Autosport BRDC Award
The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award is an award set up in 1989 to reward and recognise young racing drivers from the UK. As its names suggest, the award is backed by Aston Martin, motorsport magazine Autosport, and the British Racing Drivers' Club. As well as the prestige of winning the award, a test drive in a Red Bull Formula One car and £100,000 – increased from £50,000 in 2010 – cash prize, the award winner is also presented with the Chris Bristow Trophy.
McLaren ended its longstanding partnership with the accolade in January 2019, and Aston Martin replaced them. The 2019 winner will receive a test in a Red Bull F1 car at Silverstone, as Aston Martin is the team's sponsor. The winner will also get a run in an FIA World Endurance Championship Aston Martin Vantage GTE car. The award also has an overall £200,000 prize fund.
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 British F3 2nd place F3000 3rd place F1, 13 wins DTM | no shootout chosen by Autosport |
1990 | Gareth Rees | Marlboro Masters F3 winner British F2 winner | Philip Bate Steve Brogan David Cuff Shaun Nicholson James Rhodes |
1991 | Oliver Gavin | British F3 champion F1 test driver 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 CART runner-up Indianapolis 500 Winner IndyCar Series champion | Paul Evans Ralph Firman Jonny Kane Martin O'Connell Brian Saunders |
1993 | Ralph Firman | British F3 champion Formula Nippon champion Jordan F1 driver | Darren Malkin Darren Manning James Matthews Guy Smith Jamie Spence |
1994 | Jamie Davies | F3000 4th place British GT champion GTS class winner at 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans Le Mans Series champion 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 British F3 champion 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 DTM BTCC | David Cook Peter Dumbreck Darren Malkin Tim Mullen Dan Wheldon |
1997 | Andrew Kirkaldy | British FVauxhall runner-up British GT champion | Matt Davies Marc Hynes Leighton Walker Dan Wheldon Adam Wilcox |
1998 | Jenson Button | British FFord champion F1, World Champion | Doug Bell Matt Davies Robbie Kerr James Pickford Justin Wilson |
1999 | Gary Paffett | British FVauxhall champion German F3 champion DTM champion | Westley Barber Ryan Dalziel Richard Lyons Craig Murray Leighton Walker |
2000 | Anthony Davidson | British FFord champion British F3 runner-up BAR/Honda F1 test driver F1 with Super Aguri-Honda World Endurance Champion | Ryan Dalziel Matt Gilmore Derek Hayes Robbie Kerr Mark Taylor |
2001 | Steven Kane | Northern Irish FFord champion British F3 Scholarship class runner-up Spanish F3 3rd place | Carl Breeze Matt Gilmore Robbie Kerr Simon Pullan Danny Watts |
2002 | Jamie Green | British F3 runner-up Formula 3 Euro Series champion DTM | Westley Barber Adam Carroll Dan Eagling Christian England Danny Watts |
2003 | Alex Lloyd | Formula Renault UK runner-up 12 overall IPS wins Indy Pro Series champion 4th in 2010 Indianapolis 500 | Ben Clucas Tom Kimber-Smith James Rossiter Ryan Sharp Susie Stoddart |
2004 | Paul di Resta | Formula Renault UK, 3rd place Formula 3 Euro Series champion DTM runner-up DTM champion F1 Driver with Force India 2011-2013 | Tim Bridgman Mike Conway Jonathan Kennard Scott Mansell Susie Stoddart |
2005 | Oliver Jarvis | Formula Renault UK champion Macau Grand Prix winner DTM 2013 12 Hours of Sebring overall winner 2013 24 Hours of Daytona GT class winner 3rd overall in 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans | Sam Bird Joey Foster James Jakes Joe Tandy Duncan Tappy |
2006 | Oliver Turvey | British Formula BMW runner-up British F3 runner-up McLaren Formula One test driver LMP2 class winner - Le Mans 24hr | Jon Barnes Sam Bird Nathan Freke Jeremy Metcalfe Oliver Oakes |
2007 | Stefan Wilson | Formula Palmer Audi runner-up 3rd in 2011 Indy Lights | Henry Arundel Callum MacLeod Dean Smith Nick Tandy Duncan Tappy |
2008 | Alexander Sims | Formula Renault UK runner-up | Wayne Boyd Adam Christodoulou Jason Moore Aaron Steele Dean Stoneman |
2009 | Dean Smith | Formula BMW UK champion Formula Renault UK champion | James Calado Adam Christodoulou James Cole Callum MacLeod Chrissy Palmer |
2010 | Lewis Williamson | Formula Renault UK runner-up | Luciano Bacheta Tom Blomqvist Jack Harvey Scott Malvern Nigel Moore |
2011 | Oliver Rowland | Formula Renault UK runner-up Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 runner-up | Emil Bernstorff Tom Blomqvist Alex Lynn Scott Malvern Dino Zamparelli |
2012 | Jake Dennis | Intersteps champion Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion | Jack Hawksworth Josh Hill Jordan King Melville McKee Josh Webster |
2013 | Matt Parry | Intersteps champion Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion | Jack Aitken Jake Hughes Chris Middlehurst Seb Morris Charlie Robertson |
2014 | George Russell | BRDC Formula 4 champion GP3 Series champion Formula 2 champion Williams F1 driver | Alexander Albon Ben Barnicoat Sennan Fielding Seb Morris Harrison Scott |
2015 | Will Palmer | BRDC Formula 4 champion | Jack Aitken Ben Barnicoat Ricky Collard Jake Hughes Toby Sowery |
2016 | Lando Norris | MSA Formula champion Toyota Racing Series champion Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion FIA Formula 3 European champion McLaren F1 driver | Ricky Collard Sennan Fielding Toby Sowery |
2017 | Dan Ticktum | Macau Grand Prix winner | Enaam Ahmed Max Fewtrell Harrison Scott |
2018 | Tom Gamble | Ginetta Junior Championship champion | Jamie Caroline Max Fewtrell Kiern Jewiss |
2019 | Johnathan Hoggard | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship runner-up | Enaam Ahmed Jamie Chadwick Ayrton Simmons |