The winner of this year’s BRDC Young Driver of the Year award will receive a test in Red Bull F1 machinery and £200,000 in prize money

Jamie Chadwick with the W Series championship trophy Photo: W Series

W Series champion Jamie Chadwick has been named as a finalist for the 2019 BRDC Young Driver of the Year award, alongside Enaam Ahmed, Ayrton Simmons and Johnathan Hoggard from Formula 3

The four drivers will compete in a series of challenges before the announcement of the winner, who will receive an F1 test with Red Bull, an Aston Martin GTE test and £200,000.

The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) award is sponsored by Aston Martin and Autosport, and has a long list of previous winners who have gone on to race at the highest level, including 2009 world champion Jenson Button and current Formula 1 drivers George Russell and Lando Norris.

McLaren ended its 30-year association with the accolade last year, and was replaced by Aston Martin. 

Each contender’s fitness will be assessed, along with their performance in a simulator session with Red Bull. A further two-day test will be conducted at Silverstone that will include time in Formula 2, LMP3 and GT3 cars.

Johnathan Hoggard and Ayrton Simmons Photo: British F3

Chadwick said it was an honour to be selected as a finalist for the award and added the chance to win was something she had been thinking about.

“A huge honour to have been nominated as one of this year’s four finalists for the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award,” a post from her Twitter account read.

“Every year it’s something I think every young UK driver is aiming for. I’ve never had a strong enough year to warrant a nomination until now.

“My season finished early so it’s been something I wanted.”

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British F3 rivals Hoggard and Simmons both picked up more race wins than eventual championship winner, Clément Novalak.

Hoggard earned seven race victories in 2019 in the British Formula 3 championship, narrowly missing out on the title.

Simmons finished the British F3 season one position behind fellow finalist Hoggard, with three wins over the course of the season.

“I’m looking forward to the Aston Martin and I’ve heard the F2 car is good,” he said.

Enaam Ahmed Photo: B-Max Racing

“I’m looking forward to pressing that boost button!”

Ahmed finished third in Japanese Formula 3 this season and is the only nominee to be previously included in a finalist list, back in 2017.

“It’s definitely an advantage to have done it before and I know how the Award works. There are a lot of things I’ll do differently. I know where I was lacking before and it took me too long to be quick.”