Photo: Williams Racing

Luke Browning will graduate from Formula 2 to a race seat in Super Formula and reserve driver role in Formula 1 this year.

The 23-year-old Englishman will make his debut at single-seaters’ top level with Kondo Racing, and be Williams’ go-to driver in F1 should either of its full-time drivers be unable to race.

He will also be involved in the team’s car development through simulator work, but Browning’s 12-race SF campaign in Japan means he will not be able to fulfil his reserve driver duties in at least four grands prix.

The Williams Driver Academy has featured Browning in its ranks since April 2023, and under its tutelage he has won the Macau Grand Prix, come third in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and fourth in F2.

His first F1 test mileage came with rival team Aston Martin in October 2023 after he won the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award the preceding year, then he sampled contemporary F1 machinery for the first time at Yas Marina Circuit in December 2024 when he drove for Williams in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s first practice session then in the post-season young driver test.

Last year Williams handed him further free practice outings at the Bahrain, Mexico City and Abu Dhabi grands prix, and he featured in the young driver test again.

“I’m incredibly excited to be stepping up as reserve driver with Williams this year,” said Browning. “The Academy has been instrumental in my growth, supporting me through both F3 and F2 while giving me the chance to get up to speed with modern F1 machinery through testing and FP1 sessions.”

He added: “[SF] will be a completely new challenge, and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in! As my next step up towards a full-time F1 seat, this gives me another chance to show how I’ve developed on track and continue to build my skills in a new environment and culture.”

Williams’ team principal James Vowles applauded how Browning has already “supported the team’s journey back to the front of the grid through his involvement in simulator and FP1 work, which has been invaluable as we enter this new era of regulations”.

Accompanying the announcement of Browning’s 2026 programme was the list of Williams’ current academy members, which revealed the departures of Japanese karter Sara Matsui.

Dean Hoogendoorn, who has been a Williams junior since August 2024, is still only 13 years old and has been signed by kart manufacturer Parolin as one of its factory drivers for 2026.

Last year the Dutchman raced for Prema, better known for its junior single-seater success, and he was ranked as one of Formula Scout’s top karting stars of 2025. He won the CIK-FIA European Championship, the WSK Super Master Series, came third in the CIK-FIA World Championship and fifth in Champions of the Future on OK Junior karts, won SuperKarts USA’s SuperNationals on X30 Junior karts and came third in the equivalent race for KA100 Junior karts.

The post Luke Browning lands F1 reserve driver role and Super Formula seat appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: KSP Reportages

Nicolas Todt’s protege Christian Costoya surged into the CIK-FIA European Karting Championship lead in round two at Algarve.

It was a superb event in the OK class for the factory Parolin driver, starting off by topping qualifying (with Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior James Anagnostiadis and Noah Wolfe leading the other groups) then winning three of his four heats.

Mercedes junior Kenzo Craigie, Zac Drummond and Wolfe all won two heats, but it was Kart Republic’s veteran Joe Turney who was closest to Costoya in the intermediate classification and Energy Corse’s Lev Krutoholov split Craigie and Drummond in fourth despite no heat victories.

Drummond passed Costoya then sprinted away to win a wet first superheat by a huge 7.839 seconds, with Beau Lowette right behind team-mate Costoya in third.

The track was drying for superheat B, and Krutoholov won in style. He passed Turney on lap one then left him for dust, and by lap five Wolfe had cleared Turney too but had no answer for Krutoholov. Lewis Wherrell finished third from 28th on the grid.

These results put Costoya and Krutoholov on the front row for the final, and the former led lights-to-flag. Krutoholov dropped down the order on lap one, and after Wolfe passed Drummond for second he pressured Costoya in the race’s first half before he began to edge away.

Daniel Kelleher beat Roman Kamyab and Thibaut Ramaekers in a photo finish for fourth, with Kamyab climbing 11 spots. Turney spun out.

Round one star Chiara Battig finished a penalised 24th, and her points-free weekend dropped her from fourth to ninth in the standings. Her best race result was fifth in a heat.

In the OK Junior class, the qualifying groups were each decided by less than 0.045s with Ferrari Driver Academy member Noah Baglin, Alpine Academy member Ilie Tristan Crisan and Dan Allemann topping the times.

Baglin converted pole into three heat wins, and Luka Scelles won three races too. Two victories was enough for Iskender Zulfikari to top the intermediate classification, and Williams F1 juniors Will Green and Dean Hoogendoorn were two-time heat winners too.

In superheat A, Arata Endo and Crisan leapt past Zulfikari straight away, with the poleman then swiftly ejected from proceedings. William Calleja ended up as the winner, after Endo was penalised for overtaking Zulfikari before racing had officially begun.

Green and Baglin fought through superheat B and finished one-two, with Scelles just behind before a bumper penalty handed Allemann third.

Scelles climbed from seventh to first on lap one of the dry final, moving to the front when the top four ran into each other, but on lap six fell to fourth and lost further places to finish eighth. Hoogendoorn took the lead from him and held it to the finish, with points leader Baglin second.

Green was demoted to sixth at first, recovered two places then retired on the last lap with Endo – who had briefly got ahead of Baglin – as contact was made with Crisan when he passed both.

Results round-up
OK final (20 laps)
1 Christian Costoya Parolin 19m05.654s
2 Noah Wolfe VAR by Birel +1.464s
3 Zac Drummond Fusion Motorsport +7.086s
4 Daniel Kelleher Kart Republic +8.443s
5 Roman Kamyab Ricky Flynn Motorsport +8.544s
6 Thibaut Ramaekers VDK Racing +8.661s
7 Dries Van Langendonck Prema +8.875s
8 Jensen Burnett Forza Racing +9.311s
9 James Anagnostiadis Prema +10.109s
10 Viktor Gustafsson GE.LU.MI.NI +12.021s
Fastest lap: Kamyab, 56.430s

Championship standings
1 Costoya 144   2 Anagnostiadis 121   3 Ramaekers 115   4 Drummond 102   5 Van Langendonck 100   6 Kelleher 84   7 Burnett 66   8 Wolfe 65   9 Chiara Battig 64   10 Thomas Pradier 46

OK-J final (17 laps)
1 Dean Hoogendoorn Prema 16m57.558s
2 Noah Baglin Prema +2.971s
3 Ilie Tristan Crisan Tony Kart +4.318s
4 Henry Domain Forza Racing +4.915s
5 Drew Walz Kart Republic +6.869s
6 Dan Allemann Ward Racing +7.246s
7 Antonio Pizzonia Neto Fusion Motorsport +11.754s
8 Luka Scelles Victory Lane +12.548s
9 Michael McGaughy Koski Motorsport +13.459s
10 Remigiusz Samczyk Fusion Motorsport +18.580s
FL: Will Green, 58.504s

Championship standings
1 Baglin 168   2 Hoogendoorn 149   3 William Calleja 111   4 Domain 102   5 Iskender Zulfikari 84   6 Crisan 81   7 Bosco Arias 75   8 Scelles 68   9 Allemann 67   10 Green 61

The post Todt protege Costoya surges into European Karting Champship lead 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.

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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: Williams

The Williams Formula 1 team has announced the addition of Dutch karter Dean Hoogendoorn to its driver academy.

The 12-year-old won the German title for KM Mini karts in 2022, then last year was the WSK Super Master Series runner-up, third in the South Garda Winter Cup and WSK Open Series and fifth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy.

He also got a taste of junior karting in 2023, which resulted in him claiming the WSK Euro Series title and being ‘Road to the World Cup’ runner-up on OK-N Junior karts and coming fourth in Trofeo delle Industrie when he took to X30 Junior machines.

This year his focus has been OK Junior karts, starting off by coming seventh in the WSK Champions Cup, and following that up with third in WSK SMS, 15th in the CIK-FIA European Championship. Hoogendoorn is also currently 10th in Champions of the Future and 12th in the WSK Euro Series.

“Racing is my passion and to become a part of the Williams family is a very proud moment for me,” he said. “I will contribute whatever I can to the team and can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”

Williams’ sporting director Sven Smeets added: “Dean is an exciting young talent and we’re delighted to be welcoming him into the Williams Racing Driver Academy. He has had an impressive start in the karting world, progressing faster than most other drivers his age and challenging karters sometimes two years older than him. Dean has a bright future ahead of him and we look forward to supporting his development for the rest of 2024 and beyond.”

The post Williams adds Dutch karter Dean Hoogendoorn to its driver academy appeared first on Formula Scout.