The Coronel Legacy: The New Daring Dutchman
- therookiereporters
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
This article will cover the rise of a potential future success in the motorsport scene - a racer named Rocco Coronel. A racer with tenacity, speed and determination and this is his story to date of his promising start to his racing career.
Rocco Coronel is a highly talented racer planning to emulate and ultimately exceed the motorsport career of his father, Tom Coronel, who had a successful Touring Car and Dakar Racing career. Along with racing running through his father's veins, Rocco’s uncle and grandfather have all raced in motorsports with varying successes, so his racing blood is strong and this is reflected in the racing acumen of this young driver. Rocco is a racer who, at such an early stage of his career, has already displayed his array of racing skills on track. If he continues performing at the strong level he is already performing at, with some further development as he moves us the motosport ladder, he will become a strong force in whichever series he decides to race in. Rocco is still very young at 15 years of age, so he and those around him must ensure he is nurtured carefully in order for him to reach his full potential in single-seaters on the road to F1.
Karting Proving Grounds
Rocco had a strong karting career, having started in 2021, he has since amassed titles in an array of series. He started by winning the Junior Sigmund Karting championship in 2022, before backing this up the year after with the IAME French Karting championship at the Jean Brun Karting Circuit. Furthermore, he built on this later with a WSK Open win and 2nd in overall standings as well. His second-place finish came after his title rival was given a 5-second penalty for initiating contact but still managed to win the title by two points. His rapid ascent up the karting ladder really proved his talent for adapting fast to new machinery and his rigid consistency across a full season of a championship to put up a title charge in most scenarios. 2024 though was truly a game-changing year for Rocco where he even had F1 teams looking to sign him to their academies.
2024: New Horizons Realised
Rocco came into 2024 with strong momentum from the year prior and an extra year of age and experience under his belt, earning him further Formula 1 attention. He took a win in the FIA Karting European championship in the OK-Junior category at the Val’Dargenton circuit and ultimately finished P3 in warm-up heat B and replicated this result in the final, losing the final by under two tenths of a second. He fought hard with other karting revelations like Dries Van Langendonck and the winner of that race, Iacopo Martinese but narrowly finished P3. To end the year with a standout highlight, Rocco went on to win the WSK Final Cup 2024 final race at the Cremona Circuit in Italy. This vaulted him up to P4 in the overall championship standings.
(Image Credits to RoccoCoronel.com)
The Red Bull Seal of Approval
Rocco Coronel’s strong karting performances had finally earned him a deserved Red Bull junior team call-up, beginning with a rigorous 3-day test at the Jerez Circuit in September 2024 against 11 other candidates. Red Bull selector, Helmet Marko, was incredibly surprised and impressed with the development of Rocco after this test. The fact that Rocco was only 13 years of age at the time and to impress in F4 Machinery with his first taste of single seater cars on a completely new circuit is a testament to his incredibly ability to adapt to new tracks, machinery and intensities, which is a key feature of past junior series champions who hit the ground running in every series they participate in. Rocco was ultimately signed to Red Bull’s junior program after this test, along with other exciting prospects like Fionn McLaughlin and Scott Lindblom. Rocco also became the youngest ever Red Bull junior driver, which is a great feat in itself. This was a big step towards his dream of achieving future success, but as shown in the past, Red Bull’s junior team is a place that is fruitful and rewarding but also cutthroat and demanding. Rocco will have to continue his fast rise up the motorsport ladder to meet expectations.
(Image Credits to Red Bull)
2025: A New Dawn of Dominance
2025 was a year where Rocco truly separated himself from the rest and really classified himself amongst the most exciting junior drivers on the motorsport scene. The Ginetta Juniors championship is usually seen as a gap-bridger between karting and single-seaters, with the machinery featuring a touring car with a 1.8 litre Ford engine in the back. It spans 8 rounds in mostly British locations such as Donington Park and Silverstone. This championship has some incredible alumni like rookie class champion Lando Norris, champion of the series Freddie Slater and runner-up Louis Foster. Rocco came into this championship as a 14-year-old rookie and took the grid by storm in scintillating fashion. Rocco went on to take 11 wins and 16 podiums across the season, including the second-longest streak in the series’ history of winning 7 in a row and also eventually ended up winning 11 in the first 14 races. The damage was already done and for most of the second half of the season Rocco showed consistency to bring the championship home. Coronel won the championship with 2 races to spare with over a 50-point margin prior to missing the final 2 races. Rocco’s year didn’t quite end at this championship’s close. Rocco got the opportunity to be drafted in as a guest racer in a Spanish F4 Weekend of 3 races in what would be his first taste of pure single-seater racing. Rocco performed very well for a complete rookie with 2 top 10 finishes and a podium position of 3rd. Against established drivers in the series, he has already proved his talents and will definitely be in title contention if he returns to the series full-time next season in 2026.
(Image Credits to Red Bull)
2026: Emergence of a Prodigy
Rocco has a clear path ahead and with the Red Bull backing and many series at his feet next season, he could end up in a multitude of F4 single-seater racing series but it is most likely he will return to Spanish F4 full-time and complete a full season, most likely with the MP Motorsport crew. 2026 is destined to be a year of growth but also glory for Rocco but can he step up and realise this potential? Only time will tell.
Article written by Taegan Hignett