The 2026 GB4 Championship season is here! With the first races of the new campaign taking place this weekend (25/26 April) on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, here's a run down of some of the new things to look out for across the coming months.
Longer races
Since the inception of GB4 in 2022, the race duration had been unchanged at 18 minutes in duration. However, from 2026 onwards, each race will run to 20 minutes. Races will end once the leader crosses the finish line for the first time after the 20 minutes have elapsed.
Rookie Driver Title
With GB4 now recognised as a major entry point to single-seater racing at grass roots level, a new Rookie Driver's Title has been implemented. At the end of the season, the highest scoring Rookie Driver will win the inaugural Rookie Driver's Title. To be classified as a Rookie, a driver must not have contested more than three car racing events of any sort in their career.
Tyre restrictions on test days
GB4 is renowned as being the most cost-effective junior single-seater series in Europe. As part of this, tyre usage in official tests will be restricted. From this season onwards, if a test day has less than two hours' track time, each driver may use only one new set of tyres.
For a day with two hours' or more track time, each driver may use up to two sets of new tyres.
Team personnel restrictions in the pit lane
To further monitor costs and for safety improvements, the number of representatives of each team in the pit lane will be restricted.
Each car will be allowed four operational members of staff, one of which will be the ‘controller’, who is responsible for the safe release of the vehicle in the pit lane.
These four operational staff members in the pit lane will wear a series-issued GB4 armband to identify their role.
Extended qualifying sessions at three rounds
With more timetable space available at the Oulton Park, Snetterton and Brands Hatch events, the qualifying sessions at these rounds will be extended from 15 minutes to 20. The way the grids are formed will remain the same.
Driver identification
As a way of making driver identification easier, the onboard cameras, located above the roll hoop of each car, will have different colours to identify each driver.
The entrant’s car with the lowest car number will be black, the car with the second lowest car number will be fluorescent yellow, and the car with the third lowest car number will fluorescent red.
As an example, the line-up for Douglas Motorsport can be identified as follows:
26, Jason Smyth - black camera
28, Dayton Coulthard, yellow camera
54, Conor Grant, red camera
