There Are More Americans On The Ladder To Formula One Than You Think

Listen. I get it. National pride isn’t for everyone, and there’s not a lot of America to be proud of right now.

But Formula One — and a lot of racing in general — has been developed on national pride. Grand Prix racing was originally designed as a way to showcase one country’s automotive technology against another’s, and in times or war or other political strife, beating your enemy on track was just as important as beating them on the battlefield.

No, America wasn’t as big a player at the time as countries like England, Germany, or France — but there’s a massive history of Americans coming to Europe to showcase that our cars could be just as good — if not better — than those of other countries.

Racing isn’t quite like that anymore, but it still engenders a lot of national pride. It’s cool to see a driver from your country making it big on the international stage. And that’s something to pay attention to.

Driver

• Pietro Fittipaldi. Haas F1 test driver. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dual nationality with Brazil, races under Brazilian flag.
• Logan Sargeant. Williams F1 test driver. Boca Raton, Florida.

While there are no American drivers currently competing in F1, there are two American test drivers: Pietro Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant.

Fittipaldi is the grandson of former F1 champion Enzo Fittipaldi; he competes under a Brazilian flag, but his Miami hometown makes him American by dual citizenship. He’s won championships around the world since he started competing, including the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the Protyre Formula Renault Championship, MRF Challenge Formula 2000, and the World Series Formula V8 3.5.

Born in Florida, Logan Sargeant is another success in open-wheel racing. He had massive success in karting followed by a second-place championship finish in Formula 4 UAE and third places in British F4, Formula 3, and at Macau.

Driver

• Oliver Askew. Avalanche Andretti. Jupiter, Florida. Dual nationality with Sweden, races under American Flag.

While Formula E isn’t exactly a feeder series for Formula One, I’m counting it here because it’s given a race seat to an American driver competing in his first truly international, top-tier championship. Oliver Askew has experience on the IndyCar Road To Indy ladder, including championship wins in USF2000 and Indy Lights. If anyone could make the jump from FE to F1, it could be Askew.

Drivers

• Logan Sargeant. Carlin.
• Enzo Fittipaldi. Charouz Racing System. Miami, Florida. Dual nationality with Brazil, runs under Brazilian flag.

We chatted about Sargeant above, but it’s time to talk about another Fittipaldi: Enzo. Another grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi, 20-year-old Enzo has won the Italian F4 championship while also taking second Formula Regional Europe and third in ADAC Formula 4. With a Formula 2 ride this year, he’s well on his way to F1.

Drivers

• Juan Manuel Correa. Art GP. Miami, Florida. Dual nationality with Ecuador, races under American flag.
• Jak Crawford. Prema. Charlotte, North Carolina. Red Bull Academy Member.
• Kaylen Frederick. Hitech. Potomac, Maryland.
• Reece Ushijima. Van Amersfoort. Laguna Hills, California. Dual nationality with Japan, races under American flag.
• Hunter Yeany. Campos. Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• Brad Benavides. Carlin. Miami Beach, Florida. Quad nationality with Spain, Guatemala, and Colombia.

Formula 3 is full of American drivers this year. Juan Manuel Correa made a stunning recovery after a crash at Spa-Francorchamps that took the life of Anthoine Hubert, which means he’ll have another shot at proving himself behind the wheel of a race car. His best championship finish was fourth in the Toyota Racing Series.

Jak Crawford, a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, started out in Road to Indy racing before taking second place in NACAM F4 and ADAC F4 followed by a third place in the Euroformula Open.

Kaylen Frederick made a name for himself as the last BRDC British Formula 3 Champion, a series in which he took 11 wins in two years.

Reece Ushijima carries two flags, both Japanese and American, and he’s tasted success with wins in the BRDC British F3 Championship.

Hunter Yeany made his F3 debut last year, having impressed with a Formula 4 United States Championship secured with seven wins and six podiums in 18 races.

Tri-nationality Brad Benevides hasn’t had much success in proper open-wheel racing, but he did make a name for himself in the karting world.

GB3 Championship (previously British F3) Drivers

• Bryce Aron. Carlin. Chicago, Illinois.
• Max Esterson. Douglas. New York City, NY.

18-year-old Bryce Aron has had plenty of success so far, being the 2020 Champion of Cadwell and with third places in F1600, Formula Ford Festival Semifinal, and in the Walter Hayes Trophy. He finished 12th overall in the 2021 GB3 Championship.

Max Esterson got his racing start on iRacing and has since progressed to open-wheel cars. In his two years of competition, he’s finished fifth in F1600 and third in the BRSCC Avon Tyres National Formula Ford Championship.

Drivers (Present at Tests)

• Sabré Cook. Grand Junction, Colorado.
• Madison Aust. Unknown.
• Chloe Chambers. Hudson Valley, New York.
• Lindsay Brewer. San Diego, California.
• Bianca Bustamante. San Jose, California. Dual nationality with the Philippines, runs under Filipino flag.
• Hannah Greenemeier. Denver, Colorado.

The full selection of W Series drivers has yet to be announced, so I won’t dive too deeply into the drivers listed above (and will update as we get more info). This year, though, six American drivers took part in the pre-season test in Arizona.