Matching Senna: Enaam Ahmed Becomes Youngest British F3 Champion

What a stellar season the young Enaam Ahmed has put together in British F3, picking up 12 wins and without any morsel of sensationalism, literally blowing the opposition away. The 17-year-old British driver has put together a consistent, dominant campaign that sees him claim the title with three races to spare.

His record this season has been staggering, having matched the 12-win tally that a young Ayrton Senna managed in the 1983 British F3 championship. With three rounds still to go, it is more than likely that Ahmed could go on to eclipse this record given that there has only been one venue so far in the campaign in which he hasn’t registered a victory. Undeterred by the plaudits of becoming champion, Ahmed is already focused on challenging the all-time record of victories in British F3 that is held by Jan Magnussen’s 1993 tally.

“It’s pretty amazing to be an F3 champion alongside some of the great names of motorsport.

“To match [Ayrton] Senna’s record of 12 wins is pretty special for me and it’s the icing on the cake this weekend. I now want to try and get 14 wins and match [Jan] Magnussen’s British F3 win total!”

– Enaam Ahmed

This would seem a tall order usually, but having already broken the record of picking up three wins over a single race weekend, you wouldn’t put it past him to match or beat the longstanding record.

Speaking about the title, Ahmed said,

“It’s surreal, I’ve been in this championship for two years and it means a lot to me to win the title, especially to do it with Carlin as they’re such a prestigious team. It wouldn’t have been possible without the people around me, my mum and dad, my coach Roberto, Andy from AW Performance. I’m really thankful and now I move on to my next challenge.”

– Enaam Ahmed

The Brit faced stiff competition this season, especially from the likes of Lanan Racing’s Toby Sowery and his Carlin teammates James Pull and Cameron Das, but led the title race from the opening weekend, and hasn’t looked like making mistakes or slowing down since.

It begs the question, what next for Enaam Ahmed? Having dominated the British scene, Carlin could stick him in European F3 to face Global competition. The team currently house the McLaren prospect Lando Norris and Force India’s academy driver Jehan Daruvala. With Enaam’s achieved records so far in his career, it would be no surprise for a manufacturer to come in and fund his progress up the motorsport ladder either.

With most teenagers, you’d expect this sort of success early on to go to the head, but on the occasions of talking to the driver and the CLICKON team tracking his progress, it becomes quickly apparent that he is a very focused, non-assuming individual, who is always looking to the horizon and the next challenge. Whoever sweeps this guy up will have a driver with the right attitude to thrive in this industry, but also incredible pace in a race car.

With three races to go, Ahmed will be focusing on that Jan Magnussen record and being crowned the champion of the BRDC British F3 title won’t wane the ambition to win.

 

 

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