The 2025 Formula 1 season kicks off down under at Australia’s Albert Park circuit this weekend (14-16 March), and no fewer than 17 former GB3 drivers will be in action. The roster includes four of our champions, and numerous race winners, competing in F1 itself plus the F2 and F3 support categories.
Here’s who you should be following throughout 2025:
Formula 1
George Russell (2014 BRDC F4 champion)
Russell’s first ever car race wins and championship title came in the 2014 BRDC F4 Championship with Lanan Racing, a few years before the series became BRDC British F3 and then GB3. Having won the most races of the year, his title success was secured in a nervy final contest of the season at Snetterton, and he’s flourished since then. Winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award soon after, he became GP3 champion in 2017, Formula 2 champion the following year, and then graduated into F1 with Williams as part of the Mercedes Junior programme. Three years at the legendary squad followed before his move to Mercedes (having almost won a race with the Silver Arrows in 2020!) for 2022. He’s since won three races and should add to that tally this year as he leads the Mercedes squad following the departure of Lewis Hamilton.
Lando Norris (2016 BRDC British F3 multiple race winner)
Norris won four races in a partial BRDC British F3 season with Carlin in 2016, and like Russell, won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. Signed up by McLaren almost immediately, he flew through the junior ranks, winning the FIA European F3 title in 2017, and was runner-up in F2 the following season. Graduating to F1 in 2018 with the team, he’s been with the Woking squad throughout and finally claimed his first win at Miami last year. A title challenge followed with three more wins, and while he missed out on the crown to Max Verstappen, he powered McLaren to their first constructors’ title since 1998. With the team looking supreme in pre-season testing, Norris starts 2025 as the pre-season favourite.
Ollie Bearman (2021 GB3 race winner)
Bearman dovetailed his Italian and German F4 campaigns with a nine race stint in the 2021 GB3 Championship with Fortec, and showed all the signs he’d become an F1 star. After a double podium on his debut at Brands Hatch, a first win followed at Snetterton, where he established a new record for the biggest pole position margin, a staggering 0.8 seconds quicker than the field! He moved up to FIA F3 in 2022 and was a title challenger, ultimately finishing third, and then won seven F2 races across two seasons with Prema. He made his F1 debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Ferrari as a late substitute for the unwell Carlos Sainz, and stunned the paddock by scoring points straight away. Two more appearances for Haas followed later in the season, and again scored points in Azerbaijan, and now races full time for the American squad this year.
Formula 2
Luke Browning (2022 GB3 champion)
After clinching the 2022 GB3 Championship after a superb campaign with Hitech, Cheshire-based Browning moved up to FIA F3 with the team for the following season and was a regular points scorer, and signed up by the Williams F1 Academy. A stunning triumph at the end of year Macau GP was his 2023 highlight, before a title-challenging campaign with ART GP last year. An early F2 graduation followed at the end of the season, also with ART, and scored points straight away, and he now makes a full season debut in F2, switching back to Hitech.
Kush Maini (2020 BRDC British F3 runner-up)
Maini enjoyed two stints in GB3, finishing third overall with Lanan Racing in 2018 when the series was known as BRDC British F3, and went one better in 2020 with Hitech. A strong FIA F3 year in 2022 led to an F2 graduation in 2023, finishing 11th overall. His second F2 stint last year resulted in a win and a pole position, plus five podiums, and he is now gearing up for a third year in F2, this time with DAMS Lucas Oil. A member of the Alpine Academy, Maini is also a test and reserve driver for the F1 team this year.
Alex Dunne (2023 GB3 runner-up)
Dunne has continued his meteoric rise since graduating from GB3 at the end of 2023, and has been inducted into the McLaren Driver Development Programme. He scored two podiums in his debut F3 season last year, and has also enjoyed two strong runs in the Macau Grand Prix. He now steps up to F2 with Rodin Motorsport, and was a superb fifth fastest in qualifying on Friday. The Irishman is also the reserve and development driver for McLaren’s Formula E team.
John Bennett (2024 GB3 runner-up)
In his third GB3 season last year, Bennett claimed the runner-up spot with JHR Developments, scoring three wins, three pole positions and 11 podium finishes. After a very encouraging debut F3 test at the end of the season with Van Amersfoort Racing, Bennett received the call-up to race for the Dutch squad’s F2 team at the end of the year, and scored points on his series debut weekend in Abu Dhabi. He stays with the outfit for his full series debut.
Cian Shields (2022 GB3 race winner)
Shields claimed his first single-seater win in GB3 at Silverstone back in 2022, and was the EuroFormula Championship runner-up the following year. He returned to the Hitech fold for his first FIA F3 campaign last year, and now makes the jump to F2 with AIX Racing in 2024, having also made a series debut for the final four races of the campaign.
Max Esterson (2022 GB3 race winner)
From esports to F2 in just five years! The American driver made his name as one of iRacing’s lead contenders before a Formula Ford debut in 2020. Having won the Walter Hayes Trophy in 2021, he graduated to GB3 with Douglas Motorsport in 2022, winning a Donington and finishing an impressive seventh overall, before winning the legendary Formula Ford Festival later in the year. A second GB3 season, this time with Fortec followed in 2023, before moving up to F3 last year, and scoring points in his first race. Like Bennett and Shields, he sampled four F2 races last year and stays with Trident for the full 2025 season.
Formula 3
Callum Voisin (2023 GB3 champion)
After winning the GB3 title in just his second season of single-seater racing, the British-Swiss driver made an accomplished step up to the F1 paddock with Rodin last year. A solid start was the precursor to a stunning late season run that netted a podium at Silverstone, points in Hungary and a lights to flag win from pole at Spa-Francorchamps. Starts the campaign as one of the favourites for the title, remaining with Rodin.
Louis Sharp (2024 GB3 champion)
F4 champion? Done. GB3 champion? Check. Next stop F3? The New Zealander’s rise up the order has been meteoric, and he’s shown excellent pace so far in testing. Qualifying inside the top half of the grid for his first race suggests he’ll be in the mix this year as he steps up to the F1 support paddock for the first time.
Roman Bilinksi (2021 GB3 multiple race winner)
The British-Polish contender completes an all-GB3 alumni at Rodin. Bilinksi won three races as he contested the final three quarters of the 2021 GB3 campaign with Arden, and has since competed in Formula Regional. An off-track injury hampered his 2024 campaign, but should be one to keep an eye on as he steps up to F3.
Gerrard Xie (2023/2024 multiple GB3 race winner)
A GB3 race winner in both 2023 and 2024 with Hillspeed and Hitech respectively, the 2022 Chinese F4 champion remains with the latter as he makes the move into FIA F3. Expect him to develop as the season goes on.
Javier Sagrera (2021/2022 multiple GB3 podium finisher)
Sagrera completed two full GB3 seasons with Elite and Carlin across 2021 and 2022, and took podiums in both campaigns. After taking the runner-up spot in last year’s Eurocup-3 campaign, he joins AIX Racing in F3.
Ugo Ugochukwu (2024 multiple GB3 podium finisher)
The American driver, a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, competed in half of last year’s GB3 races with Rodin, and took podiums at Oulton Park and Silverstone. A race winning Formula Regional campaign was his main programme, and he also won the Macau Grand Prix at the end of last year. He’s in action with Prema Racing this season.
James Wharton (2024 GB3 – five races)
The Australian competed in all of last year’s Silverstone GB3 rounds with Fortec, and steps up to FIA F3 with ART GP.
Martinius Stenshorne (2024 GB3 driver at Silverstone)
Norwegian driver Stenshorne competed at Silverstone in GB3 with Chris Dittmann Racing and was a top-10 finisher. He stays with Hitech for a second F3 campaign.