Carrie Schreiner competed in her final British Formula 4 race of the season last weekend at Silverstone as her part season in the championship came to an end.
In the run up to the weekend she had celebrated her eighteenth and now hoped to be celebrating some good results at her final UK race weekend of the year.
After a strong test day in the rain on Friday which she ended in thirteenth, Carrie took to the track on Saturday to take part in qualifying on a damp track. She was fifteenth on the grid from her initial runs but the track was now drying out so she went for a further run as times were improving all the time. This second run left her fourteenth on the grid, it had been a positive session for the German driver.
The first race of the weekend was on Saturday afternoon. Carrier made a strong start and moved up a couple of places all while defending from her rivals behind. Carrie kept up well with the pack although at the same time she was still having to defend from those behind her. During the course of the race she lost a couple of places but also gained and the net result left her thirteenth as she crossed the line.
Sunday’s first race of the two to be held saw her start twelfth as a rival ahead in the first race had received a grid penalty. She again made a strong start and by the third lap she was up to eleventh. But by the next lap she found herself down to fourteenth as one rival finding their way by left her shuffled off line and vulnerable to further passes. But in the next three laps she got back up to eleventh as the safety car emerged from the pits for an incident.
Once the safety car pulled in, Carrie pushed harder than ever, closing on tenth place. Although she didn’t make the top ten on track, one of her rivals received a penalty for a track limits infringments promoting Carrie to tenth place and a points finish.
This time she started sixteenth with the third races grid decided on the second best qualifying times.
This time her start wasn’t so good and she lost a position over the opening lap. She fought back though and passed another car on lap three putting her back into sixteenth. However she had several rivals behind her and now got into a battle to hold onto her position. By lap ten she found herself demoted but immediately moved back up as a car spun up ahead. She then closed on fifteenth place and started looking for a way past but it was the final lap and with no more time she crossed the line in sixteenth.
It had been a positive weekend for Carrie with the points scoring finish in race two being the highlight. Her season isn’t yet over as her Formula 4 season in Germany continues. By Marc Waller
