Alex Palou came so close to a dream debut for the Chipping Norton-based Sean Walkinshaw Racing team at the BRDC Formula 4 Championship at Silverstone.

The Spaniard was only 0.5 seconds away from earning a place on the podium on his maiden series appearance.

The 17-year-old charged up to second in his first race but had to settle for a fourth-placed finish.

While a choice of treaded tyres in a wet-but-drying race two didn’t pay dividends, Palou did add a top-five finish in the third encounter.

Teammate Jordan Albert finished just outside the top ten in all three races, with a best result of 13th.

Diego Borrelli, meanwhile, made the most of a wise slick tyre gamble in the rain-affected second outing to carve his way through into a weekend-best top 10 finish.

“We’ve been really happy with Alex, he definitely had the pace to get on the podium”, said SWR team owner Sean Walkinshaw.

“He came straight into the championship this weekend and was right on the pace, quick in all three races.

“He was a bit unlucky to miss out on the podium in the first race, but it’s been great to be back at the front again.

“Jordan did really well, he’s getting better and better and was in some really close battles with a lot of guys in all three races – the performance was there to be in the top ten.

“Diego did a good job and took the correct decision to put on slicks in race two.”

Standings (after round 15) 13 J Albert 116pts, 16 N Beer, 87, 17 D Borrelli 81pts, 20 A Palou 48.