Autosport BRDC Award

The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award is an award set up in 1989, following on from the Grovewood Awards, to reward and recognise young racing drivers from the UK.^[1] As its names suggest, the award is backed by Aston Martin, motorsport magazine Autosport, and the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC). As well as the prestige of winning the award, a test drive in an Aston Martin Formula One car and £100,000^[2] – increased from £50,000 in 2010 – cash prize, the award winner is also presented with the Chris Bristow Trophy.^[3]

McLaren ended its longstanding partnership with the accolade in January 2019, and Aston Martin replaced them. The 2019 winner received a test in a Red Bull Racing car at Silverstone, as Aston Martin was the team's sponsor. Since 2020, the winner gets a run in an Aston Martin F1 Team car, a FIA World Endurance Championship Aston Martin Vantage GTE car and an overall £200,000 prize fund.^[4]

Procedure

Members of the public are invited to nominate drivers for the award and a shortlist of six finalists is decided upon by the award's judging panel. The finalists then spend two or three days at a British circuit in mid-November driving different types of car to evaluate their performance as well as interview sessions with the panel. The winner is announced at the annual Autosport Awards in early December.

Past winners and nominees

• A total of 134 drivers have been nominated for the prize since it was first handed out.

Year	Winner	Career highlights	Losing Finalists
1989	David Coulthard	British Formula Ford champion (1989) British F3 2nd place (1991) F3000 3rd place (1993) F1 (1994–2008), 13 wins DTM (2010–2012)	no shootout chosen by Autosport
1990	Gareth Rees	Marlboro Masters F3 winner (1994) British F2 winner (1996)	Philip Bate Steve Brogan David Cuff Shaun Nicholson James Rhodes
1991	Oliver Gavin	British F3 champion (1995) F1 test driver (Pacific, Benetton) Five-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans	Dario Franchitti Jonathan McGall Dino Morelli Guy Smith Jamie Spence
1992	Dario Franchitti	British FVauxhall champion (1993) CART runner-up (1999) Indianapolis 500 Winner (2007, 2010, 2012) IndyCar Series champion (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)	Paul Evans Ralph Firman Jonny Kane Martin O'Connell Brian Saunders
1993	Ralph Firman	British F3 champion (1996) Formula Nippon champion (2002) Jordan F1 driver (2003)	Darren Malkin Darren Manning James Matthews Guy Smith Jamie Spence
1994	Jamie Davies	F3000 4th place (1997) British GT champion (2002) GTS class winner at 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans Le Mans Series champion (2004) 2nd place at 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans	Alex Deighton Peter Dumbreck Jonny Kane James Matthews Richard Westbrook
1995	Jonny Kane	British FVauxhall champion (1996) British F3 champion (1997) LMP2 class-winner at 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans	Wayne Douglas Marc Hynes Kevin McGarrity Guy Smith Justin Wilson
1996	Darren Turner	Formula Renault UK runner-up (1996) DTM (2000–2001) BTCC (2006–2008) 24 Hours of Le Mans GT1 winner (2007, 2008) 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro winner (2017)	David Cook Peter Dumbreck Darren Malkin Tim Mullen Dan Wheldon
1997	Andrew Kirkaldy	British FVauxhall runner-up (1997) British GT champion (2005)	Matt Davies Marc Hynes Leighton Walker Dan Wheldon Adam Wilcox
1998	Jenson Button	British FFord champion (1998) F1 (2000–2016), World Champion (2009) Super GT GT500 champion (2018)	Doug Bell Matt Davies Robbie Kerr James Pickford Justin Wilson
1999	Gary Paffett	British FVauxhall champion (1999) German F3 champion (2002) DTM champion (2005, 2018)	Westley Barber Ryan Dalziel Richard Lyons Craig Murray Leighton Walker
2000	Anthony Davidson	British FFord champion (2000) British F3 runner-up (2001) BAR/Honda F1 test driver (2001–2006) F1 with Super Aguri-Honda (2007–2008) 2nd overall at 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans World Endurance Championship champion (2014)	Ryan Dalziel Matt Gilmore Derek Hayes Robbie Kerr Mark Taylor
2001	Steven Kane	Northern Irish FFord champion (2000) British F3 Scholarship class runner-up (2002) Spanish F3 3rd place (2004)	Carl Breeze Matt Gilmore Robbie Kerr Simon Pullan Danny Watts
2002	Jamie Green	British F3 runner-up (2003) Formula 3 Euro Series champion (2004) DTM (8 wins, 3rd in 2012)	Westley Barber Adam Carroll Dan Eagling Christian England Danny Watts
2003	Alex Lloyd	Indy Pro Series champion (2007) 4th in 2010 Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Rookie of the Year (2010)	Ben Clucas Tom Kimber-Smith James Rossiter Ryan Sharp Susie Stoddart
2004	Paul di Resta	Formula 3 Euro Series champion (2006) DTM champion (2010) F1 Driver with Force India 2011-2013 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner (2020)	Tim Bridgman Mike Conway Jonathan Kennard Scott Mansell Susie Stoddart
2005	Oliver Jarvis	Formula Renault UK champion (2005) Macau Grand Prix winner (2007) 12 Hours of Sebring overall winner (2013) 24 Hours of Daytona GT class winner (2013) 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner (2017) IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype champion (2022)	Sam Bird Joey Foster James Jakes Joe Tandy Duncan Tappy
2006	Oliver Turvey	British Formula BMW runner-up (2006) British F3 runner-up (2008) McLaren Formula One test driver LMP2 class winner - Le Mans 24hr (2014)	Jon Barnes Sam Bird Nathan Freke Jeremy Metcalfe Oliver Oakes
2007	Stefan Wilson	Formula Palmer Audi runner-up (2007) 3rd in 2011 Indy Lights	Henry Arundel Callum MacLeod Dean Smith Nick Tandy Duncan Tappy
2008	Alexander Sims	Formula Renault UK runner-up (2008) Nürburgring 24 Hours overall winner (2023) IMSA SportsCar Championship GTP champion (2023)	Wayne Boyd Adam Christodoulou Jason Moore Aaron Steele Dean Stoneman
2009	Dean Smith	Formula BMW UK champion (2005) Formula Renault UK champion (2009)	James Calado Adam Christodoulou James Cole Callum MacLeod Chrissy Palmer
2010	Lewis Williamson	Formula Renault UK runner-up (2010) Blancpain Endurance Pro-Am Cup champion (2018)	Luciano Bacheta Tom Blomqvist Jack Harvey Scott Malvern Nigel Moore
2011	Oliver Rowland	Formula Renault UK runner-up (2011) Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 runner-up (2013) Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion (2015)	Emil Bernstorff Tom Blomqvist Alex Lynn Scott Malvern Dino Zamparelli
2012	Jake Dennis	Intersteps champion (2011) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion (2012) Formula E champion (2022–23)	Jack Hawksworth Josh Hill Jordan King Melville McKee Josh Webster
2013	Matt Parry	Intersteps champion (2012) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion (2013)	Jack Aitken Jake Hughes Chris Middlehurst Seb Morris Charlie Robertson
2014	George Russell	BRDC Formula 4 champion (2014) GP3 Series champion (2017) Formula 2 champion (2018) Williams F1 driver (2019–2021) Mercedes F1 driver (2022–present)	Alexander Albon Ben Barnicoat Sennan Fielding Seb Morris Harrison Scott
2015	Will Palmer	BRDC Formula 4 champion (2015)	Jack Aitken Ben Barnicoat Ricky Collard Jake Hughes Toby Sowery
2016	Lando Norris	MSA Formula champion (2015) Toyota Racing Series champion (2016) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion (2016) Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion (2016) FIA Formula 3 European champion (2017) McLaren F1 driver (2019–present)	Ricky Collard Sennan Fielding Toby Sowery
2017	Dan Ticktum	Macau Grand Prix winner (2017, 2018)	Enaam Ahmed Max Fewtrell Harrison Scott
2018	Tom Gamble	Ginetta Junior Championship champion (2017) European Le Mans Series LMP3 champion (2020)	Jamie Caroline Max Fewtrell Kiern Jewiss
2019	Johnathan Hoggard	BRDC British Formula 3 Championship runner-up (2019)	Enaam Ahmed^[5] Jamie Chadwick^[5] Ayrton Simmons^[5]
2020	Award not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[6]
2021	Zak O'Sullivan	GB3 Championship champion (2021)	Oliver Bearman^[7] Jonny Edgar^[7] Louis Foster^[7]
2022	Luke Browning	F4 British Championship champion (2020) GB3 Championship champion (2022)	Oliver Bearman^[8] Jamie Chadwick^[8] Louis Foster^[8]
2023	Joseph Loake	BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship champion (2020) 3rd in GB3 Championship (2023)	Taylor Barnard^[9] Arvid Lindblad^[9] Callum Voisin^[9]

References

1. McLaren Mercedes – Young Driver Programme
2. "AUTOSPORT Award cash prize doubled". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
3. British Racing Drivers' Club – Awards
4. Graham Keilloh (5 March 2019). "Aston Martin replaces McLaren as BRDC award sponsor". Motorsport Magazine.
5. Cozens, Jack (26 September 2019). "Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award finalists revealed". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
6. "Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award paused for 2020". Autosport. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
7. "FOUR FINALISTS SELECTED FOR 2021 ASTON MARTIN AUTOSPORT BRDC AWARD". BRDC. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
8. "The 2022 AMABA finalists reflect on their evaluation tests". Autosport. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
9. Turner, Kevin (21 September 2023). "Finalists revealed for 2023 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 11 January 2024.