Afrigather His long-awaited maiden System 1 victory in Miami made Lando Norris the twenty first driver from the UK to develop into a grand prix winner. Extra racers from Britain than every other nation have stood on the highest step of a world championship podium, a statistic which can be a supply of hope for these aspiring hopefuls effervescent below within the junior classes.
Motorsport.com picks out 5 of the probably names to comply with within the footsteps of Norris, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell within the years to come back.
By Jake Boxall-Legge, Stephen Lickorish & Marcus Simmons
Ollie Bearman
Bearman has already impressed this 12 months when known as as much as sub for Sainz at Ferrari and has extra probabilities to shine in FP1 periods with Haas
Photograph by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Age: 19
Collection: System 2 with Prema Racing
Highlights: 2021 ADAC & Italian F4 champion, third in 2022 FIA F3, seventh in F1 2024 Saudi Arabian GP
Hotly tipped to take considered one of Haas’s 2025 seats given his spectacular last-minute call-up to Ferrari in Jeddah for the unwell Carlos Sainz, Bearman seems to be the subsequent British cab off the rank. A Ferrari Driver Academy member, Bearman has dovetailed his Haas and Ferrari reserve duties together with his sophomore System 2 marketing campaign for Prema in 2024.
He sacrificed an F2 pole in Saudi Arabia to cowl for Sainz and, with minimal seat time, relatively lined himself in glory by claiming seventh place – a efficiency that crew principal Fred Vasseur thought of a “mega job”.
Haas boss Ayao Komatsu additionally charges Bearman extremely, labelling the Chelmsford-born racer as “spectacular” and gave the squad “nothing to complain about” after his maiden FP1 session for the crew in Mexico final season. After rejoining the outfit at Imola, he’s set for additional FP1 outings with the American crew this time period, because it considers choices to exchange Sauber-bound Nico Hulkenberg for subsequent 12 months.
It appears solely a matter of time earlier than Bearman steps as much as F1 and, ought to he impress, he could develop into a contender for a full-time Ferrari drive in 2027. JBL
Zak O’Sullivan
F2 rookie O’Sullivan had his maiden Williams F1 outings after claiming second within the F3 standings final 12 months
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Age: 19
Collection: System 2 with ART Grand Prix
Highlights: 2021 GB3 champion, 2nd in 2023 FIA F3
The winner of 2021’s Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award, O’Sullivan was duly signed to the Williams Driver Academy in early 2022 on the again of his GB3 Championship title. The Cheltenham native stepped as much as F3 that 12 months, becoming a member of Carlin for a powerful debut season earlier than shifting to Prema for his second 12 months and completed second total in a hotly contested championship – notably above fellow Williams junior Franco Colapinto.
Williams handed O’Sullivan his first outing in an official F1 session with an FP1 drive on the 2023 Abu Dhabi finale, and he received behind the wheel of its FW45 once more within the Yas Marina end-of-season check.
Like Lando Norris, O’Sullivan began out in Ginetta Junior earlier than shifting as much as an F4-level championship, shedding the British title by simply 4 factors to fellow Williams junior Luke Browning. He now races in F2 with ART, partnering Alpine junior Victor Martins on the French squad.
Staff principal James Vowles was eager to reshape the Williams junior operation on becoming a member of the crew in 2023, however made certain to maintain the “very clever” and “extremely succesful” O’Sullivan within the fold. JBL
Freddie Slater
The dominant Ginetta Junior champion of 2023, Slater is broadly tipped to have a brilliant future forward of him
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Age: 15
Collection: Italian System 4 with Prema Racing
Highlights: 2023 Ginetta Junior champion, 2024 UAE F4 champion
He should be within the very early levels of his single-seater profession however, in some ways, Slater is the pure inheritor to Norris – not least as a result of he’s managed by the identical ADD crew that efficiently guided the McLaren racer to System 1. Slater additionally has these key Norris traits of driving capacity by the bucketload, and the monetary backing to make it to the very prime.
After a glittering karting profession, Slater swept the opposition apart en path to record-breaking Ginetta Junior glory final 12 months (one thing Norris was not capable of do). His achievements had been so spectacular that he even pipped the better-known British Touring Automotive Championship contenders to Autosport’s Nationwide Driver of the 12 months Award.
Slater has since starred within the System 4 world since celebrating his fifteenth birthday final August. He made his debut within the British sequence, then took pole on his Euro 4 debut at Monza with Prema Racing and impressed on the streets of Macau, earlier than automobile troubles struck, and in addition clinched the UAE F4 title over the winter.
Now firmly ensconced within the all-conquering Italian squad, Slater dominated the opening weekend of the Italian sequence at Misano by successful all three contests as he continues to ship head-turning performances. SL
Luke Browning
Victory within the Macau GP gave Browning’s CV a lift, and he is continued that kind into the brand new season of F3
Photograph by: Macau GP
Age: 22
Collection: System 3 with Hitech GP
Highlights: 2020 British F4 champion, 2022 GB3 champion, 2023 Macau GP winner
Williams-backed Browning’s automobile racing journey started solely three years after that of Norris, however his considerably meandering profession just isn’t right down to any lack of capacity. As an alternative, he has perennially struggled for funding and has needed to struggle laborious to climb each step up the ladder.
The Cheshire expertise developed a status for glorious racecraft and wet-weather prowess proper from his early days – his struggle again to fourth from final after a mid-race pitstop in a moist 2018 Knockhill Ginetta Junior race only one instance – earlier than he landed the British System 4 crown in 2020 in a final-round shootout towards Zak O’Sullivan that was virtually as dramatic because the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.
He scooped GB3 honours in 2022, then received the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award – beating Ollie Bearman amongst others – later that 12 months, which helped him to the subsequent degree.
An Eleventh-hour deal meant he began his rookie FIA F3 season with Hitech means brief on mileage, and it yielded fifteenth within the standings. However he ended the 12 months on a excessive by significantly impressing in his prize Aston Martin F1 check at Silverstone and was then sensational on his option to Macau GP glory. He has retained that momentum into the present F3 marketing campaign and, due to a lights-to-flag win within the function race on the Bahrain opener, he leads the best way after the opening two occasions as his star continues to rise. SL
Arvid Lindblad
Lindblad counts assist from Crimson Bull and made a powerful impression with victory on his F3 debut in Bahrain
Photograph by: System Motorsport Ltd
Age: 16
Collection: System 3 with Prema Racing
Highlights: 2023 third in Italian F4 and Macau F4 winner
Regardless of the title – dad is Swedish by start and mum is of Indian descent – Lindblad is a Surrey boy. He was picked up by Crimson Bull throughout his glittering karting profession, with Jos Verstappen believed to have performed a job on this, whereas Oliver Rowland has guided him since his days in cadets, the place he was a champion with the Yorkshireman’s crew.
His first full season of vehicles, in Italian F4, appeared sensational final 12 months. By the top of June he had an enormous championship lead and had received six of his 12 races with Prema. However thriller automobile illnesses kiboshed his probabilities. With a brand new tub, he went on to win the Macau non-championship occasion in November.
Lindblad was real looking about his large step as much as F3 with Prema for 2024 – at Helmut Marko’s behest – however then went and received the dash race on the Bahrain opener, through which he confirmed excellent racecraft. Now his focus is on attending to the entrance in qualifying and have races. Up to now he has certified within the prime 10 in any respect three rounds, and is the second-highest F3 rookie within the standings behind Imola function winner Sami Meguetounif. MS
Who will probably be Britain’s subsequent F1 star?
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
