Douglas Motorsport and Irish driver Conor Grant secured his first podium in GB4 at Silverstone at the beginning of this month. The 19-year-old chatted to Pit Debrief about the milestone and his confidence about carrying that speed into the remaining rounds.
Through practice, there had been already signs of the improved showing to come. In qualifying, he placed P5 and P8 for Races 1 and 2.
The first race on Saturday was extremely strong. Although he got a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, the driver from County Wexford finished 3rd thanks to his excellent pace, with fellow Irishman and points leader Alex O’Grady inheriting P2 as he struggled with car set-up at Silverstone.
A DNS in Race 2 due to an oil seal failure and a DSQ from 4th after Race 3 was disappointing, but it was by far his strongest weekend in his rookie season.
Conor Grant on his pace at Silverstone GB4 round
Speaking to Pit Debrief, he thanked Douglas Motorsport for the fast car they gave him, as well as explaining his mega speed in Race 1 when he had some clean air. Having ended up over 2s behind race winner Luke Hilton at the end of lap 1, Grant closed it down to under a second by the flag.
“I think we nailed it all weekend, the car was in a great place and was fast in every condition. I knew I had the pace and I just tried to save tyres and take care of the car.
“Without pushing hard we dropped the field and went after Hilton. To close down over 2 seconds on pure pace and to drop the championship leader [Alex O’Grady] by 4 seconds in about 15 minutes wasn’t an easy task.
“But it wouldn’t have been possible with the awesome car my engineers and Douglas gave me. We were super fast and a threat to the podium all weekend.”
The breakthrough
Having had a best finish of P6 at Donington Park before his first GB4 podium 10 days ago, Conor Grant revealed how an engine change ended a deficit he had been facing on straights since round 1.
“We changed a lot on the car this year as it just wasn’t working for us. The final change we made was the engine and that solved all my problems.
“And from the get-go we were a lot more confident in the package we had. I’ve also focused on the smaller things, and they helped and added up to make that extra difference on the day.”
Very optimistic about the rest of the season
With Snetterton this weekend, and Donington Park + Brands Hatch in September, Grant will be looking to close the season strongly and push for a top 10 in the standings.
The driver of car #54 is very hopeful that the speed at Silverstone can be carried into the remaining rounds.
“I’m very confident.
“Silverstone was a track I wouldn’t have said I was the strongest at, but our outright pace was incredibly strong and we raced very smart all weekend. I think this is the turning point in our season.”
Returning to Silverstone
As GB4 races twice at Silverstone, Conor Grant returned to the venue after his debut weekend back in April. With plenty of other drivers on the grid having previous experience, the Douglas Motorsport driver faced a big task in his rookie year.
Grant said it was helpful to have had that previous experience to perform well at the legendary circuit, as well as having less noise around.
“It’s much easier once you have done it already.
“It was a quieter weekend also just made it that little bit easier to focus as well. With the nature of Silverstone the racing is always chaotic so having that little extra focus makes all the difference.”
Grant very thankful to Douglas Motorsport as he looks at his GB4 progress
Since making his testing debut with the team in late 2025, Conor Grant says he has come on leaps and bounds learning these F4 cars. Whether it’s F1 or in the categories below, getting the tyres in the operating window is absolutely critical also to be competitive and fast.
The Wexford driver is pleased with the progress.
“I think I’ve learnt loads from the team, tyre prep is so important in race cars. And understanding how to drive a aero car. But as a rookie I think the progress has been very positive and just shows what we as a team are capable of.”
In his first full season in single-seaters as he stepped away in early 2025 to focus on the financial side to build a sustainable program, Grant reflected on the steps forward he has taken through this year as he has learned more about the car and how to improve the set-up.
“A lot has changed but I’ve stayed the same, I’ve fine tuned my driving, and my understanding of the mechanics of the car have improved drastically.
“I think the bones of the driver I am now were always there, I just needed to find the last little bits.”
