Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award winner to be revealed on Sunday

The Award, which aims to find and boost rising British single-seater racers, began in 1989. David Coulthard was the inaugural winner and was followed by a host of future stars, including 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button, current F1 drivers George Russell and Lando Norris, triple Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, and 2014 World Endurance champion Anthony Davidson.

This year’s finalists are German and Italian Formula 4 champion Ollie Bearman, FIA F3 racer Jonny Edgar, Euroformula Open runner-up Louis Foster and GB3 title winner Zak O’Sullivan. None have been in the Award before.

All four conducted fitness tests with Athletic Thinking and simulator assessment with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team before two days at Silverstone last October. They drove MotorSport Vision Formula 2, Garage 59-run Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and BBM Sports Ginetta LMP3 machinery on the Grand Prix circuit.

The winner will be revealed on Sunday night at the Autosport Awards, which returns as a live event at Grosvenor House on Park Lane following the online-only competition of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As well as the money and F1 test with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team, the winner will receive full British Racing Drivers’ Club membership and an Arai helmet.

The 2021 Award judging panel was led by ex-F1 driver and BRDC vice-president Derek Warwick. This year’s guest judge was four-time IndyCar champion and 1992 Award winner Franchitti.

The panel also included successful McLaren and Lola designer Mark Williams, Le Mans-winning engineer Leena Gade, Aston Martin development driver and 1996 Award winner Darren Turner, GT team boss and 1997 Award winner Andrew Kirkaldy, Formula E race winner and 2008 Award victor Alexander Sims, experienced commentator Ian Titchmarsh and Autosport’s chief editor Kevin Turner.

The judging panel has plenty of data to discuss over the two days

Photo by: Staley/Motorsport Images

Previous Young Driver Award winners

1989 David Coulthard

1990 Gareth Rees

1991 Oliver Gavin

1992 Dario Franchitti

1993 Ralph Firman Jr

1994 Jamie Davies

1995 Jonny Kane

1996 Darren Turner

1997 Andrew Kirkaldy

1998 Jenson Button

Jenson Button exchanges notes with Nissan Primera reference driver David Leslie in 1998

Photo by: Jeff Bloxham / Motorsport Images

1999 Gary Paffett

2000 Anthony Davidson

2001 Steven Kane

2002 Jamie Green

2003 Alex Lloyd

2004 Paul di Resta

2005 Oliver Jarvis

2006 Oliver Turvey

2007 Stefan Wilson

2008 Alexander Sims

Alexander Sims shone aboard the Mercedes DTM car on his way to winning the Award in 2008

Photo by: Motorsport Images

2009 Dean Smith

2010 Lewis Williamson

2011 Oliver Rowland

2012 Jake Dennis

2013 Matt Parry

2014 George Russell

2015 Will Palmer

2016 Lando Norris

2017 Dan Ticktum

2018 Tom Gamble

2019 Johnathan Hoggard

2020 No Award (pandemic)

Lando Norris also shone when he drove a Mercedes DTM car in 2016

Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths / Motorsport Images