Photos: Ida Wood, KSP Reportages & WSK Promotion

The karting fraternity now considers Joe Turney a modern-day ‘hero’ for the sport, but he’s still yet to become world champion after losing out on the last lap to Ethan Jeff-Hall in 2024. What’s next for the two Britons?

If a footballer maintained fitness levels and ability with a ball to have a career in the adult game that spanned 30 years but they never played in a top-tier national league, they probably would not tick the box of being considered a great footballer.

But career longevity enables competitors to go from protege to teacher, while also expanding their knowledge base throughout as the sport evolves around them. For their rivals, they become a reliable barometer of which to compare against.

In football, one year at the top flight is more valuable career currency than five in the second tier and it’s the same in motorsport as a GP2/Formula 2 career so long it encompasses three different cars means little reputationally against a former rival who managed to add Formula 1 starts to their CV.

And in almost all sports, the fundamentals of the equipment used at the very lowest level is the same as at the top. But in motorsport, there is a big contrast as many young talents start racing on karts then switch to totally different machinery.

Karting has that slightly frightening level of competitivity and passion from the sidelines that all youth sports do, and at the senior level it used to be common in the 20th century for drivers to stick about and try to master their craft. Now, most of the top karters in North America and Europe head over to cars as soon as they’re old enough to.

The sport of karting being a passing-through point is no bad thing, since new names get chances to shine each year. But gone are the bridges between eras that mean the lastest big talent can actually be compared to their title-winning predecessors. And of the adults who do stick about, they almost all switch from single-speed to shifter karting.

This is why the 23-year-old Joe Turney is one of the most popular faces in karting after eight years racing at the senior level.

Turney in 2019, at the end of his first spell in senior karting

Turney debuted on OK karts in 2017, and has since won basically everything bar the biggest prize: the world championship.

Rather than explain Turney’s popularity and status as the gold standard in karting through a long list of results, here’s a chat we had with the Briton – days before possibly the most agonising defeat of his career – that should illustrate it just as well:

So what’s your official role now with Kart Republic and the factory team?
“At the moment, I’m a driver for Kart Republic, and driving on OK Senior in Europe and a bit of X30 in America as well. Basically, all forms of the single-speed kart. Trying to win with the kart, promote the kart and help the team where I can.”

Is there any kind of chassis development work in that as well?
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. We’re always trying different things to try and improve the product to sell to people. And to win more races. So we’re testing lots of karts this week, lots of parts as well for the kart. And in general, we’re trying to use my experience and improve with the team to try and make the best product we can.”

In Formula 4, where you raced in 2019, there is a lot of team-determined setups which drivers are required to adapt to. From the start of the season to the end, can you map out how the KR setup and package has evolved?
“Yeah, possibly. We drive a lot of different tracks and surfaces. So it won’t always be perfect every time, and we have to bring different products to each race to try and be the best we can. But we’re trying to make a product to sell to everyone and to win races. So yeah, I think it’s a bit different to single-seaters, as in the lower formulas where everyone races the same car, and the parts all have to be from the manufacturer. But we have the luxury where we can make all our own stuff. And as long as we’re within the regulations, then we can use it and we can develop quite a lot.”

It must be a pretty cool role, having that responsibility for a successful product that then gets raced by your rivals and so many younger karters?

Kart Republic boss Dino Chiesa and Turney

“Yeah, yeah. It’s super cool. The product was already massively successful way before I was here. So that was part of my reasoning for coming and racing for Dino [Chiesa, Kart Republic boss]. And the product, obviously, is in a really good place at the moment. We can see that with the results we’re having.”

If Dino hadn’t called in 2023, after your time as a factory Tony Kart driver ended, would your career still be ongoing?
“Yeah, I think I’d be racing somewhere for sure. Whether it would still be here in this paddock, I’m not 100% sure. I think probably it would’ve been. I’m definitely happy with where I am now, and the work that we’re doing.”

On chassis development, the fact that you’re going to have 14-year-olds driving these karts but you’ve got a larger physique, you’re taller, older etc., how do you dial your feedback into going ‘this kart will be easy to drive for someone who’s just coming in to the category’ when you’re developing it as a driver with a lot of experience.
“I think that’s the thing as well. We have to remember, and that why it helps to have a lot of our younger drivers here and racing too, because we can see that if the product’s working for everyone, then there’s obviously something right. I mean that we have to have a kart that works for inexperienced drivers and experienced drivers. So it’s not all about having the 100% fastest kart over a lap, but having a kart that’s fast over a race and driveable too.”

In terms of working with younger drivers, at what point did you start doing that? And how formal is that role?
“I’ve raced from a young age. I grew up as a young driver [like them]. Now I’m 23 and, just as you get more experience, you start to give your advice a bit to the younger kids. And then it starts being a bit more like work when you’ll go as – your purpose to [entering] a race is to just go help some kids. In the end, it sort of naturally progresses into that as you get older.”

So on a race weekend where you’re on a factory kart, I presume your responsibility obviously is to win. But would the boss still be happy if you didn’t win, but you helped some of the other drivers get good results.

The Kart Republic chassis Turney helped develop

“Yeah. I mean, always my first priority here has been to come and do the best I can results-wise on the track. So I come to try and win every race and to do the best I can. So that’s obviously the first priority between the sessions. We need to make sure that everything is prepared and everything’s been analysed correctly. But any spare time that I have, I try to help some of the younger kids if they’re struggling. Or even if they’re not, just to help and give advice and watch races and do what I can.”

Do they look up to you? In terms of karting pedigree you’re one of the biggest names in the 21st century. But drivers look up to F1 primarily. Do you have a reputation within your team that young drivers do look up to you?
“I guess a little bit. I mean, I was just a young driver like them, and now I’m doing it for my job. But yeah, I guess naturally someone who’s winning a lot, the people will try and want to drive like them. And I think some of them can be a little bit nervous to talk [to me] and ask questions, but in the end I’m always happy to help whoever it is.”

Long-term for you now, are you looking to always have that kind of work on the side while trying to stay racing? Or are you more likely to head in one direction or the other?
“Possibly. I’m not 100% at the moment. We’ll see how the future goes, in the short-term with the driving. But I’m not getting any younger. And, yeah, I enjoy helping the young kids just as much as I do driving. So we’ll see what happens. I’m enjoying what I’m doing at the moment, but I’m not 100% sure what I’ll do [next].”

A bit of a personal question. In October 2023 you broke your ankle. With your foot recovery, how much did you notice once you were back on the kart if there was any difference in feedback and sensitivity with that foot and leg?
“The feedback was always fine, like my feeling and everything. I didn’t have any damage in that area. Maybe I came back a little bit early. I started in February, and I probably could’ve waited a month later. As I had quite a lot of pain when I first came back. But I think that maybe would’ve happened even if I started a month later. I think the muscles all needed to get back [to working strength via karting]. Now it’s all pretty fine. Especially when I drive, it’s 100% fine. I actually have more of a problem outside of the kart, when I’m just walking a lot in the day; I get a bit of fatigue. But apart from that, it’s alright. I can manage.”

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

That’s good. That’s encouraging. And if a car team suddenly offered you a drive, would you be willing to return to single-seaters to continue where you left off in British F4 back in 2019, or karting is the world you want to stay in?
“I don’t know. I quite like the karting world at the moment. I think it’s in a good place. And I like working with a lot of good people. So we’ll see what happens. I still look at the car stuff, for sure. And I’m definitely not saying no to anything, but I’m not like 100% sure on what my direction will be, my future over the next 10, 20, 30 years. So we’ll see.”

In terms of budgets since you came to the senior level of karting, how much have the numbers gone up?
“I first started senior karting in 2017, so we’re looking at seven, eight years ago now. The numbers are a lot more than they were then, but I think due to like, naturally, inflation. And I think the COVID-19 pandemic as well didn’t help because materials are a lot more expensive now. So for the teams to produce karts and stuff, it’s probably more expensive. It’s increased, but everything in general has. Compared to seven years ago, [karting costs] are probably 50% more now.”

And have you noticed similar inflation in terms of the size of entourages that drivers bring?
“Yeah, that’s grown massively. If you look at racing 10 years ago, people would just come and drive. Like it would be the kid and their parents. Either the parent’s [doing the] mechanicing, or a mechanic. And that was probably as far as it went.”

Even at the OK level?
“Yeah. Maybe there would be the odd person who would have a bit more. But now there’s drivers who come with mental coaches and physical coaches and driver coaches, and it’s pretty intense. But that’s the way the sport’s going, and it’s growing and it’s getting more competitive. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but it does obviously increase the cost for everyone if they want to compete.”

In terms of doing rigorous exercise and being on track so much [as rich youngsters do], how many days per year were you on track at that kind of age? Would that not have been a fatiguing thing to be driving so frequently?

The well-funded next generation of karting stars look up to Turney

“Yeah, it is. I never drove as much as some of the kids that they drive [as much is possibly allowed]. I probably drove two or three weekends a month. Which is still quite a lot, but my weekends would have been Friday to Sunday. Whereas the weekends now are Wednesday or Thursday to Sunday, and they’ll probably drive three times a month, with a bit of stuff in between as well. That’s busy. And I had to do, I was quite busy with school as well, so it sort of like limited my driving. But to a healthy level where I was still driving enough, but not too much that I got burned out.”

Do you look at the balance now and wonder if it’s swung too far in the racing direction compared to education?
“Yeah, possibly. At a young age, a lot of the kids probably drive [as much as possible]. It’s not that they drive too much. It’s just that they don’t go to school enough. Yeah, that’s all. I think it’s important to have a school life and… not a ‘personal life’, but like, have your friends at school and have your friends in karting. Because they’re two completely different worlds.”

If you fall out with your friends here…
“Yeah, true, true. And I think it’s important for the kids to learn the life that they have at home, too, because it is two completely different worlds. You have your karting life, it’s intense, but in the end it’s fun and they go racing every week and they’re with their mates. And it’s not the real world, probably. So if they know the real world, and they realise that actually life’s about doing hard work and school and listening to your teachers or whatever, then they’ll probably have a better grasp of life and what real life’s like.”

Two days later, Formula Scout got to hear from Turney again after he lost the CIK-FIA World championship on the last lap as a mistake in treacherous conditions ended his run of literally showing the rest of the field how to drive through the wet at PF International in the fastest way possible.

“It might have looked like 22, 21 mistake-free laps. But it definitely wasn’t. The conditions were really difficult, really slippy. And difficult to hit your points and to get the kart stopped every lap. I made a big mistake on the last lap, so that’s obviously very hard to take after the weekend that we’ve had and the preparation and everything,” he dwelled.

Jeff-Hall chasing Turney for victory

“But I think as a whole we can still be happy for the work we’ve done and we’ve missed out just right at the last, it couldn’t really be any closer, but just at the end. Yeah, we can be happy as a team, as a group for the work that we’ve done here, this year and in the world championship. Because we had everyone at the front, and just missed out right at the end.”

When asked how many years he could keep on chasing world championship success, Turney was coy.

“Look, I don’t know. Second twice now, so that hurts. But I think in the end I’ve come second to a great driver, and Matthew [Higgins] in third as well. It’s been a really strong podium this year. Last year was difficult as well. But I have to remember what position I was in at this time last year [following his ankle-breaking hit]. So it’s definitely not bad, because last year I was staring at the roof of a hospital room. So no, we can be happy with the work we’ve done. We’ve won a lot of races this year. Just this one missed out on the last lap, but it can happen.”

He may ‘only’ be 23, but Turney is without doubt one of the most mature drivers competing internationally in his sport. That should be his biggest contribution to karting, more than being the on-track benchmark for every rising talent to go up against, particularly as the margins between manufacturers, teams and drivers are so small now courtesy of the spending race.

As for his time in British F4, Turney kicked it off by claiming pole for his debut car race, got his first podium and fastest lap at the next event but after ‘only’ claiming one more of each he dropped off the grid after five rounds to focus on karting.

Should Turney decide to return to car racing in some form and he doesn’t taste high levels of success, and if the CIK-FIA World championship continues to elude him, it would in no way diminish his status as an emerging motorsport icon with nothing left to prove in karting. For example, Kimi Raikkonen’s illustrious talent led to ‘only’ one F1 title, and his switch to the World Rally Championship was a challenging chapter in his career but didn’t make him look less talented.

For now, ‘what’s next?’ for Turney is more karting, and more winning. Inevitably.

Turney being awarded his 2024 European championship trophy

Ethan Jeff-Hall first caught Formula Scout’s attention in 2022, as he won European competitions on Rotax Junior karts. He then won the Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy for Rotax Senior karts in 2023, and repeated that success in 2024. By starting on pole for the final, he also earned himself a spot in the FEED Racing France shootout. While that didn’t lead to a French F4 seat for 2025, there was plenty else that happened to Jeff-Hall last year to kickstart his car racing career.

First of all he dovetailed his karting commitments with Britain’s entry-level Ginetta Junior sportscar series, and took the title there with six wins and eight other podiums. In summer he sought even more names to prove himself against, and swapped his Sam Pollitt Racing-run Exprit Rotax kart to join the factory CRG team in the alternative OK class.

His debut was the CIK-FIA European championship finale, and after a slow start he progressively became more competitive. Then came the World championship, and he topped his qualifying group. Although he finished off the podium in his first two heats, stronger starts later on meant he won his last two and only Turney was ahead in the intermediate classification.

In his superheat he lost to Fionn McLaughlin by 0.181 seconds on the final lap, but then in the final the reverse happened against Turney as he was second until a last-lap pass after Turney slid off made him world champion. A month later he contested the Ferrari Driver Academy’s scouting world final, but was not signed by Ferrari and will instead step up to British F4 with Argenti Motorsport as a Mercedes-AMG F1 junior as was revealed last week.

With career momentum behind him there is as much anticipation behind what’s next for Jeff-Hall, and if he can turn his F4 chance into a single-seater career in the way Turney previously couldn’t. But let’s rewind to moments after he took his helmet off on September 15 last year, when he ran over to hug team members through a parc ferme fence, and also faced Formula Scout’s microphone:

How difficult were the conditions today?
“It was very difficult. Obviously it was wet, so there was lots of spray, but I think I managed it quite well.”

Kart stars Iacopo Martinese, Thibaut Ramaekers & Jeff-Hall

With that final lap move, were you expecting to get ahead? Expecting that to come?
“Not really, I think Joe made a slight mistake and I just managed to capitalise from it. But Joe did a great job, and was just a little bit unfortunate.”

At that point the congratulations from everyone around him became too loud for Formula Scout to get another word in, but as the only written media in attendance there was another opportunity to hear from Jeff-Hall in the podium press conference.

“[Kristianstad] wasn’t the best weekend, but I think we learned everything we needed to be able to come here and do the best we could,” he said of how his OK kart debut set up his world championship success, hailing CRG’s preperatory work.

“The conditions were really tricky. It was very wet, so there was a lot of spray. I managed to get up behind Joe, but every time I sort of got close, the spray was really bad. So I ended up making a mistake and falling back again. So it was sort of always trying to play catch-up a little bit. And then on the last lap, Joe made a big enough mistake, so I could capitalise on it and take the lead.”

Brandon Nilsson, one of CRG’s team bosses, admitted “we took kind of a gamble” calling up Jeff-Hall to race its kart: “We flipped a coin in it. It went heads for us [in chosing Ethan].”

Jeff-Hall brought a different approach to the kart, and that became visible in the rain. There was naturally variation in racing lines in conditions where the karters had to look everywhere for grip, but that decreased over the course of the event as team’s leading drivers found the fastest way around and in races a drier line was naturally formed by trains of karts.

But Jeff-Hall really had a different approach to PFI compared to Turney, which the long-time leader did not get to see while he was ahead. Formula Scout asked if it was disadvantageous not being able to see the lines that drivers behind were taking, and to Jeff-Hall what was learned by spending many laps following – in his own way – the man they all wanted to beat.

Photo: Ida Wood

“I wouldn’t say it’s a disadvantage at all. I think we knew what more or less the optimum wet line was from the testing that we’ve done,” replied Turney. “I think actually, to be second was harder with the spray that he had to go through all the race.

“You could see on the last lap as soon as he had got past, I mean, after three or four corners, he was gone. I mean I’m not sure if I’ll watch the race back, but if I do, then we’ll see and we’ll learn what line was better. But it was a close race, and it is what it is.”

Jeff-Hall added: “Obviously, like Joe said, tricky conditions. A lot of spray and it was just about managing the gap and trying to stay as close as possible to be there by the end. This spray was really, really bad, and I was going into turn one sometimes with little vision. But I think I did a good job to stay as close as I did. An amazing weekend and I can’t thank anybody enough.”

The post Why karting left with two winners from a race that ended in a painful loss appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: KSP Reportages

F1 teams are signing younger drivers as juniors under the logic that early investments provide scope to benefit from greater long-term returns. But they’re not just investments, they’re also ambitious youngsters

Formula Scout’s eye-opening trip into the World Karting Championship paddock this September made one thing abundantly clear like never before: motorsport is more about money than talent, and particularly in karting.

It was over rather than under-exposure to the abundance of money in the industry that made it such a stark realisation. The feel-good stories are about underfunded talents or those without the industry backing that reflects their talent and work ethic, and nobody really celebrates a rich kid being quick. Particularly when others are still quicker than them.

A driver with “a lack of funding” usually means they don’t have access to other people’s money, whether that be sponsors or benefactors. Most self-funded drivers are competing in club racing for fun rather than chasing a racing career with the money they earn from their day jobs, and the money needs to appear before they can race rather than the other way around.

Before the post-pandemic boom of the ‘creator’, gaming and influencer industries, teenagers rarely had jobs providing a level of income they could spend on something as expensive as motorsport. While that has now changed, it’s still parent power that rules in the financial stakes.

More money equals more track time and better equipment, which lead to improved driving and improved results respectively. That ultimately makes those drivers more attractive prospects to sponsor and support since they’re getting the results that makes financial investments in their career worthwhile, and are also further along the development curve than their peers with less track time. The [children of the] rich generally get richer, and faster.

For second-generation talents you then have name appeal and politics getting involved, which can work for or against trying to get their own name known and attracting backers. Even the performance-focused Formula 1 teams aren’t immune to the appeal of being able to boast they have the ‘son or daughter of’ in their ranks.

All of the above factors into how the current crop of karters who are also F1 juniors earned those allegiances, but aren’t factors controlled by the drivers themselves. In fact, they’re a friendly and thankfully quite down-to-earth bunch of teenagers. Let’s introduce them:

Key (2024 stats)

WSK: Champions Cup (CC), Euro Series (Euro), Final Cup (FC), Open Series (OS), Super Master Series (SMS), Super Cup (SC)
CIK-FIA: European championship (CIK European), World championship (CIK Worlds), World Cup (FIA WC), Karting Academy Trophy (FIA Academy Trophy)
Rotax Max Challenge: Euro Trophy (Euro), International Trophy (Int. Trophy), Grand Finals
IAME: Euro Series (Euro), Warriors Final (WF), Winter Cup (WC)
Champions of the Future (CotF)

Dries Van Langendonck McLAREN 14y/o
OK 22nd in Worlds   OK-J CIK European champion, CotF champion, 2nd in WSK CC, 2nd in WSK SMS, 7th in WSK Euro

Photo: McLaren

Van Langendonck won the biggest race in junior karting last year, and was runner-up in Champions of the Future – arguably the biggest series at this level – on second place countback.

There wasn’t really much he could do better in 2024 on an OK Junior kart as older rivals stepped up, and he promptly began the year with second place in the WSK Champions Cup, then won CotF and the CIK-FIA European championship, as well as being runner-up in the very competitive WSK Super Master Series.

His CotF title came despite ‘missing’ the final round at PF International to race in the OK class there instead as he had just turned 14. He finished sixth on debut, putting him 24th in the standings, and on his return to the track a week later he starred in the soaking rain. Van Langendonck’s average finishing position in his heats was 3.6, but he lost ground in his superheat and retired from the final in truly treacherous conditions. The Forza Racing driver had more than made his mark.

“I think it was probably when I won the world championships [that McLaren first got in contact],” he says. “My name got a bit on the radar, so that’s when we started talking with a few people. And mostly the beginning of the year that the big talks were [happening], then it all started to come around.

“I’ve just got a good manager in Infinity Sports Management and they talk about it. And also [McLaren] watch my racing. But it’s mostly through Infinity. I think [my 2025 plan is] OK, at the moment. So at the moment still in senior, then after that we’ll see what we’re going to do.

“[Today’s races was you] probably overtake or be overtaken. That’s how I can only describe it. There was no waiting about whatsoever. But when you’re in this sort of midpack, it’s always going to be tough. But it’s quite funny. And PFI is definitely up there on one of my favourite tracks. Really a good event for the world championship. So I enjoy driving around this track.”

Kenzo Craigie MERCEDES-AMG 14y/o
OK-J World champion, 3rd in CotF, 19th in CIK European  X30 Jr 4th in British championship, 20th in IAME Euro

Photo: Ida Wood

Craigie became the 2024 world champion on OK-J karts in the most dramatic on-track way possible, by colliding with Prema team-mate Noah Baglin at the final corner on the last lap. Baglin did not take the defeat well in the immediate aftermath, having held the lead from lap two onwards in the extreme wet.

At the 2022 British Kartmasters Grand Prix, Craigie won in the Honda Cadet class and was also handed an outing with Argenti Motorsport in the Waterswift class. He impressed team boss Ron Meadows, who is also sporting director of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team, who signed him to his karting team for 2023 and convinced his Mercedes colleagues to do the same.

He has remained with both ever since, and also joined Prema this year so he could race in Europe.

“It’s been really good [at Prema]. They’re a really good team,” Craigie says of the Kart Republic customer squad. Leading the manufacturer on OK karts is Joe Turney, who has lent his hand to helping the OK-J runners but “not necessarily too much”, Craigie adds.

“We already run off our own data, really. Because we don’t really interact with the seniors that much. But everyone in here’s quite fast, so it’s always good to compare against everyone. There were not really targets [for 2024], just do your best. And obviously when you do our best, it’s going to be good. So just that sort of stuff.”

Formula Scout was then the first media to speak to Craigie after he was crowned world champion.

“It’s an amazing feeling, and I can’t think anybody who’s helped me enough,” he said, before referring to his pace advantage in the bridge section of the lap that was key to him hunting down Baglin. “I think everyone just braked a little bit too much and I was able to just carry the speed a little bit more, so yeah, it was good through there.”

“[In the last laps] obviously there’s a lot of pressure, but I was just trying to get my laptimes in. I made a couple of mistakes, but I got there in the end.”

Luna Fluxa MERCEDES-AMG 14y/o
OK 30th in CIK European, 48th in CIK Worlds, 56th in CotF   OK-N currently 1st in CotF Academy Program

Photo: IAME Euro Series

Now also a member of the female-led Iron Dames programme, Fluxa is a refreshingly bouncy character whose enthusiasm for karting rubs off on the people she’s talking to.

Fluxa is part of a motorsport family, since her two older brothers – Lorenzo and Lucas – also race and therefore she’s had two great references to learn from each time she steps up a class on the karting ladder.

Her rookie season at the senior level has lacked in many of the bigger competitions, but she rose 10 places in the opening round of the European championship on home soil at Valencia to finish 11th, with the points earned from that putting her 30th in the standings by season-end.

The new CotF Academy Program series has been where she has shone the most this year, winning two rounds in the OK-N class to lead the points.

James Anagnostiadis MERCEDES-AMG 13y/o
OK-J 2nd in CIK Worlds   OK-N Jr currently 1st in CotF Academy Program

Anagnostiadis wouldn’t have been Europe-bound were it not for sister Aiva being supported by the Alpine F1 team’s Rac(H)er programme. That led to contacts being made on the opposite side of the planet to his home country Australia, and he was very quietly announced (as in not announced at all) as a Mercedes junior in July.

He won a CotF Academy Program event on an OK-N Junior kart last year, and like Mercedes’ other proteges has driven for Argenti and Prema. That did not lead to a single result of note until the world championship, where he had an average finishing position in the heats of 4.2, came third in his superheat and then an unexpected second in the final after misfortune hit others. The result on its own was not enough to put a smile on his face in the press conference afterwards.

“It’s really good,” a deadpan Anagnostiadis said of his surprise result. “I’ve had a pretty tough year. Not really getting any, basically any good results in CotF. And a couple okay finishes in the Europeans. But this is a really good way to end the year. It’s really good to have me and Kenzo both one-two, and hopefully we’re at the front a lot more together.”

“I wasn’t too worried [about the wet]. We had to a couple of good heats in the dry yesterday, and also last weekend had a really good day in the wet. So I wasn’t too stressy if it was wet or dry. But obviously the first couple of laps I was a bit nervous, having been to my first world championship up the front, and sort of overdrove a bit, and then was able to come back at the end of the race.”

Rocco Coronel RED BULL 14y/o
OK-J 3rd in CIK Worlds, 4th in WSK CC, 5th in CotF, 12th in CIK European, 18th in WSK SMS   X30 Jr 4th in IAME WC

Formula Scout understands at least one other F1 team had expressed interest in Coronel before he signed with Red Bull, and that the relationship between his father Tom, Red Bull Junior Team chief Dr Helmut Marko and the Verstappen family were inevitably factors swirling around in the background while Coronel tried to impress Red Bull on track in its shootout test.

Coronel was already a protege of Alpine junior Victor Martins and brother Nicolas, as he drives for their Victory Lane team, and rather unusually for a driver at the junior karting level he already has a recognisable driving style and pattern in his form.

According to Coronel, he had no contact with Red Bull himself until he was at Jerez driving a Formula 4 car at the shootout. The company had first formally approached his father at Zandvoort, but the 1997 Masters Formula 3 champion had already held conversations with Marko about signing his son due to their existing relationship.

The then-13-year-old did not know what to expect when entering the shootout, and Red Bull was as interested in his planned schedule for 2025 as how he was performing on track. Coronel is already Victory Lane’s project, and Red Bull wanted to know if it had any ‘long-term’ plans for him. The team also has connections to ART Grand Prix, where Victor Martins has spent much of his car racing career so far.

“It’s a really good team. It’s a new team in this category,” said Coronel of his karting home. “At the beginning of the year, Valencia was the first time in CotF with this team. New chassis, new engine. Because we normally do OTK, but then we switch over to Kart Republic. And we won the first race. So it’s really, really good performance of the team, and they made everything [they could] to do it.”

As for the on-track outcomes, Coronel has a undeniable habit of coming on strong in longer races, which usually means finals and therefore his strongest results coming in the sessions that matter most and at the biggest events.

“I can be really good with my tyres,” Coronel confirmed to Formula Scout. “Even in qualifying like last time I can be really good, but I’m still improving every time.”

Christopher Feghali RED BULL 15y/o
Rotax Snr RMC Lebanon champion

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Another potentially politically positioned protege signed to the stable of Red Bull. Basically, the usual methods of scouting and selection by Red Bull do not necessarily apply with this very recent addition to its junior team.

Lebanese driver Feghali turned 15 at the end of August and earlier this year joined Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the books of Minardi Management, run by Giovanni Minardi, son of Giancarlo. He comes from a rallying family, as father Abdo, uncle Roger and cousin Alex have all been successful in the discipline, while Abdo has also found fame in drifting with Red Bull sponsorship. Like Carlos Sainz Jr, his path into joining Red Bull has been eased by his family’s existing relationship with the brand.

Feghali Jr has already made his F4 debut with Drivex and last year came 13th in the OK Junior world championship and 20th in the IAME X30 Junior Euro Series. He was Rotax Max Senior champion in Lebanon this year in a grid that never reached 10 karts.

That is not an achievement that would light up the karting press, let alone mainstream media, but Feghali was interviewed in-studio on national television following his crowning and while Red Bull’s announcements of its new juniors last month seemed to come out of nowhere it was already known in Lebanon that Feghali would be becoming an F1 junior and accompanying the press release which confirmed it was a press conference in which he and his family were interviewed.

The political situation in Lebanon has sadly changed since then, with the country being continually bombed by neighbouring Israel and put in a state of national trauma. Prior to that, the energy drinks market had been growing there, Feghali and other young Lebanese athletes had already attracted considerable online followings and a deal such as the one made with Red Bull provided the promotional power for exponential growth to be possible for both parties.

Scott Lindblom RED BULL 14y/o
OK WSK Euro champion, 8th in CotF, 30th in CIK Worlds, NC in CIK European   OK-J 11th in WSK SMS, 32nd in CIK European, 50th in CotF   X30 Jr 12th in IAME Euro

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

The most complete looking of Red Bull’s new crop of karters, Lindblom was third in the world championship, fourth in the WSK Euro Series and 11th in CotF and WSK’s Super Master Series on OK-J karts. Since stepping up up to senior machinery four months ago he has already won the WSK Euro Series title and come eighth in CotF.

He became Euro Series champion last month with more than twice the number of points of the runner-up, having been dominant in round one and near unstoppable in round two. Lindblom will start 2025 in senior karting and look to continue that form, then once he turns 15 it would not be a surprise to see him move into single-seater racing.

At the CIK-FIA World championship last month he was only behind Turney and Thibaut Ramaekers in his qualifying session, finished in the top three on-the-road three times in his heats, was fourth in his superheat but didn’t get a chance to shine in the final as he crashed on the formation lap. He still left Britain that Sunday having set the fastest lap of the weekend.

Fionn McLaughlin RED BULL 16y/o
OK 3rd in CotF, 6th in CIK European, 6th in CIK Worlds   X30 Snr 2nd in IAME Euro, 34th in IAME WC

Photo: Ida Wood

McLaughlin says he didn’t know when Red Bull first got in contact with him when asked by Formula Scout, but added: “They just invited me to this driver search a while back. So I accepted the deal and took on this opportunity.”

In fact, he first met a representative at the inaugural CotF Academy Program event in the UAE last November. Mercedes was very publicly courting talents that weekend, and McLaughlin was runner-up in the OK-N classification. Since he was overlooked, Red Bull came calling early this year and invited McLaughlin to its shootout.

By the time of those test assessments a further few months on, the Irishman was anticipating he’d become a Red Bull junior.

“I just went into it to do my best, and that’s what I did. And I came out with a good impact, so I’m happy with how it ended.”

His strong karting results this year have come with VDK Racing, and he was on course to become IAME Euro Series champion with them before he punctured on the formation lap for the final race of the season.

“It’s really good so far [with VDK]. We’ve had a lot of victories,” he commented, before comparing the significance of his results on X30 karts compared to the FIA-certified OK equipment: “Every race is important, so if you can do your best in every championship, it’s very good.”

Taym Saleh SAUBER 15y/o
OK 35th in CIK European, 64th in CotF

Photo: Sauber Group

Saleh has spent two years as a Sauber junior, but it’s unclear what their plan for him is since its driver development programme seems to lack direction now.

The first time Saleh raced in Sauber’s colours in January 2023 he came third in the WSK Champions Cup on OK-J karts, and he was still looking fast at the end of the year as in the world championship he topped his qualifying group, won two heats but had a big crash in the final after running in ninth.

He was also WSK Euro Series runner-up, came 11th in the European championship, 16th in CotF and 23rd in WSK’s Super Master Series.

Since stepping up to OK karts, the results have been harder to come by as he has spent a lot less time on track than previously. Saleh began 2024 in Sauber’s own team, switched to Ricky Flynn Motorsport during summer but has rarely been seen racing.

Sasha Bondarev WILLIAMS 15y/o
OK WSK CC winner, 2nd in WSK SMS, 19th in CotF, 19th in CIK Worlds, 26th in CIK European   X30 Snr 31st in IAME WC

Photo: Williams

Bondarev is on this list since his graduation to F4 only occurred recently, and he was signed by Williams over a year ago.

He is another talent to profit from Prema’s expansion into karting (since its squad was set up to run F1 juniors before adding the likes of Baglin), and was first profiled by Formula Scout in March 2022.

Since then the Ukrainian has established himself as a consistent frontrunner in junior and then senior karting, impressively bouncing back from a broken leg during his breakthrough 2022 season in the former.

After he was signed by the WH Sports management stable that guides the careers of Ferrari protege Ollie Bearman, it was clear his career was in good hands and that he would find himself with some good opportunities to climb the racing ladder.

The fact an F1 team came calling before he had even driven a car was an added bonus, and Bondarev’s strong grasp of English from an early age has actually made him an easier driver to converse with than many of his British peers since he has a warm personality.

One thing Bondarev may have to look out for is whether he continues to grow. He is already of a height and build well suited to his transition to cars, but should he get any taller it could become a disadvantage.

Dean Hoogendoorn WILLIAMS 12y/o
OK-J 3rd in WSK SMS, 6th in WSK Euro, 7th in WSK CC, 10th in CotF, 15th in CIK European, 55th in CIK Worlds

Photo: Williams

Champion of Germany on mini karts in 2022 then WSK Euro Series champion on OK-N Junior karts in 2023, Hoogendoorn began 2024 as one of the most exciting graduates from the mini karting scene and with junior results to prove the hype.

The Dutch youngster began this year by coming seventh in the WSK Champions Cup, and followed that up with third in WSK SMS and 15th in the European championship. His 10th place in the CotF standings was an impressive position, and more recently he came sixth in the WSK Euro Series. It will be interesting to see how he grows with his 2025 programme.

Sara Matsui WILLIAMS 13y/o
OK 76th in CIK Worlds, 116th in CotF   OK-J 123rd in CotF   OK-N Jr 6th in WSK CC, 11th in WSK SMS, currently 12th in CotF Academy Program

Photo: Williams

The Japanese karter made the longlist of drivers (but not the final) for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s Ferrari Driver Academy-affiliated Girls on Track Rising Stars shootout in 2022. That year she also came third in Japanese championship for junior karts.

In 2023 she attended the inaugural CotF Academy Program event, coming eighth in the OK-N Junior final, and alongside a full season in that for 2024 earned a factory Kart Republic seat. Racing three different classes of kart may have provided plenty of learning opportunities, but changing teams and categories has done little to help results and particularly in the more competitive series.

Williams’ wildcard signing

During the writing of this piece, Williams announced 10-year-old Lucas Palacio as a junior during the United States Grand Prix weekend. The American used an age waiver, a way of bypassing minimum age requirements (which exist across all sports primarily in the name of safety), to make his mini karting debut in 2022 and has since picked up an impressive roster of results. But he is still only 10 – two years younger than the next-youngest driver on this list.

More from karting
Ethan Jeff-Hall becomes karting world champion after last lap drama
Craigie leads Mercedes 1-2 in Karting World Championship’s OK-J final
Marsh’s defensive masterclass denies Mercedes juniors in CotF finale

The post Introducing the karters who are already F1 juniors appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Ida Wood

Kenzo Craigie led a Prema and Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior one-two in the OK Junior final of the Karting World Championship, which was decided by a final corner crash.

It started raining shortly before the final, prompting the field to switch to karts that were already prepared with wet set-ups.

The conditions caught out Harrison Mackie on the formation lap, with the Fusion Motorsport driver having been set to start sixth. Filling the front row were DPK Racing’s Niklas Schaufler and Craigie, with Noah Baglin (Prema), Roman Kamyab (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and James Anagnostiadis filling the next three positions.

Schaufler almost went off at hairpin one on the opening lap but somehow stayed in the lead, then at the penultimate corner he and Baglin did slide off the asphalt but with no consequence as they concluded the lap first and second.

Traction was a big issue for Schaufler, and he almost had another off on lap two when Baglin went wheel-to-wheel with him. They traded places multiple times, with Baglin starting lap three ahead and with Craigie and Fusion’s Kit Belofsky not too far behind in third and fourth as the rain worsened.

Craigie had a sideways moment and lost third but then dived back past, and up front Baglin began to pull away as he used more apex kerb than his rivals. As conditions got even tougher and drivers had to be more careful on the brakes, Craigie began to have the pace advantage and he was all over Schaufler by lap seven.

That prompted Schaufler to push, but it resulted in him almost going off due to a lack of traction again and on lap 11 Craigie swept past after a failed attempt the previous lap.

Baglin responded to his team-mate appearing behind him by setting two successive fastest laps, and it became a de facto Prema 1-2-3 on lap 12 as Schaufler spun down to sixth after Belofsky got close to him and Anagnostiadis moved into fourth behind the to-be penalised Belofsky.

With six laps to go there was 2.7s betwen the top two, but Craigie managed to close the gap by being later on the brakes through the first sector and wading through the water behind his team-mate for the rest of each lap.

He got within a second of Baglin with two laps to go, taking the fastest lap in the process, and Baglin’s slow approach into hairpin one meant another 0.4s was immediately eradicated from his lead.

They entered the decisive final lap 0.4s apart, and Craigie managed to get alongside on the run to hairpin one. Baglin left him no room on the outside, and at hairpin two Craigie was actually sent off the track but retained enough grip to rejoin the track still alongside his team-mate.

He tucked in behind for the chicane then coming to the next braking zone dived to the inside of Baglin, who was sent wide. Both went off exiting the corner, and Craigie was ahead. Baglin then pulled off a switchback move at the penultimate corner, but had not fully cleared Craigie as he turned into the final corner and the pair collided.

Craigie was provisionally victorious, but it took several hours for stewards to determine the final results. Such were the gaps in the rain that Belofsky’s double penalty only dropped him from second to fourth, with Anagnostiadis runner-up and Victory Lane’s new Red Bull junior Rocco Coronel being promoted to third.

The post Craigie leads Mercedes 1-2 in Karting World Championship’s OK-J final appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Ida Wood

Ethan Jeff-Hall won the world championship for OK karts in a sodden final at PF International decided with a last lap move.

It had been raining on-and-off for several hours leading up to the final, but just as the senior karters took to the grid the wind speed picked up and the rain worsened.

Kart Republic’s Joe Turney was on pole, having dominated the event up to that point, and chose the right-hand lane for the start in the hope it would have more grip. After a false start due to some drivers not having lined up properly (and the loss of Red Bull junior Scott Lindblom on the formation lap at the esses), the race began.

One driver failed to get going and two collided immediately, and Turney was the only one on track with decent visibility as everyone else was immediately immersed in spray.

The conditions led to several more drivers crashing out before the opening lap was complete, and an order was pretty much set with Turney leading CRG’s Jeff-Hall, Energy Corse’s Matthew Higgins, VDK Racing’s Fionn McLaughlin, Kart Republic’s Dmitry Mateev and Victory Lane’ Jimmy Helias.

Higgins almost went into the rear of Jeff-Hall at the chicane and again later around the lap, since he had more pace, and he was able to get past on the pit straight before starting lap three. He then hunted down Turney, being on his rear at the chicane but then sliding at the final hairpin and dropping 1.4 seconds back from the leader.

He got the gap back down to under a second at the end of lap five, with Parolin’s Zac Drummond now in seventh after Kart Republic’s David Cosma exited proceedings. A stuck throttle put Suleiman Zanfari out, then McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck crashed too.

Jeff-Hall came back at Higgins on lap six and they made contact in the final sector, with the momentum that Higgins lost from it meaning Jeff-Hall returned to second place. Turney meanwhile set the fastest lap to pull 1.947s clear, despite the rain worsening. Two laps later Jeff-Hall stole the fastest lap, and the gap between the top two began to decrease.

Turney had less than a second in hand at the end of lap 10, but then Jeff-Hall got crossed up in the esses and it grew to 1.6s again. He was finding that as soon as he got close to Turney, the excessive spray was contributing to mistakes that undid his chasing.

In the second half of the 22-lap race he adapted to that, bringing the gap down to 0.7s and then being able to keep his distance to Turney for several laps. He realised that taking different racing lines to Turney helped keep his kart on track when right behind him, and so the two Britons ended up being faster than each other in different areas of the track.

Williams junior Sasha Bondarev crashed out of eighth on lap 15, and one of the backmarkers was coming into sight of Turney. Although blue flags meant they would have to let the top two by, the excessive rain meant lapping cars was still going to be difficult.

Jeff-Hall got within 0.5s of Turney on lap 16, and had a run on him next time by into hairpin one. He remained stuck to his rear, albeit on his different line into corners, through the next lap and Turney responded by going fastest in sector one.

There was 0.6s between them thereon, with Higgins using clear air to take the fastest lap behind them. The result looked settled until Turney approached the banking on the last lap, as he slid off entirely and Jeff-Hall moved past on just his second appearance on an OK kart.

Results to follow

The post Ethan Jeff-Hall becomes karting world champion after last lap drama appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Hellofoto

The Champions of the Future season concluded at PF International with local knowledge coming to the fore.

On the senior OK class karts, Joe Turney was triumphant. He topped free practice, then beat the track record in qualifying but was not fastest as Noah Monteiro bettered him by 0.029s.

Rain made for tricky heats, with Turney and Freddie Lloyd winning five each. Turney twice won by more than 10s.

Salim Hanna Hernandez and Scott Lindblom each claimed two heats, and McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck won one on his senior karting debut.

Lloyd dominated the wet first superheat by 10.154s, and Fionn McLaughlin pipped Turney by 0.167s in the second.

Poleman Lloyd, Gus Lawrence (of the local PFI Karting team) and Matthew Higgins pre-empted the start signal for the final’s formation lap. On the actual start Lloyd nailed it to lead Turney and Lawrence, who traded places on laps four and six.

On lap eight, Lloyd pulled 0.983s clear as Turney made a mistake and Hanna dived past Lawrence. Turney rapidly closed back in, and on lap 15 took the lead at the second hairpin and never looked back.

Lawrence had regained third, but Hanna got back past. McLaughlin finished fifth, despite a clash with fellow Red Bull junior Scott Lindblom that put him out. Van Langendonck was sixth, and Higgins lost seventh to a penalty for an agressive move.

Pre-event points leader Thibaut Ramaekers was disqualified for a technical nonconformity, which helped Turney – who moved ahead of him before the final – take the title.

Van Langendonck impressively claimed the OK Junior crown despite not racing.

Noah Baglin led Ilie Tristan Crisan, title outsider Christian Costoya and James Anagnostiadis in qualifying. Filippo Sala and Anagnostiadis won three heats each, with the latter’s results his first points of 2024. Anagnostiadis became a Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior in July, but 28th in the CIK-FIA European championship has been the highlight of a lacklustre 2024.

Costoya kept his title hopes going with two heat wins, and Rocco Coronel doubled up too.

Anagnostiadis was dominant in the wet to win superheat one, and fellow Mercedes-AMG junior and Prema team-mate Kenzo Craigie won superheat two. Niklas Schaufler finished 10th to be Van Langendonck’s main title rival entering the final.

Costoya was eliminated on lap one in a clash, and on lap two Craigie, Sala and Scott Marsh passed Anagnostiadis. Marsh took the lead in a three-wide hairpin move on lap three, and Anagnostiadis overtook Sala on lap four.

Schaufler drove into Arjen Kraling’s rear then had Harrison Mackie drive over the back of him on lap five, but did not lose 12th.

A double switchback move earned Craigie the lead on lap six, as a rapid Coronel leapt to third and Sala dropped to fourth after attempting to snatch first. Coronel then took second, which became first after Craigie ran wide on lap seven and sank to fourth.

Sala passed him too on lap 10, and Marsh reclaimed the lead on lap 13. It became a four-way fight again and he clashed on the back straight with Coronel (who had a penalty for an earlier clash with Craigie).

Sala took second from Coronel on lap 14 and chased the leader, but did not need to since he bunched up the field. Once again Sala’s attempt to take first left him fourth, and it was similar for Coronel and Craigie as Marsh put in a defensive masterclass to stay ahead of a lead group of 10.

Craigie was runner-up after Coronel’s penalty dropped him to seventh, just ahead of Anagnostiadis. Sala was third, and Schaufler finished 17th.

Results round-up
OK final (22 laps)
1 Joe Turney Kart Republic [Kart Republic] 20m14.010s
2 Freddie Lloyd Fusion Motorsport [Kart Republic] +1.100s
3 Salim Hanna Hernandez Prema [Kart Republic] +4.430s
4 Gus Lawrence PFI Karting [Tony Kart] +5.160s
5 Fionn McLaughlin VDK Racing [Kart Republic] +10.056s
6 Dries Van Langendonck Forza Racing [Exprit] +12.986s
7 David Cosma Cristofor Kart Republic [Kart Republic] +14.090s
8 Joseph Smith Victory Lane [Kart Republic] +14.138s
9 Jimmy Helias Victory Lane [Kart Republic] +15.312s
10 Olin Galli CRG [CRG] +15.640s
Fastest lap: Smith 54.634s

OK Junior final (19 laps)
1 Scott Marsh Tony Kart [Tony Kart] 18m20.982s
2 Kenzo Craigie Prema [Kart Republic] +0.381s
3 Filippo Sala Ricky Flynn Motorsport [Lando Norris] +1.016s
4 Jarrett Clark Forza Racing [Exprit] +2.733s
5 Kit Belofsky Fusion Motorsport [Kart Republic] +3.215s
6 Arjen Kraling Kart Republic [Kart Republic] +4.615s
7 Rocco Coronel Victory Lane [Kart Republic] +5.236s
8 James Anagnostiadis Prema [Kart Republic] +5.418s
9 Devin Walz Forza Racing [Exprit] +5.793s
10 Joel Pohjola Tony Kart [Tony Kart] +7.042s
FL: Roman Kamyab, 56.427s

The post Marsh’s defensive masterclass denies Mercedes juniors in CotF finale appeared first on Formula Scout.