With the new F1 season within sight, here is a look at five drivers who deserve a spot across junior driver academies of F1 teams.
Although many F1 teams currently have emerging talent on their academy rosters, there is always room for more who could well be up with the best if received proper backing from a F1 team to help develop and nurture their skillset.
I have therefore singled out five young drivers who deserve the backing of F1 teams and a place in a team’s junior driver academy.
Richard Verschoor
Despite only being 23 years-old, Richard Verschoor has done a solid job across the last three seasons in F2 with a win in each campaign, whilst he has been one of the top-three non F1 backed drivers in each season underlining the potential that he has within him.
2023 also marked Verschoor’s best season yet in F2 with a ninth-placed championship finish for Van Amersfoort Racing, which saw him finish as the best driver without F1 backing whilst he matched his haul of 14 top-ten finishes of 2022 showing that he is a consistent driver.
Verschoor however deserves support from F1 if he is to push on and fight more regulaarly up the grid this season, despite returning to Trident who aren’t the fastest team around in F2 but he will be back in familar surroundings as F2 enters the Dallara F2 2024 spec-car era.
Although this is his fourth campaign in F2 which makes the prospects of him ever reaching F1 a slim prospect, Verschoor nevertheless has quietly been a progressive driver who you wish could of achieved better success if a F1 team had got behind him.
Taylor Barnard
Despite finding himself at a middling team in Jenzer in F3 this season, Taylor Barnard has certainly excelled on raw talent alone which saw him finish tenth in the championship which was Jenzer’s highest-placed driver championship finish since Yuki Tsunoda in 2019.
Barnard has also shown strong growth and maturity in his racecraft which was underlined by a drive from 18th to ninth in the Australian Feature Race, which was the launchpad for a step forward in competitiveness despite Jenzer’s mid-season dip in form.
Three podium finishes in the final four races which included a lucky strategic victory in Belgium further underlines Barnard’s potential, whilst his one lap pace is also impressively strong as he finished as the quickest Jenzer in Qualifying at seven of the nine rounds.
Coming back to the fact that Barnard registered Jenzer’s highest-placed finish in the drivers’ standings since Tsunoda in 2019, the 19 year-old achieved Jenzer’s highest points haul by a single driver since F3 relaunched in 2019 which is another impressive feat.
It is therefore surprising that no F1 team has yet swooped to give Barnard additional backing because this Brit has serious potential to achieve big things if given the right support and tools to push forward next season as he graduates to F2 with PHM AIX Racing.
Barnard however tested for McLaren’s Formula E team in October so hopefully that will open new opportunities, especially if McLaren opt to sign him to their revived academy after having not signed a Brit up since Lando Norris graduated to F1 in 2019.
Martinius Stenshorne
Although he finished second in FRECA behind Mercedes junior – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Martinius Stenshorne has demonstrated himself as a young driver full of potential as he prepares for his rookie season in F3 this year with Hitech GP.
The 18 year-old Norwgian in 2023 demonstrated consistency in FRECA in all but four of the races that he finished, which is an impressive feat for any young driver and even led the first half of the season before a small run of bad luck ultimately cost him the title.
Having produced five wins and six further podiums plus three pole positions and fastest laps apiece in his rookie campaign in FRECA, Stenshorne clearly is a driver who has a strong future ahead of him if he can adapt quickly to F3 and impress F1 scouts enough for a team to take a chance on him.
Alex Dunne
Despite finishing runner-up in GB3 last season with five wins and top ten finishes in 17 of the 21 races in which he finished, Alex Dunne has certainly proven that he has the raw speed needed to reach F1 and even attended a Ferrari scouting camp.
Dunne will drive for MP Motorsport this season in F3 and has already demonstrated his potential across a promising pre-season test – during which he was just 0.066 seconds off Williams junior, Luke Browning on Day Two despite Browning’s year of experience under his belt.
F1 teams therefore should keep an eye on Dunne because he does have the talent and racecraft to reach the top, especially after gaining 75 places in total from various starting positions in GB3 reverse races last season which stands him well for F3 sprint races this season.
Either way, Dunne certainly has huge potential to reach F1 within the next few years on his pure ability and raw speed alone.
Joseph Loake
2023 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC winner, Joseph Loake definitely is a driver to watch out for he has already established himself as one of the quieter top upcoming drivers as he prepares to step up to F3 this season.
Loake however is still maturing as a driver and with Rodin Motorsport yet to fully show its pace after pre-season, he definitely will be one to watch this season because if he can punch above the car’s potential as a rookie then he surely will catch attention within the F1 paddock.
Winning the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award will also provide a confidence boost for Loake but he must deliver results on the track and performance first, whilst that Aston Martin F1 test as part of his prize represents a chance to impress the team bosses themselves.
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