How the Award winner is chosen

The process for selecting the best up-and-coming British motorsport talent has evolved a lot over the history of the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award. Inaugural winner David Coulthard was simply chosen on the back of his fine Formula Ford performances in 1989, but the system is now rather more complex and analytical.

This year's judges - BRDC president Derek Warwick, double British Touring Car champion Jason Plato, former GT ace and Award winner Andrew Kirkaldy, McLaren head of vehicle engineering Mark Williams, leading commentator Ian Titchmarsh and yours truly - had access to a fantastic amount of data.

Here's how we worked towards the decision that will be announced at the AUTOSPORT Awards on Sunday.

SELECTING THE BEST

The first part of the process each year is selecting the six finalists who will be put through their paces at Silverstone.

The 2013 records of dozens of eligible drivers (those aged between 16 and 22 on January 1 this year, competing in a sub-FIA F3 single-seater category) were assessed at McLaren's Technology Centre. The first two or three names, often the champions of the leading series, are usually selected rapidly.

Insight from those who have seen many possible candidates competing, and other aspects like a driver's pre-2013 CV, also got thrown into the mix before the final list was agreed.

An exhaustive selection process determines the six finalists © LAT

"You hope that anyone who is chosen has a chance of winning and people without experience of wings tend to struggle," says Titchmarsh.

"You also have to have people who have the opportunity to become established professional drivers. The Award has a pretty good record of people who have made careers as racing drivers."

This year the six drivers who got the nod were Formula Renault NEC champion Matt Parry and runner-up Jack Aitken, BRDC Formula 4 champion Jake Hughes and his rivals Seb Morris and Charlie Robertson, and Formula Renault BARC champion Chris Middlehurst

Once contacted, the six 2013 finalists had three weeks to prepare, something that experienced judge Titchmarsh has seen improve over the years. "All the guys we saw this year prepared themselves, like talking to previous Award winners," he says.

Kirkaldy, a judge in the early 2000s who returned to the panel this year, adds: "Drivers now take it seriously - they have to - because you have to be exceptional."

SIMULATION AND FITNESS

To reflect the increasing importance of simulators and driver fitness in motorsport, both aspects have become integral parts of the Award process.

All six drivers in 2013 spent time in Darren Turner's Base Performance Simulator, driving on both the Silverstone International circuit and a fantasy track. GT star and former Award winner Turner then put together a report on each driver's performance that was sent to the judges.

Similarly, Porsche's Human Performance Centre tested the fitness of the finalists and sent the results on.

Although not the key factor in the final outcome, both the simulator and fitness tests give the judges an insight into how serious and well prepared the drivers are. It also gives potential areas of improvement that can be passed on to the finalists in the feedback sessions that take place after the AUTOSPORT Awards.

DTM Mercedes, F2 car and GT McLaren: the machines used to evaluate the contenders © LAT

THE TRACK TESTS

The real meat of the Award is the two days spent at Silverstone. This year each finalist had his own Formula 2 car, plus runs in a DTM Mercedes C-class coupe and one of two McLaren MP4-12C GT3 machines.

After sighting laps in roadgoing McLaren MP4-12Cs (no small thing itself, especially given two of this year's finalists don't even have road licences!), all six head out for the first F2 run.

All three F2 outings on day one, which this year stayed dry, are conducted without the Williams-built JPH1B's overboost facility. That means the drivers 'only' had 425bhp, but seeing as they are all used to racing cars with less than 200bhp that's probably enough.

Getting all six on track at the same time eradicates many of the problems and guesswork that was the case when the Award only had two single-seaters.

"Having the six cars helps a lot, especially if you have poor weather," agrees Kirkaldy. "If you only had two cars and more than two people were in contention it makes it very tricky to compare.

"I think the process is fair and always has been. Every single year I've been a judge the right person has won it. I don't know of a more in-depth process for any motorsport award."

Part of that experience comes in the afternoon of day one, when all the finalists get a go in the McLaren and most have their DTM runs, too.

"Generally it's about the single-seaters, but having the other cars is good if it's close and you need to fall back on them," adds Kirkaldy. "And it's great for the drivers to try cars they wouldn't do otherwise."

The DTM runs are completed on the morning of day two, which dawns with a wet track, and then it's back into the F2 running. This time the drivers get overboosts - a maximum of two per lap - throwing another challenge at them as to how best to use the extra 75bhp.

Each driver has their own F2 car for the two-day test © LAT

After all the runs are complete, the engineers running the F2, McLaren and DTM cars give feedback to the judges and provide any data required.

The amount of information available has increased dramatically in recent years and McLaren now sends Rosie Wilson, normally to be found working on Sergio Perez's strategy, to help.

"Rosie applies F1 analysis and processes all the lap times and statistics, which is useful to back up your instinct," says Williams.

"We're driven by lap times and feel, but it's always good to have all that data to back it up."

INTERVIEWS

The final part of the decision-making process comes back at McLaren. The finalists are all interviewed and given a tour before the judges sit down to pick the winner.

Like the fitness and simulator tests, the interviews rarely decide the contest, but they do give an interesting insight. "You get a much better idea of the maturity level when you sit down and talk to them," says Kirkaldy.

This weekend, at the AUTOSPORT Awards in London's Grosvenor House, the result of all this will become known and the 25th McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner crowned.

THE PRIZES

As well as joining a select group, this year's victor will receive £100,000, a McLaren F1 test drive, BRDC membership, and an Arai GP-6 RC carbon helmet.

"Winning the Award makes a massive difference to your career, bigger than the financial side," says 1997 winner Kirkaldy.

"After winning, everyone knows who you are and what you've done."