F1-linked karting stars who should be on your radar

For those who are keen to follow young UK motorsport talent, a special thing happened at the Kristianstad kart circuit in Sweden in August. Three British drivers won FIA European titles, and two of them are in their second year on Formula 1 junior driver programmes. So now is the time for Autosport to say hello to Ferrari Driver Academy recruit Noah Baglin, 14 years old, and Williams F1 Academy youngster Will Green, just 13. 

While Green triumphed in the Junior category, Baglin is a step above in the OK ranks. And each of them belongs to the famed Kart Republic team of renowned talent guru Dino Chiesa, who has worked with, among others, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.

KR is one of the karting organisations to have moved under the umbrella of Korus Group, which includes Tatuus and ATM – constructors and engine builder respectively for Formula 4 and Formula Regional. Korus, then, is the global talent factory for junior drivers below the F3 level. 

Baglin is not just a talent; he has a personality too, and reacts with humour to Chiesa’s grandfatherly joshing. “Both are very bad drivers and not good enough!” smirks the Italian of Baglin and Green.

But Chiesa has also compared the older of the two to Verstappen in the Italian media. And besides, as Korus CEO Giovanni Delfino points out, his karting impresario only jokes in this way about drivers he really rates. 

Green is the son of 2004 F3 Euro Series champion and ex-DTM star Jamie Green (and cousin of GB4 ace Fred). And he’s a chip off the block not only in his driving ability, but also as an extremely personable young chap. 

Chiesa says of the two youngsters: “Let me wish to those two guys to have the same path that Kimi is doing”

Photo by: Kart Republic

“Not many people know, but I was fighting against Jamie when I was mechanic and team manager for Lewis,” recalls Chiesa, “and it was quite hard to beat Jamie in karting. Noah is also talented, no question. When a driver can win in Minikart, can win in Junior – the second season he won the world championship. Now Will has won the European championship in Junior, and Noah in OK. 

“They just have to work hard. All the pieces are in the pocket of the driver at the moment. He’s on a highway with not much traffic I can see. Just to keep on the highway, it will be everything fine.” 

“Obviously there’s no complaints about the season,” sums up Baglin. “I messed up a little bit at the very start, but I’m happy with how the Europeans went. I’m very lucky that the guy who finished second [Zac Drummond, yet another Brit!] made a huge mistake in the last round. 

Baglin will be 15 next March, which means he will be old enough to move into cars in 2027, albeit his birth date means he won’t be eligible to take part in the pre-season winter series in which so many F1 juniors compete

“I’m lucky that I didn’t make too many mistakes and I could just focus on my job. It worked out, so that was good.” 

Baglin will be 15 next March, which means he will be old enough to move into cars in 2027, albeit his birth date means he won’t be eligible to take part in the pre-season winter series in which so many F1 juniors compete. “I would say I’ll go F4, but nothing has been confirmed,” he concedes. 

For Green, it will be another season in karting, stepping up to the OK class at Kart Republic to fill Baglin’s seat. “It was quite tricky,” he reflects of his European crown. “The biggest thing across the year is I was very consistent. Out of the four rounds I had three podiums in the final. I had good pace every race and that just helped massively. 

After a slightly bumpy start to the season, Baglin has no complaints about how things have turned out

Photo by: Arthur Saulnier Bruneau / KSP

“It was quite close into the final round. I was a bit surprised that I was able to win the championship before the final, but it was a very good season.” 

Those who follow karting will know that Green Sr has been filling his post-DTM life with running his own team. But does that make things awkward for young Will, now that he’s been at a different team since early 2025? 

“I raced with my dad’s team in Mini in the UK and in the European championship – I went to Dino’s team last year and I don’t actually race against my dad anymore because he doesn’t have any drivers racing in the Junior category,” he points out. “But I do some testing with him sometimes.” 

Now the focus is on the World Championship at La Conca in southern Italy, plus selected other events that either driver might do. Baglin says the focus on the move up to cars means he has not yet been confirmed for the World event, but “hopefully I am”. Green is “looking forward to it. I won in the European championship at the same track so it’s going to be good hopefully.” 

Will they make it? Delfino thinks so, and evokes Antonelli, a title winner in Tatuus F4 and Regional machinery: “Let me wish to those two guys to have the same path that Kimi is doing. Every time he makes a pole or a win I text Marco [his father] and say, ‘Wow, how important have been those Tatuus for your son!’ He laughs but in reality I think it’s true…” 

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the October 2026 issue and subscribe today.

Green will be stepping up to the OK class at Kart Republic to fill Baglin’s seat next year

Photo by: Arthur Saulnier Bruneau / KSP