Oliver Turvey insists he won’t allow a funding crisis to destroy his dream of becoming Britain’s next Formula One world champion.
Turvey could be left kicking his heels this summer after failing to raise the £2million budget to enable him to race in the GP2 European Series – the main championship feeder for F1 whose past champions include Lewis Hamilton.
His promising career was thrown into turmoil after financial support from the Racing Steps Foundation, an organisation that identifies Britain’s best under-funded young drivers, ended following a three-year sponsorship programme.
The 23-year-old driver, from Langwathby, near Penrith, was signed up by the Ocean Racing Technology team in January to contest the GP2 Asia Series and he will drive in his final race when the championship ends this weekend.
Turvey also underlined his potential by being snapped up as a development driver for McLaren Mercedes F1 team, and took part in their F1 young drivers’ test for the team in Abu Dhabi last November, where he set the second fastest time.
But unless a major backer steps forward with a last-ditch offer to enable him to drive in this summer’s main GP2 European Series, the Cambridge University graduate’s hopes of following Hamilton and fellow Brit Jenson Buttoninto F1 will be seriously damaged.
However, Turvey is determined to continue his frantic search for sponsorship and is also considering other routes into F1.
He said: “I still believe in myself and my ability and I still believe that I can reach F1 and become world champion.“The best drivers are the ones who have to fight for it. I’ve had to fight right throughout my career for funding - and I’m going to have to fight even more now.
“It is extremely frustrating but I’m going to have to keep pushing and keep fighting to raise the budget. There are also a few other options outside of GP2, but we’re just talking at this stage.
“Nearly every GP2 team wanted me to drive for them and I felt I could have been a championship contender, but if you can’t bring the budget, you can’t race. That is the way motor-racing is. It is a very expensive industry.”
Turvey contested last year’s GP2 Asia and main series, finishing sixth in both championships, and won the second GP2 Asia feature race in Abu Dhabi.
But this year’s GP2 Asia Series has been wrecked by political unrest in the Middle East, which forced back-to-back races in Bahrain to be called off.
This weekend’s final two rounds have been switched to Italy and Turvey is desperate to go out on a high to show teams what they will be missing.
He said: “This is an important weekend for me as it’s my final one and I’m determined to make the most of it.
“It would have been better if I had been able to race over the other weekends, but I think in the circumstances the organisers made the right decision to cancel the events.”
Turvey will take part in qualifying at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Friday, before races will be held at the Italian circuit on Saturday and Sunday.
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