Danish Formula One Future
- therookiereporters
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
The days of Jan Magnussen are long gone and it's been 2 years since Kevin Magnussen raced in the pinnacle of motorsport. So who's going to be the next driver to come out of Denmark?
The Danish talent
Despite only having a small population, Denmark produces a large number of motorsport athletes, with 9,321 members of the Danish motorsports union, 9 Danes participating in IMSA, 4 in WEC, 2 in INDYCAR, 1 in Formula 3, 1 Formula 1 Academy, and a total of 9 (including reserves) in this years 24 hours of Le Mans, that’s more Danes in Le Mans then there are Nordic drivers (minus Denmark) in all of the series mentioned above. An impressive feat as the Nordic countries (minus Denmark) have a combined 22 million people compared to Denmark’s measly 6 million.
A reason for this quite large number of drivers could be Denmark’s very own racing series, Nordic 4, previously known as Formula 4 Denmark or the way karting has been accessible for a large part of the Danish population with several karting circuits around even the smaller places in Denmark. Another good reason could be G.I.R.L or Girls International Racing Lab which was launched by Danish Formula 1 academy driver Alba Larsen. It seeks to help girls around Denmark and the rest of the world get into karting and motorsports as a whole.
But despite these numbers and this talent only 5 Danes have ever made it to Formula 1, and now it’s been a few years since Kevin Magnussen last raced in the pinnacle of motorsports, the question stands;
Who will be the next Danish Formula 1 driver?
Here are a few candidates:
Frederik Vesti
Vesti is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team reserve driver who also races in IMSA with the Cadillac Whelen Action Express Racing No.31 car.
Karting
Over his career, he has achieved a number of impressive results, starting his karting career in 2012 and going on to win many of the Danish karting championships, including the Danish Karting Championship in the KFJ category in 2014.
Feeder series
He stepped up to single-seater racing in 2016 competing in Danish Formula Ford.
He competed twice in the German Formula 4, once in the Danish Formula 4 (now Nordic 4) and despite missing two of the Danish Formula 4 races, he finished all other races on the podium, scoring second in the championship in his Formula 4 debut.
He would go on to make his Formula 3 debut at the end of the 2018 season, before going to Formula Regional European and dominating the championship with 13 wins (6 back-to-back wins) and 20 podiums resulting in 467 points, winning both the Drivers' Championship and helping his team, Prema, win the Team Championship.
He entered his rookie F3 season in the 2020 F3 Championship with Prema where he had some ups and downs with 3 wins and 4 podiums. Ultimately, he finished the championship in 4th place with a strong 146.5 points, only 17.5 behind the F3 champion and Prema teammate Oscar Piastri.
He switched teams to ART after joining the Mercedes Junior Programme in 2021, finishing 4th overall and scoring 138 with 1 win and 4 podiums. The following season, he moved up to Formula 2, sticking with ART finishing his rookie season 9th with 117 points including 1 win and 5 podiums.
He once again changed teams going back to Prema and drove alongside Oliver Bearman for the 2023 F2 season.
That season would see his best result of the last 3 years, scoring 192 points with 6 wins and 10 podiums. He ended the season 2nd despite having the most wins of all drivers in the championship.
Mercedes Test and Reserve
Unsuccessful in getting a seat right out of F2, Vesti joined Mercedes as a Test and Reserve driver in 2024, a role he has maintained since then, getting promoted to 3rd driver earlier this year. As a part of his duties he has had an average of 9 hours a week of sim work, putting a huge effort towards the development of the 2026 Mercedes Formula 1 car. Vesti has had the opportunity to show off his driving in multiple FP1’s, young driver tests, and Pirelli tyre tests across his time as reverse driver, allowing him to familarise himself with current and older Formula 1 machinery.
Formula E
Vesti has completed 2 total Berlin rookie tests for Mahindra Racing and Andretti respectively.
Sportscars
In 2024, Vesti joined the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 category alongside Alejandro García and Ferdinand Habsburg in the No. 47 with CLX Motorsport, formerly known as Cool Racing. With 2 podiums, they finished 9th in the championship and 24th overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Along with this, in 2024, he would make his IMSA debut at the Petit Le Mans with the No. 8 car for Tower Motorsports in the LMP2 category, finishing 21st overall. Last year, he joined Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber in the 31 Cadillac Whelen GTP car, having a rough start of finishing 9th, 4th, 5th, and 6th in his races with the team, but ultimately ending the season with 2 back-to-back wins and a new contract for the 2026 IMSA season.
Stretching to 2026, the 31 Cadillac Whelen now has a 2-race podium streak, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the opening races of the season.
Noah Strømsted
Strømsted is a Trident driver for the 2026 F3 season.
Feederseries
Having a non-traditional entry for the sport, Strømsted did not have a career in karting, instead opting for an extensive training program and heading headfirst into Danish Formula 4 2021 with FSP Racing during the series 3rd race and winning on debut, becoming one of the youngest winners within the series at 14. Strømsted would go on to dominate the series, scoring 8 wins and a podium at each race he completed, with 1 DNS due to a crash in the previous race.
Strømsted would, in 2022, compete in the penultimate round of Spanish F4 after being forced to wait to turn 15 to compete, with an 8th and 5th place finish in Race 1 & 2 and scoring pole position at the main race. Unfortunately, due to a crash, he would DNF from the last race.
In 2023, he participated in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship with PHM Racing, finishing 9th in the standings with 1 podium. Later in that same year, he would once again compete in the F4 Spanish Championship for a full campaign this time. Strømsted finished seventh in the championship, scoring 135 points and 3 podiums. To end his 2023 year off, he made a guest appearance at the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship with RPM, finishing 6th.
In 2024, Strømsted competed in one round of the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Saintéloc Racing, finishing 16th in both races. For his main 2024 campaign, Strømsted would compete again with RPM for the Formula Regional European Championship. He finished 7th in the standings, with 121 points, 4 podiums, and won the rookie title. At the end of the year, he replaced Oliver Goethe at Campos Racing in the F3 final, placing 17th and 23rd in the races.
Strømsted joined the Mercedes junior team and competed in Formula 3 full-time for 2025, this time teaming up with Charlie Wurz and Rafael Câmara for Trident, finishing his rookie season sixth in the championship, scoring 84 points with 1 win and 3 podiums. Strømsted seemingly left the Mercedes junior team at the end of the year.
In 2026, Størmsted has resumed his F3 journey with Trident with a 4th and 24th finish in the season openers' sprint and feature races, respectively.
Alba Larsen
Larsen is a Ferrari academy driver competing in the 2026 Formula 1 Academy season. Larson founded G.I.R.L. - Girls International Racing Lab - which provides a means for girls to get a start in motorsports. Larson won the FIA Women in Motorsport Award because of this.
Karting
Larsen started karting in 2020 after being introduced by a family friend, who is a family member of Kevin Magnusen. Larsen competed mainly in the IAME-run series.
In 2023, she won the Zealand Karting Championship in the Dasu junior class and also became the latest winner of the FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars programme's senior category.
Feederseries
In 2024, Larsen stepped up to single-seater racing, competing in the F4 Indian Championship for MP Motorsport-run Speed Demons Delhi, for only the first two rounds of the season, finishing 18th in the standings, scoring 13th, 11th, 10th, 6th, and 8th in her races.
Larsen competed in the 2025 Formula Winter Series with Jenzer Motorsport. She completed 3 race weekends with the highest finish of 14th.
Larsen made her Formula 1 Academy debut with MP Motorsport, being supported by Tommy Hilfigure. She finished the season 7th in the championship with 70 points and a highest finish of 4th place.
In the 2026 season, Larsen joined the Ferrari Driver Academy and joined MP Motorsport for another season in Formula 1 Academy.
In Conclusion
Denmark's pool of F1 talent is there and is the most promising it’s been for years, it's only a matter of time before one or two names make the leap to join the pinnacle of motorsports. Until that moment arrives, Danish fans do not need to look far for some top-level talent, with the nation leaving its mark across INDYCAR, IMSA, Formula 1 Academy and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Article Written by Georg Castiel Petersen
