As the racing season begins to kick into gear, many young drivers are stepping into their first or second year in single seater cars ever as they begin the path to F1 or whatever they having been dreaming of since their first day in karts. In this feature, I'll take a look at 10 young drivers who could be destined for the very top.
In no particular order, here we go!
1. Kacper Sztuka - Italian F4 - US Racing
Polish driver Sztuka is taking on his second season in Italian F4 with US Racing, where he managed to finish 6th overall, winning twice and achieving four podiums along the way.
This year, he's already won the Formula Winter Series, winning five out the six races he took part in, finishing second in the other.
2. Arvid Lindblad - Italian F4 - PREMA
Young British driver Lindblad comes into Italian F4 hotly tipped to be a title contender this year.
A member of the Red Bull Junior Team, he makes his full single seater season debut in the series having raced earlier in the year in the F4 UAE championship against many of the driver he'll face in the Italian iteration managing to win once and also took 3 podiums. He also had two round stint in Italy last year with Van Amersfoort Racing, managing points in 3 out of 6 races.
3. Tuukka Taponen - Italian F4 - PREMA
If you look at the middle of Tuukka Taponen's crash helmet, it'll tell you a lot about how highly regarded he is, as he's been signed to the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy.
The 16 year old Finnish driver is hoping to follow in the steps of compatriots Kimi Raikkonen, Mika Hakkinen and Valtteri Bottas in making it to F1, and given his single seater debut championship, F4 UAE, saw him become the Rookie Champion, the potential to do so is there.
4. Louis Sharp - British F4 - Rodin Carlin
New Zealander Louis Sharp managed to finish fourth in British F4 last year, despite not being able to participate in the opening round due to being too young.
He went on to take 2 wins and 12 podiums in the series, impressing many among the way as he regularly fought near the front. He also had the honour of winning on an F1 weekend, when he won both races of the F4 UAE Trophy Round at Yas Marina at the end of 2022.
5. Aiden Neate - British F4 - Fortec Motorsport
Signed by the Alpine Academy off the back of 2 seasons in British F4 as well as stints with PREMA in F4 UAE, Aiden Neate is looking for a title charge this year.
He remains in British F4 and will hope to be at the sharp end of things by the end of the season with Fortec, and hope that he's quick enough for his Alpine bosses to push his career to the next level.
6. Will Macintyre - British F4 - Hitech Pulse Eight
Another British F4 star, Will Macintyre made his single seater at the end of the 2022 season in GB4, racing three times, taking podiums in two. He also joined up with the F4 UAE grid with Hitech, with a best race finish of fourth.
He'll stick with Hitech for the British F4 campaign, where he'll be likely to be fighting at the front.
7. Kevin Foster - French F4 - FFSA Academy
19 year old South Korean-Canadian driver Kevin Foster is in his first year of single seater racing in French F4 and has quickly become one to watch after he was backed and supported by F1 world Champion Jacques Villeneuve.
Initially, he began karting in 2018 but was forced to stop due to a lack of funding, but now appears to have his racing career back on track, if you'll pardon the pun.
8. Ugo Ugochukwu - Italian F4 - PREMA
Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Stoffel Vandoorne are all examples of drivers who had their development helped by McLaren's Driver Development Programme, and Ugo Ugochukwu could be the latest.
Signed by McLaren as a karting driver, Ugo has now progressed into his second year of single seater racing after a stint in British F4 last year where he finished third overall, taking the rookie title. Another who went off to do F4 UAE over the winter, he won 5 of the 15 races but slipped to third in the standings.
9. Pedro Clerot - Spanish F4 - MP Motorsport
Pedro Clerot comes to Europe as the current Brazilian F4 champion. He won a closely fought championship against Lucas Staico by over 60 points, winning 7 times.
He made his European race debut in Italian F4 in 2022 but has opted for a different series, with Spanish F4 his plan for the year.
10. Keanu Al Azhari - Spanish - MP Motorsport
Last but certainly not least, we have Emirati driver, Keanu Al Azhari who has also joined the Spanish F4 grid for 2023.
He was highly impressive in the F4 UAE series over the winter, managing to finish 7th overall, taking two podiums and coming agonisingly close to a race win, as well as taking a double podium in the trophy round at Abu Dhabi. Verybw
There are plenty of drivers I could give honourable mentions to, Zach David, Kanato Le, Evan Giltaire, Theophile Nael, Matheus Ferreira..I could go on. It's great to see so many top, top driver coming through the ranks right now it almost seems unfair to narrow it to 10! But here we are anyway! Who would you include in your 10?
📸 Image credits: Louis Sharp, MP Motorsport, Spanish F4 Championship, Italian F4 Championship, Red Bull Content Pool, Fortec Motorsports, FEED Racing, Kacper Sztuka Racing, Formula Motorsport Racing, William Macintyre Racing.
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