Flying the flag: What will be F1's next new nationality?

If you find geography, geopolitics, or even vexillology fascinating, you'll find a weird sense of satisfaction when there's an unfamiliar nation represented in one of the goliath sporting events. 

Take this year's FIFA World Cup, for example (sorry, non-football fans), as we'll get to watch the likes of Uzbekistan, Curacao, Cape Verde, and Jordan take part for the first time. It might be a tough ask for any of them to spring a surprise but, with 48 teams represented in an expanded competition in North America, there is a gateway for at least one of them to make the second round if they finish third in their groups.

Formula 1 has hosted races in new and exotic locales from time to time, especially across the previous two decades with a boom in Middle Eastern and East Asian interest. In recent years, however, the commercial rights holders have been more preoccupied with consolidating its foothold in the United States and in attempting to flesh out its rotational events to maintain links to the 'classic' bastions of F1. Future new races have been mooted in Thailand and Rwanda, but both have taken a back seat as the likes of Portimao and Istanbul have been reinstated for next year. 

It's usually hoped that getting an F1 grand prix will potentially stimulate the growth of motorsport in that region, with the intention of cultivating a crop of potential future F1 drivers. One might argue that China's arrival on the F1 calendar did, albeit belatedly; Zhou Guanyu was in the audience for the early races in Shanghai as a child, and eventually completed his dream when he raced there for Sauber - just 20 years after the race in the Jiading District was first hosted. 

Zhou's arrival back in 2022 was the last time that a 'new' nationality was represented on the grid. Since then, 'old favourites' have been represented by incoming rookie drivers; the UK, New Zealand, Australia, France, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and the United States have welcomed their latest prospects with varying successes over the past four years. Each nation boasts at least one champion in F1's history books, which demonstrates their pedigree in consistently delivering quality racing drivers...but also demonstrates that we've not really come that far in 75 years. 

All of the current driver nationalities were represented at some point in the 1950s and 1960s, with Finland being the only outlier as Leo Kinnunen became the first Finnish F1 driver in 1974. Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, more commonly known as Prince Bira, was active in racing during the Formula 1 World Championship's first five years - Thailand was thus one of the first nations to have an entrant in the drivers' championship.

Zhou Guanyu became China's first F1 driver - making the most recent "first-time" appearance for a nation

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Of course, there's a higher likelihood of future F1 race winners emerging from historically wealthy nations, because they've got the parents with the means to earn enough income to support their child's early racing career. Motorsport has been popular in each of those nations for some decades, thus it stands to reason that the infrastructure exists to support them.

Compare that with the Middle Eastern nations, where the money and infrastructure may now exist today, but that's only been the case for a far shorter period. For example, the Dubai Autodrome is 22 years old, and Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit will turn 17 this year; before that, there was almost nothing for Emirati racing hopefuls in their own country.

Historically, racing drivers have emerged from a selection of hotspots around the world: Western and Northern Europe, North America, Brazil, Argentina, Australia/New Zealand, and East Asia. Just 6% of drivers who have participated in a Formula 1 grand prix have fallen outside of those areas - including the entirety of Africa, most of Asia, Central/Eastern Europe, and the remaining South American nations. 

Tsolov might be the closest to bringing a new flag and anthem into F1, but the investment in motorsport around the world is starting to pay off further down the ladder

From a historical and economical point of view, this is again wholly unsurprising; in some cases, the fact that motorsport has been driven by money is often a precluding factor and, in those nations that have developed economies, there simply isn't the infrastructure. In that group, South Africa does much of the heavy lifting with its 23 drivers overall, most of them local entrants whenever Kyalami or East London's Prince George Circuit held a grand prix. It has not had an F1 driver since Jody Scheckter retired.

There is, however, a crop of drivers looking to become the first racers from their country to make it to F1. Sticking with the Middle East for a moment: Abu Dhabi-born Mercedes junior Rashid Al Dhaheri might be its leading hope to get a driver on the grid, and the Emirati currently leads the Formula Regional European Championship over Sebastian Wheldon - son of late IndyCar champion Dan. But if you're familiar with the rivalry between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the latter city's hopes rest with Alpine Academy-backed Keanu Al Azhari, currently second in Eurocup-3 and the winner of that championship's winter series. 

What of the lesser-spotted European nations? Estonia has been within touching distance of getting one of its own drivers into F1, and Juri Vips might have been primed to pip Liam Lawson to a chance with AlphaTauri - had his Red Bull junior deal not been cancelled after being caught using a racial slur while Lawson streamed a game of Call of Duty.

Paul Aron was also in the mix for the Alpine seat that eventually went to Franco Colapinto; the Tallinn-born driver has enjoyed the run of a few free practice sessions, but Colapinto's strong form in 2026 thus far has perhaps warded off Aron's overtures towards a drive. Of course, F1 is not the be-all-and-end-all; Estonia has produced one of rallying's greats in Ott Tanak, and the preference for rally events is shared either side of the Gulf of Finland.

Ott Tänak is Estonia's biggest motorsport star, but the nation is yet to unearth an F1 driver

Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport

Looking towards the F1 ladder, and there's a few more so-far-unrepresented nationalities that could finally get an appearance in F1. Current Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov has two wins to his name this season, and appears to be the next cab off the rank after Arvid Lindblad moved into F1; the Bulgarian was previously part of Alpine's reserve roster before joining Red Bull last year, in which he was runner up to the highly rated Rafael Camara in F3. 

Norway has never had an F1 driver either. The man who perhaps got closest, Dennis Hauger, now plies his trade in IndyCar; it's now over to ex-McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne to attempt to complete the full house of Fennoscandian nations in F1. Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen has plenty of financial support from his home nation and, while opportunities might have come his way when F1 teams were more cash-starved, he might find it more difficult today to cross the Rubicon into the promised land. That said, he'll be getting TPC runs with Mercedes, but needs to address his boom-or-bust form in F2 if he's ever to have a chance of reaching the top.

At the top of F3, there are few lesser-represented nations operating at the top end, but you'll find Singapore's Christian Ho, London-born Sri Lankan Yevan David, and South Korean Shin Woo-hyun (who races as Michael Shin) further down the current standings. All three have demonstrated solid results in other junior categories, particularly across the smaller Eurocup-3 and Euroformula Open championships, but have a lot more to prove while on F1's undercard.

As it stands, Tsolov might be the closest to bringing a new flag and anthem into F1, but the investment in motorsport around the world is starting to pay off further down the ladder. Turkish driver Alp Aksoy leads the Italian F4 championship after two rounds, while Romania's David Cosma Cristofor and Ukraine's Oleksandr Bondarev, the latter being part of Williams' driver academy, are not too far away. The UAE also has Theo Palmer and Adam Al Azhari (younger brother of Keanu) within the front-running pack in British F4, with Kuwait's Jaber Alsabah and Georgia's Mate Kobakhidze also having scored points this year.

Motorsport has been historically dominated by a small collection of nations, and this is likely to continue; again, finance and infrastructure is a considerable factor here. In Europe, there are simply more opportunities for kids to race in countries like the UK, France, and Italy, compared to the state of play in Balkan or Baltic nations. Yet, there is change, as demonstrated by the wealth of nationalities filtering through the lower categories. Infrastructure is slowly growing around the world, from grass-roots level to top-level national series, although it may still take some time to filter across into the mainstream.

If Tsolov impresses Red Bull's higher-ups, he could bring the Bulgarian flag to F1

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

Money is still an important factor, and it will be forever thus; it is nigh-on impossible to reach F2 and F3 without independent funding, a philanthropic benefactor, or the support of a junior programme. And, when you consider the traditional routes into racing: karting around Europe, and the usual need to relocate to Italy or the UK to race in karting and F4-level championships, it is unsurprising that a bottleneck begins to form when it comes to the outlay required. 

It's like they always say: the best driver in the world isn't in F1, but in a village somewhere where it's impossible to break into the world of motorsport. More countries finding representation on a global stage will only raise the level of motorsport higher, but it might take the unlikely arrival of a national hero to capture the imagination - at least, of those who have the money to invest in growing their respective infrastructures.

In any case, it's always nice to hear a new national anthem - Estonia excluded from 'new', of course, since it shares the same melody with Finland...

Robert Kubica became Poland's first F1 driver and race winner

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images