The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award is a prestigious occasion that rewards young talent in the UK.
As the name suggests, it is backed by Aston Martin and motorsport magazine Autosport and comprises of a select number of finalists being chosen by a judging panel following a public vote.
From there, the drivers will be put through their paces at Silverstone over a series of tests over a couple of days, which consists of fitness tests run by Porsche Human Performance before they hit the track in equal machinery.
In 2024, the finalists will drive a MotorSport Vision Formula 2 car, a RLR M Sport Ligier LMP3 machine and a Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 car.
The winner will receive prizes such as a test in Aston Martin Formula 1 machinery, as well as the sum of £200,000 to go towards funding for a race seat.
Arvid Lindblad is ‘the favourite to win the BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award
Previous winners include the likes of David Coulthard, 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button and current F1 drivers George Russel and Lando Norris.
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This year’s finalists are four-time Formula 3 race winner Arvid Lindblad, recently crowned British F4 champion Deagen Fairclough, GB3 champion Louis Sharp and Italian F4 champion Freddie Slater.
Of the four drivers, Lindblad is the only one to have been a finalist before, having been nominated in 2023. The 17-year-old comes off the back of his debut season in F3, having finished fourth in the standings with 113 points.
Speaking on the Autosport F1 & Motorsport Podcast, chief editor Kevin Turner, who is also on the judging panel for the award, outlined that Lindblad is ‘the favourite’ to come out on top.
“As you [host Dre Harrison] said in the intro, he’s the only one of the four that’s done this before, so he’s going to come in just knowing, even if it’s not necessarily the seat time, but just knowing how it works,” he said.
“So, I think probably on paper he’s the favourite because he’s competing at the highest level and he’s done it before.
“I mean it’s a clean slate, it doesn’t matter what you did before when you rock up. But obviously we come with a kind of, you know, you can guess sort of, like you say, down the pub having a drink ‘ah, who do you reckon’ sort of thing.
“And Arvid, he’s got to be in that conversation given his experience and what he’s done this year, but it rarely goes that straightforwardly.”
Arvid Lindblad will move to Formula 2 with Campos Racing in 2025
Having done this before and competed at a higher level than Fairclough, Sharp and Slater, it is not hard to see why Lindblad is the favourite to win the BRDC award.
The Brit, who is backed by the Red Bull Academy, was the highest-placed rookie in F3 last year and had a mathematical chance of winning the title at the final round at Monza, but it ended up going to Leonardo Fornaroli.
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For 2025, Lindblad will make the step up to F2 driving with Campos Racing as Red Bull look to move him up the ranks quickly.
It is clear how highly the defending F1 champions rate the 17-year-old as he eyes a move to the pinnacle of motorsport, and a test with Aston Martin will put him in good stead to do just that.