Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton set himself on a path to Formula One when he introduced himself to McLaren team boss Ron Dennis at an award ceremony in 1995. The nine year-old walked up to Dennis, asked for his autograph and said: “Hi. I’m Lewis Hamilton. I won the British championship and one day I want to be racing your cars.”

It earned Hamilton the patronage and support of one of the top Formula One teams which, 13 years later, resulted in an F1 drive. Hamilton went on to equal and then outstrip the achievement of his hero Ayrton Senna, a former McLaren driver, by winning three championship titles.

Before that there was the small matter of graduating through the lower echelons of motorsport, which Hamilton achieved with some astonishing successes.

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen caused a stir by gaining a place in Formula One just eight months after starting his first car race.

The son of Jos Verstappen, who was the first Dutchman to stand on a Formula One podium, and kart racer Sophie-Marie Kumpen, Max used a hugely successful karting campaign in 2013 as a springboard to start his single-seater racing career.

The elder Verstappen bowed out of F1 in 2003, and two years later seven-year-old Max scored his first karting victories in Belgium. This began a remarkable unbeaten streak running across three seasons, first in the Belgian ‘mini’ championship for two years, then after moving up to the ‘mini max’ category.

Further titles followed in 2008 including the Belgian Cadet Championship as Verstappen, now 11, began to ascend the karting ladder. A move up to the international level did little to put him off his stride, as he won the WSK World Series KF3 and the Euro title as well – the latter crown he retained the following year.

In 2012 he continued to compete across a variety of karting categories and enjoyed mixed success. But he came of age the following season, amassing a daunting collection of trophies. Among them were the CIK-FIA KZ world championship title, won against several highly-rated rivals including former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari.

Verstappen added the KF and KZ European titles as well, lifted the WSK Euro Series KZ1 and WSK Master Series KZ2 crowns, and added the KF2 Winter Cup too. On the back of one of the most impressive karting campaigns of recent years Verstappen, who turned 16 that September, prepared to move up to slicks-and-wings racing.

His first stop was the 2014 Florida Winter Series, which comprised a dozen races run over four weeks at the beginning of the year. He made an inauspicious start when he crashed into Antonio Fuoco in the pits shortly after the first session started. But Verstappen won twice in a field which included drivers who had raced in Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Three. Unusually, the series did not produce an overall champion, having no ranking system.

Those two categories were potential destinations for his 2014 campaign. Verstappen tested both machines, but following a highly promising run in a German Formula Three Cup car he chose to take the plunge in the most competitive Formula Three championship – the Europe-wide series.

Driving for the same Van Amersfoort team his father once raced for, the younger Verstappen won in his second F3 weekend. Soon after he hit a rich vein of form, reeling off six consecutive victories, all scored at Spa-Francorchamps and the Norisring.

A seventh straight win followed in the prestigious Masters of F3 on home ground at Zandvoort, though it didn’t count towards the championship. Verstappen’s Lotus-backed rival Esteban Ocon retained a 74-point lead in the drivers’ standings, partly thanks to superior reliability from his car. Ocon pulled over 100 points clear with a hat-trick of his own the following weekend in Moscow.

Verstappen failed to capitalise when Ocon endured a point-less weekend at the Red Bull Ring, due in part to a controversial penalty following contact with Antonio Fuoco. Red Bull, however, had seen enough of his potential to make their move.

Mercedes were also showing an interest in the young driver, but on August 12th Verstappen was announced as the latest addition to Red Bull’s junior driver programme. That roster already included two drivers who were leading their championships – Carlos Sainz Jnr in Formula Renault 3.5 and Alex Lynn in GP3 – plus promising Formula Renault 3.5 rookie Pierre Gasly.

But just six days after Red Bull revealed Verstappen had joined their ranks came the surprise announcement that he would race for their junior team Toro Rosso in 2015, replacing Jean-Eric Vergne. By the end of the year he had made three appearances in F1 practice sessions in preparation for his debut at the record-breaking age of 17.

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez – often referred to by his nickname Checo – made his F1 debut for Sauber in 2011 and before the end of his second season he’d signed to drive for McLaren. However that proved to be a short-lived relationship.

Perez started karting in 1996. In 2004, with the support of prominent Mexican businessman Carlos Slim’s Escuderia Telmex, he began racing in the Skip Barber series in the USA.

The following year he moved to Europe and spent two years in the German Formula BMW championship.

Arriving in Britain in 2007 he raced for T-Sport, winning the national (junior) championship that year before graduating into the main series. He began his 2008 campaign strongly with three wins in the first six races, but faded to fourth by the end of the season.

He moved up to GP2 the following year, finishing on the podium in both races at Valencia and ending the year 12th. Switching from Arden to Addax he had a stronger 2010, but was beaten to the title by Pastor Maldonado.

Before the season was over he was signed by Sauber to partner Kamui Kobayashi in 2011. He also joined the driver development programme of Sauber’s engine supplier Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo reached Formula One through Red Bull’s young driver programme. He was promoted to their F1 team in 2014 and scored three wins in his first year at the top team.

Ricciardo’s father was born in Sicily but emigrated to Australia at the age of eight. “I think Europe at the time was a bit difficult and a bit dark,” explained Ricciardo in 2017. “It was difficult to get ahead and I think they just thought Australia was a place of opportunity.”

However Ricciardo returned to Europe in order to make his way up the motor racing ladder. He won the British F3 championship in 2009 and progressed to Formula Renault 3.5 the following year. He finished two points behind champion Mikhail Aleshin following a setback late in the season when his car was flipped over at Silverstone.

Ricciardo drove for Red Bull in the post-season rookie test that year and again in 2010. He remained in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2011 but dovetailed it with increasing F1 commitments. This included participating in Friday first practice sessions for Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso.

Carlos Sainz

Being the son of a two-times World Rally Champion and earning the support of Red Bull gave Carlos Sainz a strong chance of gaining a place in F1. However for a while it seemed he might miss out on that opportunity.

Leading the Formula Renault 3.5 series in mid-2014, Sainz’s prospects looked very good. But the emerging talent of Formula Three driver Max Verstappen put a spanner in the works: Red Bull signed him up to their young driver programme alongside Sainz, and immediately gave Verstappen their sole vacant F1 seat at Toro Rosso for 2015.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso made his start in motor racing at the wheel of a kart his father originally bought for Fernando’s sister.

He arrived in Formula 1 with Minardi in 2001 and four years later won his first world championship. He made it back-to-back titles the following year before making an ill-fated switched from Renault to McLaren.

He returned to Renault following an acrimonious split from McLaren, and in 2010 took Kimi Raikkonen’s place at Ferrari.

Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly was handed his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, though at one stage he had been hopeful of beginning the season with Red Bull’s junior team.

Gasly was in his fourth year on Red Bull’s junior driver team. He began racing in the French Formula Four championship at the age of 15, finishing runner-up to Matthieu Vaxiviere and Andrea Pizzitola, then moved into Formula Renault 2.0.

His breakthrough came in his second year of racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Gasly prevailed in a close and sometimes acrimonious season-long battle with Oliver Rowland. The pair collided in Russia and at the season finale at the Circuit de Catalunya. Rowland’s penalty for the latter collision sealed the title for Gasly.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel made astonishingly rapid and successful progress through the lower ranks of motorsport. In 2010 he became the youngest ever Formula One world champion and he has held on to the title ever since.

Vettel spent eight years in karts, winning the German Junior Karting Championship, Monaco Kart Cup and European Junior Karting Championship in 2001. The following year he was sixth in the Senior ICA Kart Championship and then moved into car racing.

He finished second in the 2003 Formula BMW Germany championship and was top rookie. The following year, aged 17, he emphatically won the title, taking 18 wins from 20 starts and 387 points from a maximum of 400.

The following season he was fifth in the Formula Three Euroseries. The championship was dominated by Lewis Hamilton and ASM – Vettel’s ASL team didn’t win a single race, though he was the top rookie.

Thanks to his BMW connections Vettel made his debut as an F1 tester for the Williams team. Still aged only 18, he had to ask his school teacher for time off to do the test.

The following year Vettel joined Paul di Resta at ASM but finished second to his team mate in the championship. A debut appearance in the World Series by Renault proved much more fruitful – Vettel won both races at Misano.

He also appeared at the next round at Spa but badly injured his hand in a 170mph crash. His right index finger was almost severed and had to be stitched back together.

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen started karting in 1987 and after several successes in the Finnish series moved up to compete at international level.

His first step into car racing was tentative: After a handful of starts in the 1999 British Formula Renault series he decided his Mygale chassis was too uncompetitive and returned to karting. He reappeared in Britain to compete in the Formula Ford Festival and then won the Formula Renault Winter Series.

That set him up for a return to Formula Renault with top team Manor. “Kimi had stayed in karts a long time,” team boss John Booth recalled, “mainly because he couldn’t raise the money to get out of it until the Robertsons got involved.” Dave and Steve Robertson, father and son, managed Raikkonen’s career.

Raikkonen started the season with third place and then a victory in the first two races. He added six more championships to clinch the title, and left the championship two races before the end of the season with the title already won.

Mick Schumacher

As the son of Michael Schumacher, Formula 1’s most successful driver of all time, Mick Schumacher was always going to face immense public attention when he made his first steps into motor racing.

Realising the pressure it would heap on the young racer, his family initially entered him for events using the surname Betsch, the maiden name of his mother Corinna Schumacher, before later dubbing him ‘Mick Junior’ as he moved up the ranks.

Born in 1999, at which point his father had won two of his eventual seven world championships, Mick Schumacher moved out of karts and into car racing in 2015 when he made his debut in German Formula 4. After a respectable but not outstanding rookie season, he placed second in both the German and Italian F4 series.

That prompted a move up into what was then called European F3. Schumacher consciously avoided promoting himself via his family name and was able to avoid massive press scrutiny during his first year in F3, finishing 12th. However, winning the title in his second year – via a fraught battle with Dan Ticktum – showed his achievements in his own right.

Schumacher moved up to Formula 2 in 2019 and the same year was signed to the Ferrari Driver Academy. he had his first Formula 1 test outing during the Bahrain in-season test, for the Scuderia and customer team Alfa Romeo. He posted encouraging times, coming second to Max Verstappen, despite being the lone rookie in the test.

He took his first Formula 2 victory during the sprint race in Hungary that year. He took pole position through the partial reverse grid, having finished eighth in Sunday’s feature race, and controlled the race to take a comfortable win. He ended the year 12th in the championship overall.

Ferrari intended to give Schumacher his first run in an official F1 practice session with customer team Alfa Romeo at the Nurburgring in 2020. However poor weather conditions forced the session, and Schumacher’s first run, to be abandoned.

He continued in F2 for a second season, where he was one of five Ferrari juniors in the field. Schumacher took a few races to mount his title bid while FDA rivals new Prema team mate Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott forged ahead in the early races.

But much as he had in F3, Schumacher came good in the second half of the season. He strung together an impressive run of podiums and added feature race wins at Monza and Sochi. That put him in the lead of the championship on 191 points, 22 more than second-placed Ilott, with four races in Bahrain to go.

Ilott put up a strong fight over the final weekends, and the title fight went down to the final race.

A tense finale saw both drivers slip out of the points-scoring positions as their tyres went off, and Schumacher clinched the title by 14 points

He went into the weekend secure in the knowledge he would be a Formula 1 driver in 2021, having signed to make his debut at Haas alongside fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin.

George Russell

A stellar Formula Two campaign in 2018 helped George Russell convince Williams he was ready for a promotion to Formula 1 even before the championship was decided

The 20-year-old already had six wins from the first 22 races, and might have had more had the series’ new-for-2018 hardware been more reliable in the opening races. He asserted himself over a competitive field including Lando Norris, who earned his promotion to McLaren the same year, and Alexander Albon, who took the title fight down to the final round.

Russell’s karting successes included victory in the 2012 CIK-FIA KF3 European championship with three wins from four starts, plus one no-score when he was taken out by a rival. He graduated to single-seaters in 2014.

He came from behind in the final round of the BRDC F4 championship to beat Arjun Maini to the title by three points with victory at Snetterton. One week earlier he also impressed as a wildcard entry in the Formula Renault Eurocup, beating newly-crowned champion Nyck de Vries to win the season finale at Jerez. Russell rounded off a successful first year in cars by winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

A promising first weekend in the European Formula Three championship with Carlin suggested he could be a title-contender. Russell won the second race of the season at Silverstone, but although he scored consistently Charles Leclerc, who took his first F3 win the same weekend, comfortably beat him to top rookie honours at the end of the year, while series veteran Felix Rosenqvist took the title

Russell returned for a second season F3 with new team Hitech against a substantially depleted field and the growing might of Prema. Lance Stroll served notice of his intentions by winning the opening race, and by the fourth round of the season he and Prema were increasingly stamping their authority on the championship. Russell managed a pair of wins and third in the standings.

A move to the F1 support bill the following year brought more success and the interest of Mercedes, who appointed him to their junior team. Joining the crack ART squad as part of a four-man assault on the GP3 title, Russell’s knack for converting pole positions into victories made him an irresistible championship prospect. He ended the year with an emphatic 79-point margin over his three team mates, led by Jack Aitken.

As well as making his F1 test debut for Mercedes, Russell made his first official F1 race weekend appearances for their customer team Force India. As he neared the end of his successful stint in F2 Russell grabbed a multi-year deal to drive for another Mercedes customer, Williams.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton set himself on a path to Formula One when he introduced himself to McLaren team boss Ron Dennis at an award ceremony in 1995. The nine year-old walked up to Dennis, asked for his autograph and said: “Hi. I’m Lewis Hamilton. I won the British championship and one day I want to be racing your cars.”

It earned Hamilton the patronage and support of one of the top Formula One teams which, 13 years later, resulted in an F1 drive. Hamilton went on to equal and then outstrip the achievement of his hero Ayrton Senna, a former McLaren driver, by winning three championship titles.

Before that there was the small matter of graduating through the lower echelons of motorsport, which Hamilton achieved with some astonishing successes.

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen caused a stir by gaining a place in Formula One just eight months after starting his first car race.

The son of Jos Verstappen, who was the first Dutchman to stand on a Formula One podium, and kart racer Sophie-Marie Kumpen, Max used a hugely successful karting campaign in 2013 as a springboard to start his single-seater racing career.

The elder Verstappen bowed out of F1 in 2003, and two years later seven-year-old Max scored his first karting victories in Belgium. This began a remarkable unbeaten streak running across three seasons, first in the Belgian ‘mini’ championship for two years, then after moving up to the ‘mini max’ category.

Further titles followed in 2008 including the Belgian Cadet Championship as Verstappen, now 11, began to ascend the karting ladder. A move up to the international level did little to put him off his stride, as he won the WSK World Series KF3 and the Euro title as well – the latter crown he retained the following year.

In 2012 he continued to compete across a variety of karting categories and enjoyed mixed success. But he came of age the following season, amassing a daunting collection of trophies. Among them were the CIK-FIA KZ world championship title, won against several highly-rated rivals including former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari.

Verstappen added the KF and KZ European titles as well, lifted the WSK Euro Series KZ1 and WSK Master Series KZ2 crowns, and added the KF2 Winter Cup too. On the back of one of the most impressive karting campaigns of recent years Verstappen, who turned 16 that September, prepared to move up to slicks-and-wings racing.

His first stop was the 2014 Florida Winter Series, which comprised a dozen races run over four weeks at the beginning of the year. He made an inauspicious start when he crashed into Antonio Fuoco in the pits shortly after the first session started. But Verstappen won twice in a field which included drivers who had raced in Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Three. Unusually, the series did not produce an overall champion, having no ranking system.

Those two categories were potential destinations for his 2014 campaign. Verstappen tested both machines, but following a highly promising run in a German Formula Three Cup car he chose to take the plunge in the most competitive Formula Three championship – the Europe-wide series.

Driving for the same Van Amersfoort team his father once raced for, the younger Verstappen won in his second F3 weekend. Soon after he hit a rich vein of form, reeling off six consecutive victories, all scored at Spa-Francorchamps and the Norisring.

A seventh straight win followed in the prestigious Masters of F3 on home ground at Zandvoort, though it didn’t count towards the championship. Verstappen’s Lotus-backed rival Esteban Ocon retained a 74-point lead in the drivers’ standings, partly thanks to superior reliability from his car. Ocon pulled over 100 points clear with a hat-trick of his own the following weekend in Moscow.

Verstappen failed to capitalise when Ocon endured a point-less weekend at the Red Bull Ring, due in part to a controversial penalty following contact with Antonio Fuoco. Red Bull, however, had seen enough of his potential to make their move.

Mercedes were also showing an interest in the young driver, but on August 12th Verstappen was announced as the latest addition to Red Bull’s junior driver programme. That roster already included two drivers who were leading their championships – Carlos Sainz Jnr in Formula Renault 3.5 and Alex Lynn in GP3 – plus promising Formula Renault 3.5 rookie Pierre Gasly.

But just six days after Red Bull revealed Verstappen had joined their ranks came the surprise announcement that he would race for their junior team Toro Rosso in 2015, replacing Jean-Eric Vergne. By the end of the year he had made three appearances in F1 practice sessions in preparation for his debut at the record-breaking age of 17.

Lando Norris

Lando Norris was appointed as McLaren’s test and reserve driver at the age of 17. An impressive performance for the team in testing at the Hungaroring in 2017 earned him the position in place of the team’s outgoing driver, 2009 world champion Jenson Button.

Like Button, Norris sampled a kart for the first time at Clay Pigeon kart track. Aged seven, Norris and his older brother Oliver (10), began competing in karting races soon afterwards.

The Norris boys enjoyed the backing of father Adam Norris, a director at financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown who later set up his own investment company. In 2016 he was estimated to have a wealth in excess of £200 million.

At one stage Lando Norris competed in both the KF and Rotax karting categories, at his father’s encouragement, to broaden his experience and give him a feel for different kinds of equipment and tyres. The intensive programme paid off and Lando delivered an impressive string of titles.

He clinched the 2013 WSK Euro series with a round to go. Although he missed out on the European KF title the following year he struck back in 2014, winning the world KF championship title.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel made astonishingly rapid and successful progress through the lower ranks of motorsport. In 2010 he became the youngest ever Formula One world champion and he has held on to the title ever since.

Vettel spent eight years in karts, winning the German Junior Karting Championship, Monaco Kart Cup and European Junior Karting Championship in 2001. The following year he was sixth in the Senior ICA Kart Championship and then moved into car racing.

He finished second in the 2003 Formula BMW Germany championship and was top rookie. The following year, aged 17, he emphatically won the title, taking 18 wins from 20 starts and 387 points from a maximum of 400.

The following season he was fifth in the Formula Three Euroseries. The championship was dominated by Lewis Hamilton and ASM – Vettel’s ASL team didn’t win a single race, though he was the top rookie.

Thanks to his BMW connections Vettel made his debut as an F1 tester for the Williams team. Still aged only 18, he had to ask his school teacher for time off to do the test.

The following year Vettel joined Paul di Resta at ASM but finished second to his team mate in the championship. A debut appearance in the World Series by Renault proved much more fruitful – Vettel won both races at Misano.

He also appeared at the next round at Spa but badly injured his hand in a 170mph crash. His right index finger was almost severed and had to be stitched back together.

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo reached Formula One through Red Bull’s young driver programme. He was promoted to their F1 team in 2014 and scored three wins in his first year at the top team.

Ricciardo’s father was born in Sicily but emigrated to Australia at the age of eight. “I think Europe at the time was a bit difficult and a bit dark,” explained Ricciardo in 2017. “It was difficult to get ahead and I think they just thought Australia was a place of opportunity.”

However Ricciardo returned to Europe in order to make his way up the motor racing ladder. He won the British F3 championship in 2009 and progressed to Formula Renault 3.5 the following year. He finished two points behind champion Mikhail Aleshin following a setback late in the season when his car was flipped over at Silverstone.

Ricciardo drove for Red Bull in the post-season rookie test that year and again in 2010. He remained in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2011 but dovetailed it with increasing F1 commitments. This included participating in Friday first practice sessions for Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso.

Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly was handed his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, though at one stage he had been hopeful of beginning the season with Red Bull’s junior team.

Gasly was in his fourth year on Red Bull’s junior driver team. He began racing in the French Formula Four championship at the age of 15, finishing runner-up to Matthieu Vaxiviere and Andrea Pizzitola, then moved into Formula Renault 2.0.

His breakthrough came in his second year of racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Gasly prevailed in a close and sometimes acrimonious season-long battle with Oliver Rowland. The pair collided in Russia and at the season finale at the Circuit de Catalunya. Rowland’s penalty for the latter collision sealed the title for Gasly.

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez – often referred to by his nickname Checo – made his F1 debut for Sauber in 2011 and before the end of his second season he’d signed to drive for McLaren. However that proved to be a short-lived relationship.

Perez started karting in 1996. In 2004, with the support of prominent Mexican businessman Carlos Slim’s Escuderia Telmex, he began racing in the Skip Barber series in the USA.

The following year he moved to Europe and spent two years in the German Formula BMW championship.

Arriving in Britain in 2007 he raced for T-Sport, winning the national (junior) championship that year before graduating into the main series. He began his 2008 campaign strongly with three wins in the first six races, but faded to fourth by the end of the season.

He moved up to GP2 the following year, finishing on the podium in both races at Valencia and ending the year 12th. Switching from Arden to Addax he had a stronger 2010, but was beaten to the title by Pastor Maldonado.

Before the season was over he was signed by Sauber to partner Kamui Kobayashi in 2011. He also joined the driver development programme of Sauber’s engine supplier Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen started karting in 1987 and after several successes in the Finnish series moved up to compete at international level.

His first step into car racing was tentative: After a handful of starts in the 1999 British Formula Renault series he decided his Mygale chassis was too uncompetitive and returned to karting. He reappeared in Britain to compete in the Formula Ford Festival and then won the Formula Renault Winter Series.

That set him up for a return to Formula Renault with top team Manor. “Kimi had stayed in karts a long time,” team boss John Booth recalled, “mainly because he couldn’t raise the money to get out of it until the Robertsons got involved.” Dave and Steve Robertson, father and son, managed Raikkonen’s career.

Raikkonen started the season with third place and then a victory in the first two races. He added six more championships to clinch the title, and left the championship two races before the end of the season with the title already won.

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean was born in Switzerland but races under a French licence – motor racing having been banned in his birth country in the 1950s.

He joined Renault as test driver in 2008 after winning the 2007 Formula Three Euroseries. Grosjean had previously been one of the team’s Development Drivers.

He began his rise through the ranks winning the 2003 Swiss Formula Renault series with ten wins from as many starts. He then moved to French Formula Renault and was seventh in 2004 (with one win) and champion in 2005 (ten wins). He also took two podiums in the Formula Renault Eurocup at Valencia.

George Russell

A stellar Formula Two campaign in 2018 helped George Russell convince Williams he was ready for a promotion to Formula 1 even before the championship was decided

The 20-year-old already had six wins from the first 22 races, and might have had more had the series’ new-for-2018 hardware been more reliable in the opening races. He asserted himself over a competitive field including Lando Norris, who earned his promotion to McLaren the same year, and Alexander Albon, who took the title fight down to the final round.

Russell’s karting successes included victory in the 2012 CIK-FIA KF3 European championship with three wins from four starts, plus one no-score when he was taken out by a rival. He graduated to single-seaters in 2014.

He came from behind in the final round of the BRDC F4 championship to beat Arjun Maini to the title by three points with victory at Snetterton. One week earlier he also impressed as a wildcard entry in the Formula Renault Eurocup, beating newly-crowned champion Nyck de Vries to win the season finale at Jerez. Russell rounded off a successful first year in cars by winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

A promising first weekend in the European Formula Three championship with Carlin suggested he could be a title-contender. Russell won the second race of the season at Silverstone, but although he scored consistently Charles Leclerc, who took his first F3 win the same weekend, comfortably beat him to top rookie honours at the end of the year, while series veteran Felix Rosenqvist took the title

Russell returned for a second season F3 with new team Hitech against a substantially depleted field and the growing might of Prema. Lance Stroll served notice of his intentions by winning the opening race, and by the fourth round of the season he and Prema were increasingly stamping their authority on the championship. Russell managed a pair of wins and third in the standings.

A move to the F1 support bill the following year brought more success and the interest of Mercedes, who appointed him to their junior team. Joining the crack ART squad as part of a four-man assault on the GP3 title, Russell’s knack for converting pole positions into victories made him an irresistible championship prospect. He ended the year with an emphatic 79-point margin over his three team mates, led by Jack Aitken.

As well as making his F1 test debut for Mercedes, Russell made his first official F1 race weekend appearances for their customer team Force India. As he neared the end of his successful stint in F2 Russell grabbed a multi-year deal to drive for another Mercedes customer, Williams.