Oliver Turvey is Britain’s next up-and-coming motorsport star, currently competing in GP2 Asia. Turvey has quickly progressed through the ranks, and recently won his first ever GP2 Asia race. Turvey tested for McLaren in the MP4-24 late last year at the young driver tests, and won the McLaren Autosport Award in 2006 – an award previously won by the likes of David Coulthard, Jenson Button, and ex-F1 Le Mans driver Anthony Davidson.

Thanks to Oliver and his manager Didier, I have had the chance to ask the Penrith-born driver some questions!

Congrats on your first GP2 Asia win! How did it feel?

Thank you, it was an amazing feeling to win the feature race in Abu Dhabi in only my second GP2 weekend! Although at the first round, I had missed the two day test before hand to compete in the final round of World Series by Renault so I felt like this was my first real weekend. I have been working hard on myself and with the iSport team over the winter to be ready for this season, so it was a fantastic way to start the year!

Who first got you into motorsport & how?

My father first introduced me to motorsport. He never raced himself but had always been a fan of motorsport. One of his friends through his work, had two sons involved in karting. They kindly let both of us to try an outdoor kart for the first time. I was only seven, my father did five laps before he had had enough but I went round all day at Rowrah which is my local kart circuit and enjoyed every moment. We just started for fun but after winning my first five novice races we progressed quickly to become Junior British Kart Champion twice.

Obviously I run a Formula 1 blog, at this stage in your career how much are you thinking about Formula 1?

Well Formula 1 is my objective, not only to compete but to become World Champion, but currently and for this year my focus will be on GP2. I want to learn as much as possible so that I can keep on improving. If I can achieve my objective this season, then I am sure everything else will take care of itself.

You competed with Jaime Alguersuari who has moved up to F1 almost instantly, surely this makes you a little jealous?

I am very pleased to have been team mates with Jaime for the last two seasons, it was a pleasure to work with him closely through F3 and World Series by Renault. He’s extremely quick and tough competitor which has allowed us to have some great races together. I was extremely disappointed to narrowly lose the British F3 championship in the final race to him but managed to beat him last season in the World Series by Renault championship to become top Rookie. However I am really pleased for him to have been given an opportunity to race in F1 and hope that we can be racing together there in the future.

Do you have any other forms of racing in mind, or is it finish this season and see where you go from there?

I love all types of motorsport but definitely for now I have only one objective which is to become GP2 champion. During the season along with Didier Coton of Aces Management, we will have to see what opportunities we have to progress.

You are backed by the Racing Steps foundation. How has this foundation given you support? How hard would it have been to get where you are today without funding from Racing Steps?

The Racing Steps Foundation was set up at the end of 2007 to support talented young British drivers that struggled to raise the huge amounts of money required to go racing. I was selected as their first driver to compete in British F3 during the 2008 season. Throughout my career from karting up until the Racing Steps, I have always struggled to raise the budget to compete and have fully relied on sponsorship, often meaning I had to compete on a much lower budget. Without the Racing Steps coming along when they did, it would have been extremely difficult for me to have progressed to F3 so I don’t think I would be where I am today without their support.

Oliver Turvey's helmet. Cool, eh?

We like our helmet designs over here at An F1 Blog and we think that yours is magnificent! Where does the inspiration for your helmet design come from?

I designed my helmet paintwork myself, which took a while as I am a bit of a perfectionist and like things to be exactly right! I remember drawing thousands of different designs until I was happy to actually get it painted and it has stayed very similar ever since.

Do you feel ready for F1?

Absolutely, after my first experience of F1 with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes at the end of last season in Jerez, I feel that I can definitely be competitive at the highest level. However I feel you can always improve as a driver so a year in GP2 will make me stronger.

Are there any F1 drivers you admire or idolise?

No but I do have respect for the top F1 drivers. I hope to have an opportunity to compete at the highest level against the top drivers in the World.

Thanks Oliver, and good luck for the future – I’m sure we’ll see you in an F1 car in the not too distant future!