The Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award will not take place this year, ahead of a re-evaluation of the prestigious competition.
The Young Driver Award, which aims to find and assist the best up-and-coming British single-seater racing talent, began in 1989. The inaugural prize, which included a McLaren Formula 1 test, was won by David Coulthard.
Since then, the Award has given a boost up the racing ladder to many of Britain’s most successful drivers, including 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, 2014 World Endurance champion Anthony Davidson, 2022-23 Formula E title winner Jake Dennis, 2024-2025 Formula E champion Oliver Rowland, and F1 stars Lando Norris, George Russell, Oliver Bearman and Alexander Albon.
The announcement of the winner is traditionally made at the Autosport Awards, which will continue, with the next event taking place in London on Wednesday 21 January 2026.
McLaren, Aston Martin and Silverstone have partnered with Autosport and the British Racing Drivers’ Club over the 35-year history of the Award. Deagen Fairclough is the most recent winner, scooping £200,000 and an Aston Martin F1 test, after a range of assessments that included simulator and fitness tests, plus two days on Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit in MotorSport Vision Formula 2 cars, a Beechdean Motorsport-run Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and RLR M Sport Ligier LMP3. His prize F1 test will take place later this year.
With big plans to develop the contest in the future, the stakeholders have agreed to a review ahead of the launch of a new-look Award. The partners are launching a process to reinvent the Award for the modern motorsport landscape. They do so from a position of strength as this season there are four former finalists on the F1 grid, underlining the huge contribution the programme has made nurturing young British drivers towards F1.
Le Mans winner and 146-time grand prix starter Derek Warwick, who has been the chairman of the judges since 2010, said: “I’ve been privileged to be chairman of this amazing award, working with some of the most experienced and dedicated judges. All F1 teams now have their own young driver programmes, which I like to think came from being aware and being involved with our very own young driver programme over the years. I feel now is a good time to stop and re-evaluate the Award.
Silverstone Aston Martin Young Driver test, Deagan Fairclough, Freddie Slater, Louis Sharp and Arvid Lindblad pose with F2, Aston Martin and Ligier JSP320 LMP3 cars
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro
“We would not have been able to achieve what we achieved without the amazing support from the BRDC, Silverstone and Autosport who really have been the backbone for this Award for so many years. Not forgetting McLaren and Aston Martin, who also supported us with an F1 car for the winner to test and gave us the financial means and loyalty over the years.
“We have had tremendous support from so many others; MSV, Pirelli, Mercedes, United Autosports, Beechdean, Garage 59 and TSL. MSV provided the amazing F2 cars that really were the heart of this Award; a massive thanks to Jonathan Palmer, Giles Butterfield and James Goodfield for their commitment over the last 15 years.
“Thank you all so, so much from the bottom of my heart, we couldn’t have done it without you.”
Peter Digby, Chairman of the British Racing drivers Club, said: “The BRDC are extremely proud to be associated with the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award and fully support that it should reflect the changes taking place in young driver development especially with the imminent opening of the new Silverstone International karting track.
“Many thanks to all the sponsors, supporters and judges associated with the Award so far and of course a massive thanks to Derek for his immense efforts over many years.”
James Allen, President Autosport Business and F1, said: “This is a good moment to reimagine the prestigious Young Driver Award for the next generations. Motorsport has changed a lot since David Coulthard became the inaugural winner in 1989, giving him his first F1 test and setting him on the way to a stellar career at the highest level. Many others have followed in his footsteps since, one of whom, Lando Norris, is fighting for this year’s F1 World Championship, demonstrating how relevant and current the Award still is today.”
The move has no impact on the BRDC’s SuperStars and Rising Stars schemes, which will continue to help young drivers as normal in 2025 and beyond.
List of Award winners
1989 David Coulthard
1990 Gareth Rees
1991 Oliver Gavin
1992 Dario Franchitti
1993 Ralph Firman Jr
1994 Jamie Davies
1995 Jonny Kane
1996 Darren Turner
1997 Andrew Kirkaldy
1998 Jenson Button
1999 Gary Paffett
2000 Anthony Davidson
2001 Steven Kane
2002 Jamie Green
2003 Alex Lloyd
2004 Paul di Resta
2005 Oliver Jarvis
2006 Oliver Turvey
2007 Stefan Wilson
2008 Alexander Sims
2009 Dean Smith
2010 Lewis Williamson
2011 Oliver Rowland
2012 Jake Dennis
2013 Matt Parry
2014 George Russell
2015 Will Palmer
2016 Lando Norris
2017 Dan Ticktum
2018 Tom Gamble
2019 Johnathan Hoggard
2020 Not awarded (COVID)
2021 Zak O’Sullivan
2022 Luke Browning
2023 Joseph Loake
2024 Deagen Fairclough
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