Are these drivers set for a breakout year in 2025?

It doesn’t take long to come up with a list of drivers who massively enhanced their reputations last season.

Franco Colapinto translated relative obscurity in Formula 2 into being touted for a Formula 1 seat at Red Bull after impressing during his unexpected mid-season graduation with Williams. Oliver Bearman’s points-scoring cameo with Ferrari in Jeddah likewise bolstered his credentials and led to a permanent gig with Haas, while Adrien Fourmaux banished his wildman reputation by leading M-Sport Ford’s World Rally Championship effort.

Across the Atlantic, back-to-back LMP2 victories at the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours set tongues wagging over then-17-year-old Connor Zilisch, who later won on his NASCAR Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen. And IMSA newcomer Laurin Heinrich produced a superb run to the GTD Pro title against strong factory opposition, earning him a spot in our top 50 drivers of the year.

While each will face greater expectations in their various programmes this season, attentions of talent spotters turn to discussion over who will emerge as 2025’s breakout talents. We tasked our team of experts with picking out the names set to impress.

Entries by Jake Boxall-Legge, Stuart Codling, Tom Howard, Stefan Mackley, James Newbold, Marcus Simmons and Gary Watkins

Taylor Barnard – Formula E with McLaren

Taylor Barnard arguably made his breakthrough even before the end of 2024 after becoming the youngest podium finisher in Formula E’s history courtesy of third place in the Sao Paulo E-Prix season-opener.

The 20-year-old Briton already held the accolade for youngest starter and youngest points finisher in the all-electric championship, having made three stand-in appearances in place of the injured Sam Bird at McLaren the previous season.

His debut in Monaco came with just 20 minutes’ notice ahead of FP2 and with more preparation time he was able to score a double points finish in Berlin next time out. That was enough to convince McLaren team principal Ian James to sign him up full-time for the 2024-25 campaign.

A Monaco Formula 2 race winner last season, as well as a finalist in the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year award in 2023, Barnard’s career has somewhat gone under the radar having focused on junior series outside the UK.

Finishing runner-up to Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the 2022 ADAC F4 Championship should leave no one in any doubt, though, that Barnard is set for a bright future in motorsport. SM

Sami Pajari – World Rally Championship with Toyota

Pajari will hope to repay Toyota’s faith in his maiden season in Rally1, after some strong cameos in 2024

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Already a Junior WRC champion, WRC2 champion and a stage winner on top-flight debut – it’s easy to see why there is a lot of excitement surrounding Sami Pajari – the next star to roll off Finland’s seemingly relentless rally talent conveyer belt.

Pajari has achieved all of this by the age of 23; his Junior WRC title arrived in 2021 and in last year’s run to the WRC2 title he impressed by defeating Oliver Solberg. This success hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Pajari catching the eye of WRC reigning champions Toyota to earn a highly coveted full-time 2025 Rally1 drive.

Pajari has already proved he can compete at the top level by finishing fourth on his Rally1 debut in Finland last year, where he also scored a maiden stage win. He then backed that up with a sixth in Chile. This year will present a new challenge as he faces up against the WRC’s elite for 14 rounds, but Pajari has all the potential to shine.

Toyota’s new rising star also has a smart brain on young shoulders, a trait similar to countryman and double world champion team-mate Kalle Rovanpera. He’s fully aware of the task ahead of him and realises he must learn to walk before he can run.

Despite the many hurdles that await, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Pajari finds himself standing on the podium this year and maybe follow in the footsteps of last year’s breakout WRC driver Adrien Fourmaux, who also became a regular on the rostrum. TH

Callum Ilott – IndyCar Series with Prema

Ilott is no stranger to IndyCar, but the US open-wheel scene hasn’t seen the best of him yet

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Callum Ilott’s nomadic career brings him back into the welcoming embrace of Prema Racing for the Italian squad’s bow in IndyCar, and North American motorsport fans could be about to witness a new force in the series.

The Briton was a rival of George Russell’s in karting – to the extent that they erroneously thought they didn’t like each other before they teamed up at Carlin for the 2015 European F3 season. Ilott had a happy year with Prema in F3 in 2017, and went on to be pipped to the F2 crown by Mick Schumacher in 2020, but there was no room in F1.

After a traumatic spell in IndyCar with Juncos Hollinger Racing, he shone in Jota’s Porsche 963 Le Mans Hypercar in the WEC last season. Holding off factory Porsche star Kevin Estre to win at Spa was a highlight; a crash at Le Mans not so.

Prema knows exactly how to get the best out of a driver whose speed has often been more emphatic than his consistency. Ilott is a sensitive soul – perhaps it’s a blessing that F1 never happened for him – but, with Prema in IndyCar, his talent could be on the verge of being displayed in all its glory. MS

Arvid Lindblad – Formula 2 with Campos

Lindblad made a winning start to life in F3 last year and will hope to do the same upon stepping up to F2

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

There are those who say Red Bull ‘driver advisor’ Helmut Marko is losing his touch. Certainly the recent shortfall of in-house candidates for the company’s F1 seats cleaves to that particular narrative. Stand by for a plot twist.

But 17-year-old Anglo-Swede Arvid Lindblad is one of the few things upon which Marko and Christian Horner agree. And both of them are banking on him to solve their F1 problem by continuing his stratospheric progress through the junior formulae this season.

Marko signed Lindblad to Red Bull’s Junior Team at the age of 13, while he was still in karts. Arvid only made his single-seater racing debut in 2022. And while the results haven’t always taken a linear upward trajectory – his 2023 Italian F4 campaign fizzled after a strong start – Lindblad has impressed enough to warrant fast-tracking through F3 to F2. He graduates with the three drivers who finished ahead of him in 2024: champion Leonardo Fornaroli, Gabriele Mini and AMABA winner Luke Browning.

What he needs to do now is string together a completely competitive season, since F3 in 2024 bore some uncomfortable parallels with F4 in ’23, coming to a ragged and inconsequential conclusion with three non-scoring weekends. Can we describe 2025 as a make-or-break year? Given Red Bull’s relentless up-or-out philosophy, probably… SC

Rafael Camara – Formula 3 with Trident

Camara will hope to emulate 2023 F3 champion and compatriot Bortoleto when he steps up from FRECA with Trident

Brazil, the nation that gave the world Senna, Piquet, and Fittipaldi, has waited for an apparent eternity for another F1 star to emerge. Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto may yet become that star, as the F2 champion steps up to the big time and comes highly rated by Fernando Alonso – a two-time champion, no less. But, akin to an age-old allegory about London buses, a second Brazilian superstar might not be too far away.

PLUS: The early decisions that set Sauber’s rookie for success

Formula Regional European Championship winner Rafael Camara will step up to Formula 3 with Trident, which presents a combination that already looks pretty irresistible. Bortoleto won his F3 crown with the king-making Italian outfit in 2023, as did 2024 winner Leonardo Fornaroli; in 2025’s trio with Charlie Wurz and Noah Stromsted, Camara should be the standout driver.

A product of Ferrari’s driver academy, Camara fended off tough competition for his FRECA crown last year; James Wharton, Tuukka Taponen, Alessandro Giusti, and Brando Badoer are all exceptional talents, but Camara had the whip hand in the title fight after a lightning start to the year.

The Pernambucano will face them again in F3, along with a talented clutch of sophomores in the championship, but Camara should be counted among the favourites to claim the crown. JBL

Malthe Jakobsen – World Endurance Championship with Peugeot

Jakobsen has been given his break by Peugeot this year, replacing Nico Muller, following a stint as its reserve driver

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

The similarities stretch beyond their shared nationality. Dane Malthe Jakobsen, like compatriot Mikkel Jensen who he’s joining in the Peugeot race line-up for this year’s World Endurance Championship, is a product of what series organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest likes to call the “pyramid of endurance”.

Jakobsen, just 21, has risen through the prototype ranks, winning titles in the European Le Mans Series in LMP3, just like Jensen before him, and then LMP2 in its Asian equivalent. Anyone who witnessed his starring performance with Peugeot at the WEC rookie test in Bahrain at the end of 2022 would be happy to put money on him “doing a Jensen” to emerge as a leading player in the French manufacturer’s squad in 2025. GW

Fredrik Vesti – IMSA SportsCar Championship enduros with Action Express Racing

Vesti will race for Cadillac in IMSA this year, joining AXR for the endurance rounds

Photo by: FIAWEC – DPPI

Being the third driver in a GTP line-up for the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s endurance races can be a tricky task. It involves stepping in alongside full-timers who are fully up to speed, after months out of the cockpit, and needing to be bang on the pace. There is nowhere to hide under the harsh spotlight of multi-manufacturer and multi-class competition where carving quickly and efficiently through traffic is a must.

It’s not every driver that thrives in that sink-or-swim environment, but as Louis Deletraz and Jack Aitken proved at Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing in 2023, it can open doors that lead to a full-time berth. And this year, having inked a deal to partner Aitken and Earl Bamber in AXR’s Cadillac, Frederik Vesti has a huge opportunity to enjoy a breakout year in endurance racing.

The 22-year-old Dane built experience in LMP2 last year with a diverse range of races that included making his debut at Le Mans and Petit Le Mans, as well as in the all-GT3 Spa 24 Hours with Mercedes. Now Vesti, who won six races to Theo Pourchaire’s one but lost out on the 2023 Formula 2 crown to the more consistent Frenchman, has the opportunity in the top class to prove to IMSA observers what he’s made of.

His speed is not in question. But if he does grasp the chance, then the Mercedes F1 reserve may begin to ponder where his future lies… JN

Vesti will join Aitken and Bamber in the AXR Cadillac

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images