Swedish Single-Seater Champion Linus Lundqvist Joins 2017 F4 British Championship

Swedish racing driver Linus Lundqvist will take part in the Formula 4 British Championship in 2017, competing for Double R Racing. 17-year-old Lundqvist stormed to glory in the Scandinavian-based Formula STCC Nordic championship in 2016, winning ten out of 14 races to simultaneously claim the North European Zone title on offer in the category.

For 2017, the Stockholm resident now sets out on his biggest adventure to date, leaving the Swedish arena to go head to head with some of motor racing’s most promising prospects in Britain’s FIA-sanctioned Formula 4 series. Lundqvist joins the grid in alliance with Woking-based outfit Double R Racing, and is eager to get down to work.

“It’s great to be able to take this step and to measure myself against the competition in the F4 British Championship,” says Linus Lundqvist. “This has been my target since winning the Formula STCC Nordic title last autumn, and I’m equally thrilled and grateful that we’ve made this happen along with Double R Racing. To be competing in single-seaters in Britain, in the heart of motorsport, is definitely a dream come true for me.”

Lundqvist has tested the Formula 4 car at Silverstone for three days this winter, topping the times on each occasion.

“Testing has been very, very positive,” Lundqvist continues. “It was all brand new to me; the car, the track, the tyres and the team, but the guys at Double R Racing have been fantastic and really helped me to acclimatise. This will be a big challenge for me, having only raced on the narrow tracks in Scandinavia, but I hope to be fighting for wins before too long. I want to establish myself abroad and prove what I can do, and to that end I’m sure Formula 4 is the right path. I really am extremely excited and I can’t wait for the first race!”

Formed in 2004, Double R Racing currently fields cars in F4 as well as the faster Formula 3 category, winning the British F3 drivers’ title in 2016. Among those to have raced for the squad are the likes of Bruno Senna, Felipe Nasr and Lundqvist’s countryman Marcus Ericsson of the Sauber F1 team.

“I have to say that I’m genuinely impressed by what I’ve seen of Linus this winter,” says Double R Racing team boss Anthony ”Boyo” Hieatt. “Testing went incredibly well. He turned up for the first time at Silverstone, a tough track with a lot of fast corners, and he immediately set the pace. He comes highly recommended by some people and I firmly believe that we’ll be running right at the front with Linus this year. I’d expect us to fight for race wins and the title, and we’re all excited to have Linus on board.”

F4 British Championship cars are built to a set of standardised rules, putting a premium on team work and driver skill. The chassis are built by Mygale, the 1.6-litre, 160-bhp engines by Ford, while Hankook is the control tyre supplier. The series forms part of the British Touring Car Championship support bill.

Making up the 2017 F4 British Championship calendar are 30 races, spanning ten weekends. Linus Lundqvist and his rivals will conduct about 20 days of pre-season testing in the build-up to round one of the campaign, staged at Brands Hatch on April 1-2.