Sergey Sirotkin was born in Moscow in 1995, and began karting in 2008. In 2010, he moved to Formula Abarth season where he raced in the last six events, showing impressive form. In 2011, he won the Formula Arbath European Series and came second in the Formula Abarth Italian Series. 2012 was a busy year,…
Pierre Gasly was born in 1996 in Rouen, and like many racing drivers started his career in karting at the age of ten, where he made a name of himself first in the French and then the European championships. In 2011, Pierre moved to the French F4 championship, where his performance improved through the course…
Brendon Hartley was born in New Zealand in November 1989, the son of a racing driver. He started karting at the age of six, before moving to Formula First at the age of twelve. The following year he won the New Zealand Formula Ford Festival which saw him getting a drive in the Formula Ford…
Charles Leclerc is the son of former Formula Three driver, Hervé Leclerc, and the Monégasque driver started his racing career in karting, at the Brignoles circuit which was managed by the father of his friend, the late Jules Bianchi. Charles had an impressive karting career, taking the PACA championship in France for the first of…
Estaban Ocon took up karting in 2006, the year that he turned ten, in his native France, coming eighth in his first year before winning the championship the following season, and adding the French Cadet championship in 2008. In 2009, he moved to international karting, before moving to car racing in 2012 in the Eurocup…
Stoffel Vandoorne was born in the Belgian town of Kortijk in 1992, and began karting in 1998. By 2008, he was the Belgian KF2 karting champion, and the following year the runner up in the FIA World Cup for the same series. He moved on to single seater cars, with 2010 seeing him race in the…
Jolyon Palmer made his way through karting before entering the T Cars series in 2005 at the age of 14. He had some impressive performances and in 2007 moved to Formula Palmer Audi, which had been founded by his father, Jonathan Palmer, back in 1998. A second series in Formula Palmer Audi saw Jolyon take…
Carlos Sainz Jr is a Formula One driver from Spain, and is the son of Carlos Sainz, the former World Rally Champion. Carlos started racing karts, racing in Europe and Asia Pacific, before moving to Formula BMW Europe in 2010 at the of 15. This is when I first saw him race, as a support…
Max Verstappen is the son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, and given his family history, a career in motor racing is not that surprising. As well as his father, known as Jos The Boss, his mother, Sophie Kumpen, was a kart driver, and his maternal grandfather, Paul Kumpen, was a GT driver. His…
Felipe Nasr comes from a motor racing background, with his uncle, Amir Nasr, running a South American Formula Three team, which bears his name. He moved into karting at the age of seven in his native Brazil, before a move to Formula BMW Americas in 2008. 2009 saw a move to the European Formula BMW…
Before the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix, the Marussia team announced that they would promote Alexander Rossi to a race seat from the position of reserve driver, after spending 2012 and 2013 as the reserve driver at the Caterham Formula One team. Alexander has been on the verge of a Formula One seat for some time,…
Kevin Magnussen entered Formula One in 2014 with the McLaren team, after a rapid rise through the levels of motor sport. He is the son of former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen, who is himself still racing in various Formulae. A successful series of Formula Ford in 2008 saw Kevin crowned as Formula Ford Denmark…