'I want to be World Champion' says County Derry driver to emulate idol Sebastian Vettel

As the ink dried in October 2014, a dream was just being realised for a four-time Formula One world champion, Sebastian Vettel, as he would emulate his hero and compatriot Michael Schumacher by driving in the famous red Scudaria Ferrari. 

Schumacher won five F1 championship titles while at the Italian giants, inspiring a teenage Vettel to watch this success on TV as he grew up in Heppenheim. 

Vettel would prove to the world that he was one of the finest F1 drivers to ever grace the sport, becoming the youngest ever world champion at the age of 23 as he secured his first of four consecutive world championships.

However, Vettel would fall well short of emulating the level of success that Schumacher achieved at the 16-time constructor champions. 

Vettel would win 14 Grand Prix in total while competing for Ferrari, only one win more than his most dominant season at Red Bull as he lifted his last World Championship in 2013. 

Vettel’s Red Bull era demonstrated the quality of the German and his ability to dominate the sport, something that many believed would be possible as the driver became the first success story of the Red Bull Junior Team. 

This junior side has become a conveyor belt of talent as the program has created individuals to win seven F1 World Championships. 

Individuals, including Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr., and Daniel Ricciardo, have all been products of this program. 

The newest signature to this program is an exciting County Derry prospect, Fionn McLaughlin. 

The 16-year-old, born two months following his idols move to Toro Rosso, the feeder team to Red Bull, whose interest in motorsports is closely linked to Vettel, followed his career from his home of Magherafelt with considerable interest. 

And now McLaughlin, after a long career of karting at the youth level, has taken his first steps toward making his Formula One dream possible. 

Signing for the Red Bull Junior Team after impressing on a three-day testing session in Jerez, Spain. 

McLaughlin was one of 11 drivers aged 13–16 invited to the test, but the Magherafelt native stood out from the rest. 

This is not surprising to those who have followed his career closely to this point, with McLaughlin becoming the first Irish driver in history to compete in the CIK-FIA European Championship, finishing seventh overall in the championship, competing in the FIA World Karting Championship, claiming pole position in his group, claiming three heat wins across the weekend, but narrowly missing out on winning the final due to an engine failure, and winning the FIA Academy Champions of the Future race in Abu Dhabi. 

This all comes from the drive, hard work, and determination of the 16-year-old, as he wants to reach the top of the sport. 

McLaughlin said: “I’ve been part of racing for 10 years.

“I will never give up. I work hard until I am at the top, and if it takes as long as it does, I’ll keep working until I’m there.

“I was always on track; since I don’t know what age, I was that young.”

Fionn fondly remembers watching his father race around his home track, but it is the attitude of Vettel that has brought him to this point in his career. 

Looking to the finer details, where to position the car on the track, how to approach certain corners on particular tracks, and how to eek out the extra milliseconds in a race for McLaughlin to taste success at the end of a racing weekend. 

The understanding and professionalism of the County Derry man is what impressed many at the Red Bull Junior Team, particularly Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull Motorsports Consultant and Head of the Junior Driver Program, the man who has identified countless F1 prodigies. 

He said: “It is a perfect preparation for Formula One. 

“What is important here is that we see them in a Formula car for the first time and how they adapt, how quickly they are progressing, and how they improve across a two-day test.”

The test in Spain was the first time McLaughlin had stepped into a Formula standard car, and the Derryman impressed with his ability to get to grips rapidly and demonstrate his potential world-class ability.

As the news broke that McLaughlin would be competing in Formula 4 in 2025, representing the Red Bull Junior Team, he began his emulation of his idol. 

The driving factor for the teenager from Magherafelt is to become a World Champion. 

Should he do so, he would be the first to do so from the island of Ireland, with Eddie Irvine the last from the island to come close to achieving this as he lost the 1999 F1 title by only two points to one of the most revered drivers to grace the sport, Mika Häkkinen. 

McLaughlin will not place the cart ahead of the horse, though, as he understands the amount of work needed to reach F1 before becoming a champion, with many world-class drivers yet to win the coveted title. 

But the willingness to put in the miles will allow the teenager to reach the heights of his idol, and with the emulation of the German at Red Bull, the ambition separates McLaughlin from the rest of the pack.