Northern Ireland’s Fionn McLaughlin Joins Red Bull Racing Academy
A promising young racing driver from Northern Ireland, 16-year-old Fionn McLaughlin, has been given the opportunity to join the Red Bull Racing Academy, a notable step in his racing career. McLaughlin was selected from a competitive evaluation week that featured 11 candidates from the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon, and Mexico.
The evaluation, which took place over three days at the Jerez circuit in Spain, involved testing open-wheel F4 and GP3 racing cars. McLaughlin and Sweden's Scott Lindblom emerged as the first drivers to be offered a place in the prestigious program.
As part of the Red Bull junior driver development program, McLaughlin joins the ranks of current Formula 1 drivers like Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Daniel Ricciardo. McLaughlin began his karting journey at the age of five and was competing in various championships by age seven, securing victories throughout Ireland.
His competitive experience includes participation at British, European, and world levels, currently racing in the OK class for the VDK racing team under Kart Republic. McLaughlin has achieved recent success, winning both the German round of the IAME Euro Series in Wackersdorf and the Champions of the Future event in Kristianstad, Sweden.
McLaughlin's accolades include being the vice-champion of the 2022 British Karting Championships and vice-champion of the 2022 IAME World Games. In 2023, he competed in the CIK-FIA European Championships, finishing seventh overall in his debut year in the category, and also participated in the 2023 FIA Karting World Championship.
"My goal in racing is to be a world champion," said McLaughlin. "I never give up and I work hard until I'm at the top. I will keep working until I'm there."
Inspired by former F1 champion Sebastian Vettel, who is also a Red Bull junior driver graduate, McLaughlin stated, "The driver that got me into racing was Sebastian Vettel. He has always been an inspiration to me."
