28 Mar 10 Motorsport Champions Who Began Their Careers Racing Go-Karts
For most people, go-kart racing is their first step into the world of motorsport. Typically, it’s a casual visit to indoor kart racing centers like K1 Speed as just a fun thing to do with friends. It can also be for a birthday party or a corporate event. But for many of today’s world champions, their first drive in a go-kart was the beginning of their legacy. After all, go-kart racing is a great start to becoming a professional racing driver.
As you’ll see, champions from all different series, from Formula 1, IndyCar, and NASCAR made their racing debut in a go-kart. There’s certainly plenty more we could write about. However, here’s just a sample of some of them.
Formula One
Lewis Hamilton
Though he technically began his racing career in the world of remote-controlled cars, Lewis Hamilton began racing behind the wheel of a kart in 1993 when he was eight years old. Finishing third in his first Cadet race in England, he went on to win the Cadet Championship at age 10 in 1995. Success followed in 1999 when he became the European Junior Vice-Champion. The following year, he won 5 out of 8 races in the European Championship, beating teammate Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. In 2000, Hamilton won the World Cup for Formula A at Suzuka. He also challenged for the championship lead before suffering an engine malfunction.
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher began racing go-karts when he was four years old, with a pedal-driven kart that his father modified with a moped engine. At age 6, he won his first club championship with a kart more akin to Frankenstein than Ferrari in construction. His father then took up a role managing the rental karts at their local track in Kerpen, Germany so that young Michael could drive as much as he could and refine his skill. In 1984 and 1985, he won the German Junior Championship title. Also, in 1985, he finished runner-up in the CIK-FIA Junior’s Cup held on the Le Mans circuit. In 1987, Schumacher won the European Championship and German Championship before moving on to open-wheel.
Max Verstappen
Like Schumacher, Max Verstappen started racing karts at age four and began racing in championships by age seven. From 2005 to 2009, Verstappen won multiple karting championships in Belgium and the Netherlands. These included Rotax Mini Max and Belgian Cadet Championship. Between 2010 and 2012, Verstappen competed internationally, winning the WSK Euro Series, WSK World Series, and WSK Nations Cup in 2010. The following year, he successfully defended his WSK Euro Series title. In 2012, Verstappen won the WSK Master Series and the South Garda Winter Cup in the KF2 class. The 2013 season proved to be a record-breaking year for Verstappen. He won three CIK-FIA championships in a single season (two European Championships and a World Championship) in the senior KF and KZ categories. This had never been done before.
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna’s talent behind the wheel showed when his father built him a go-kart. However, he didn’t compete officially until 13 years old, which today would be considered rather “old”. He won his first race at this age in 1973 at Interlagos and was unbeaten in his very first championship season.
In 1977, he won his first major title, the South American Championship, before heading to Europe. However, the world championship titles eluded Ayrton as he finished runner-up in 1979 and 1980. Senna spoke fondly of his karting days, recalling it as “pure racing, pure driving”.
When asked about his greatest racing rival, he didn’t mention his fellow F1 competitors. Rather, he mentioned Terry Fullerton, whom he competed in karting against. When he won his very first F1 championship in 1988, he stated in the press conference that his biggest regret was that he had “never won the World Karting Championship”.
NASCAR
Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart began racing go-karts at age six in 1978, showing speed early on. Just two years later at age 8, he won his first karting title – a four-cycle rookie junior class championship at Columbus Fairgrounds. From there, he won two national karting championships: the 1983 IKF Grand National Championship and the 1987 WKA National Champs.
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick got his first taste of racing at age five when his parents gifted him a go-kart after graduating kindergarten. By the age of seven, he began racing at local tracks. Over the next 10 years, Harvick won seven national championships and two Grand National Championships before moving to stock cars.
INDYCAR
Scott Dixon
Scott Dixon’s interest in racing developed at age seven after he watched his cousins compete in a go-kart race in his native New Zealand. The next year, he started kart racing himself. Over the course of the next five years, he won 30 significant karting championships in Australia and New Zealand within his age group, including the 1992 New Zealand Junior Restricted Championship. By age 13, he made the transition to car racing.
Dario Franchitti
Dario Franchitti was just five years old when his father bought him his first go-kart. From Scotland, he won his country’s Karting Junior Championship in 1984 at age 11, became the British Junior Champion the following two years. He also won the Scottish senior karting title in 1988.
Alex Palou
After a local karting track in Spain caught Alex Palou’s eye, his entire family pooled money together to buy him a go-kart for his fifth birthday. Karting soon became something fun to do with his dad after school. However, by age 7, a track employee encouraged him to take part in an actual race. Soon after, wins and championships started coming his way. By age 14, he had won six Spanish karting championships. At 15, he finished second in the European Championship (to George Russell) and fourth in the world karting championship. In 2012, Palou scored his biggest karting victory, the WSK Euro Series title.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Like several of the other drivers on this list, Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya began racing go-karts at the age of five when his father bought him one. Due to the financial problems of the Columbian Karting Federation, Montoya raced in self-organized karting championships in his native country. He won the 1984 Columbian Children’s National Karting Championship at age 9. The following year, he finished second in the Colombian National Karting Championship. From ‘87 to ‘89, he won both local and national titles in the Kart Komet category. He also raced in the World Karting Junior Championship in 1990 and 1991. In total, Montoya won four national championships and finished runner-up three times.
Champions Start Here
As you saw, there’s a reason why our slogan here at K1 Circuit is “Champions Start Here”. With karting being the first step for many drivers on their path to glory, isn’t it time for you to start your karting journey?
Get yourself over to K1 Circuit Winchester, CA or Whiteland, IN. Rent our outdoor competition kart, and see how the experience finds you. Even if you’re older than these drivers were when they started, karting can still take you to championships within the sport or in other categories. So, there’s no better time to start than now!
Want to learn about some incredible women in racing? Check out our top 15 women who have left legacies in motorsport.