Young racer dreams of making it to Formula 1

An 11-year-old boy who is already a British championship-winning karting driver has set his sights on becoming a Formula 1 racer.

Dhian, from Coventry, secured the British MicroMax Championship for junior drivers last year, winning the title on the final lap of the final race.

He also became the first Sikh to ever represent Team GB in the Rotax Grand Finals.

Reliving his championship win, he described it as an "impossible" victory and added: "I still can't believe it."

"My celebration was hesitated, just waiting for the signal from my driver coach, everyone, my dad, my engine builder, to say that I've done it, I've won. I've won the British Champs.

"No one believed in me. It was only me really, who believed in me, and my old engine builder. It was impossible."

He hopes the win will be a stepping stone to F1. "I want it more than anyone else, and I think I'll get it," he said.

Dhian shared what he loved about racing, saying: "It's everything, the speeds, the overtaking, the crashing – everything is a learning experience. You can learn how to learn, you learn how to fail, you learn how to win. It's brilliant."

The 11-year-old explained some of the challenges he was facing to achieve his goal.

He said: "Money, kart prices, to actual on-the-grid learning, to people trying to knock me down. It's a mixture of things."

One major challenge was the expense of the sport, he explained.

"Last year, we were the only people in the top ten who spent less than a £100,000."

Dhian's family have been raising money so he can continue to compete. They have also secured sponsors and received support from the local Sikh community.

His father, Kul, is hopeful his son will make it to F1.

He said: "We had some training done back in December and this person, who used to work with Lewis Hamilton, he did the training and gave me some feedback.

"I messaged him at night and said 'how good is Dhian?'. He goes 'he's good, he's very good, your problem is you need to find some money'."

He added the family was looking for larger companies to become "partners to align with Dhian".

F1's first and only black driver Sir Lewis Hamilton has been campaigning to make motorsports more diverse for years, working on projects to educate children from diverse backgrounds on STEM subjects.

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