-funded seat for the 2023 championship. Racing with the JHR Developments team, Fairclough immediately proved he deserved to be on the grid. He ended his rookie season comfortably third in the championship, taking three victories in the final ten races.

His obvious talent led ROKiT to decide to support him beyond that first season. Moving to Hitech for this season, Fairclough was untouchable. Fourteen victories, seven pole positions, 579.5 points. Sealing the title with more than a round to spare, Fairclough ended the season last weekend at Brands Hatch, now statistically the most successful British F4 driver in history. Not bad for a driver who had been racing a Ford Fiesta less than two years prior.

“I’ve had so many people say it’s not possible to get to F1,” Fairclough tells RaceFans, mere minutes after climbing out of his car at Brands Hatch after winning his 13th victory of the season.

“My mum and dad – they’ve always said ‘throw that dream out the window…