Russell and Fielding named as McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalists‏

BRDC F4 drivers George Russell and Sennan Fielding have been named as finalists for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

The duo will be assessed at Silverstone later this month, driving Formula 2, DTM Mercedes and McLaren GT3 machinery.

The winner will be announced at December’s Autosport Awards, and will receive £100,000, a test drive in a McLaren F1 car, full BRDC membership and an Arai GP-6 RC carbon helmet.

Russell commented:”It’s fantastic to be nominated for such a prestigious award. Over the years some great names have won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award and I’ll be trying very hard to join them as a winner.

“It’s a fantastic accolade to have on my CV, but it will look even better if I can win it. It’s going to be a challenge for all of us, but one we will all enjoy. The McLaren GT3 car and Mercedes DTM car are completely different to anything I’ve ever driven before as I’ve never driven a tin top, so it’s going to be great to drive those. I’m really looking forward to the F2 car as well, it’s much more powerful than the single seaters I’ve driven before but I’m confident I can adapt to it no problem.

“I can’t wait to get to Silverstone and show the judges what I’m capable of.”

Fielding said: “It was an amazing feeling to get the phone call to say I was a finalist. One of the targets at the start of the year was to try and get myself into a position to be nominated as it’s such a prestigious award. Just to be in the top six is an amazing achievement in itself, and now I’m going to work as hard as I can to make sure I’m ready for the assessments.

“It’s going to be a great experience, and the cars I get to drive are brilliant. It’ll be a tough competition but it would be a dream come true to win, the list of previous winners speaks for itself."

Fielding has enjoyed success recently in a variety of different cars, and hopes his experience of both tin tops and single seaters will benefit him during the Silverstone assessments. “In September I did three consecutive race meetings, racing in Ginettas, BRDC F4 and Italian F4 cars, and I got podiums and was very competitive in all of them. With the Ginetta and Italian F4 cars, I didn’t have much prior experience, but was able to be on the pace very quickly, so hopefully that will be a benefit at Silverstone, although the McLaren GT3, Mercedes DTM and the F2 cars are unlike anything I’ve driven before!”

Ex-F4 star and 2013 finalist Seb Morris is selected again as a finalist in 2014, with Ben Barnicoat, Harrison Scott and Alexander Albon also nominated.

The judging panel for the award includes BRDC president Derek Warwick, BTCC star Jason Plato, Andrew Kirkaldy, McLaren head of vehicle engineering Mark Williams, Motorsport News editor Kevin Turner, and circuit commentator Ian Titchmarsh, who has witnessed all of this year’s BRDC F4 races.

Previous winners of the award include David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Dario Franchitti.

Of the last 12 finalists for the award, the BRDC F4 Championship has had a direct involvement with six of the drivers, with Jake Hughes, Charlie Robertson and Morris selected in 2013.


Related Motorsport Articles

84,520 articles