GP2
We take a look at motorsports’ top junior series to find F1’s stars of the future.
Only a handful of people get to race in Formula One and even less become a world champion. So who are the drivers that'll be fighting at the front of the F1 field in the future?
RedBull.comtakes a look at the 2016 junior series and the drivers to watch out for.
GP2 Series
GP2 has been one of Formula One's major feeder series since it took over from Formula 3000 back in 2015. Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton graduated from the series after taking the title in 2006, and fellow GP2 champions Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg, Romain Grosjean and most recently Jolyon Palmer have all made their way into F1.
Mitch Evans
The 21-year-old New Zealander, managed by nine-time F1 race winner Mark Webber, won the 2012 GP3 title in dramatic fashion and has since becoming a regular podium finisher in GP2.
Last year, Evans took a sensational podium finish at the Monza GP2 feature race despite starting from dead last, and followed it up with a sprint race victory the very next day. He also took second in class on his Le Mans debut, showcasing his talent further.
Pierre Gasly
Frenchman Pierre Gasly heads the squad for this year's Red Bull Junior Team, which has seen the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat promoted to F1.
The 20-year-old finished second to Carlos Sainz in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Championship and went on to score four podiums in his GP2 debut year. He continues in the series with Prema Racing for 2016.
Oliver Rowland
Last year's Formula Renault 3.5 series was dominated by Britain's Oliver Rowland, who took eight wins on his way to the title. His success has earned him a place in Renault's new F1 young driver program.
GP3 Series
While GP2 is the more traditional route into Formula One, some have skipped the process all together and graduated straight from GP3, including Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull Racing's Daniil Kvyat.
Jack Aitken
Another promising Brit who joins Oliver Rowland in Renault's young driver program, Aitken came out on top of an incredibly close six-way title fight in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup to take the title, as well as taking the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship.
Tatiana Calderón
Colombia's Tatiana Calderón joins Aitken at Arden and becomes the first female to race for the team Daniil Kvyat claimed the GP3 title with in 2013. Calderón is the recently crowned vice-champion of the MRF Series and joins the GP3 series after a few years in Formula 3.
European Formula 3
Some of Formula One's most successful drivers raced in Formula 3, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel to name but a few. In 2014, Red Bull Junior Team's Max Verstappen won 10 races before setting the Formula One world alight the following year.
Niko Kari
Niko Kari is looking to follow in the wheel tracks of Finnish F1 champions Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen, and so far he's going about it in a good way.
Kari dominated his first single-seaters series in the SMP F4 Championship, taking seven wins and 19 podiums in 21 races. In 2016, he'll be racing for Motopark in European F3 as part of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Harrison Newey
If you're wondering whether there's any relation to Red Bull Racing's legendary F1 engineer Adrian Newey, then you'd be right. Harrison will be hoping to add to his family legacy in the future, having finished second in last year's BRDC Formula 4 Championship.
Super Formula
Not a well-known route into Formula One, but Japan's Super Formula boasts some of the fastest single-seaters in the world. The series has seen champions Ralf Schumacher and Pedro de la Rosa graduate to F1, while Le Mans champions André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Loïc Duval have also taken the title in Japan.
Stoffel Vandoorne
A driver who many believe to be the best talent outside of Formula One right now, Stoffel Vandoorne has taken the Formula Renault title, finished second in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series and dominated last year's GP2 Series championship.
When McLaren have room at their Formula One team, expect their Belgian junior driver to join the Woking outfit in a flash.
