Singaporean teen Christian Ho takes next step in pursuit of F1 dream

SINGAPORE – The race to the pinnacle of motor racing is, paradoxically, a slow and steady one for Christian Ho, as the teenager sets his sights on becoming the first Singaporean driver to compete in Formula One.

And the 17-year-old’s pursuit of history is on track after

a stellar season so far

in the Spanish Formula Four championship.

Started in 2016 to bridge the gap between karting and F3, F4 is a feeder series to the top-tier F1 and budding young drivers can progress to F3 and F2 before taking the final step.

Each season has seven rounds of three races and on Oct 15, Christian claimed his second win of the season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain. It was his 10th time on the podium in 18 races.

With one more race weekend to go at Barcelona’s Catalunya circuit on Nov 11 and 12, the Campos Racing driver is second in the drivers’ championship with 216 points.

While Christian trails Frenchman Theophile Nael by 65 points and noted that his chances of winning the championship are very slim, he is buoyed by the progress he has made in 2023.

Calling F4 the toughest challenge, the Singaporean, who finished 13th in his debut season in 2022, said: “Every year, you have new drivers coming in compared to karting where you’re racing with the same drivers almost every year.

“And in F4, you have to think about what kind of set-up you want to put on the car.

“Overall I have learnt quite a lot. It’s a championship where you have to adapt quite a bit and really find your way to first place instead of just winning from the front.”

Christian has gone from strength to strength since moving to Europe when he was 10 to pursue his dream of becoming an F1 driver. In 2018, 18 months after he moved to Italy, he became the first Asian driver to win a race in the Deutsche Kart Meisterschaft (DKM) German Karting Championship series.

It is one of the biggest in Europe and previous winners include F1 legend Michael Schumacher and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

After second-place finishes in the FIA Karting Academy Trophy and the German Junior championship in OK-Junior karts in 2019, he moved up to F4 in 2022 and has made an impact there, all this while studying for his GCSE O levels, which he completed in June.

He is currently preparing for his A levels at a boarding school near London.

Next season, Christian will move up to the Eurocup-3 series with Campos Racing. The multi-event Eurocup-3 held its inaugural season in 2023 as an alternative to the Formula Regional European Championship, which serves as a stepping stone for drivers between F4 and F3.

His manager Morgan Caron, who previously managed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for five years and served as head of development at the governing body FIA, said that the target for his protege is an F3 spot at the end of 2024.

Caron added: “Christian is having a strong season in the F4. Whatever the result, he has confirmed his huge potential and he will naturally move to a higher step next season.

“Eurocup-3 will be an important step to move up to F3 racing... Most of the current F1 drivers such as (Max) Verstappen, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have raced in F3 and the target is to see Christian there at the end of next year.”

The ultimate goal is getting to F1, and perhaps one day, fans will get to watch a Singaporean driver racing at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Christian said: “With the steady progression that I’ve had, it is quite a realistic option and dream. There are only 20 drivers in Formula One, so it’s always hard to get there but my goal is always to be the best in every championship that I’m in.

“So as long as I do that, I’m sure that dream is possible.”