CARLIN RETURNS TO F4 AS MORE OUT FITS MAY JOIN
Championship hopes to attract more entries
Leading single-seater squad Carlin has confirmed that it will return to British Formula 4 next season after taking a sabbatical this year.
Carlin powered new Mclaren F1 recruit Lando Norris, Max Fewtrell and Jamie Caroline to the British F4 title in a three-year period of domination of the series.
But it announced it would not compete in the 2018 season after expanding into Indycar and F2 for this term. The team did not sell its F4 equipment, however, and will now make a return next year, having already begun testing drivers.
“The championship holds many happy memories for us,” said team boss Trevor Carlin. “We won the inaugural season with Lando Norris who three years later is on his way to Formula 1 so we know that the championship is the perfect platform for young and talented drivers looking to launch their career in the best possible way.
“We loved being in the paddock, as part of the TOCA package, and the racing was always exciting to watch, so we look forward to being part of this again and hope to be able to announce drivers shortly.”
Championship promoter Sam Roach said: “It’s great news to have their cars back on the grid. They always said it would be a sabbatical and we were hopeful they would be back with us.
“As three-time championship winners it gives everyone else a benchmark to aim for.”
Roach is hopeful that Carlin won’t be the only additional team to the championship next year and the series is in talks with a number of outfits.
After Carlin withdrew, only five teams regularly competed this year.
“We certainly hope so [that it will lead to more],” he said. “I think the whole single-seater market is changing a lot and there’s a bit of a ‘wait and see’ situation with F3 [with the new International F3 series replacing GP3 and a yet-to-bedetermined Regional F3 category in Europe] which has affected peoples’ plan making. Other teams are interested and there are two that are talking to us quite seriously.”