Walsall teenager dreaming of making it to Formula 1
13-year-old Ethan Guest is a karting champion
A Walsall teenager is on a mission to become a professional racing driver with the hopes of making it to Formula 1.
13-year-old Ethan Guest, from Aldridge, is already a karting champion, and with a British world champion in the elite sport, he's feeling even more inspired to reach his dream.
Ethan's story...
Ethan began karting at 10-years-old at Midland Karting in Lichfield. The next year, he was racing in his first ever championship season at the Daytona Tamworth track.
The following season he was crowned Daytona Champion in June 2024. Tom Dillon runs the championship there, he told us: "I remember Ethan winning his first race, he was always very competitive.
"He has always been right at the front and one of those talents we would love to see go all the way," he said.
In 2025, Ethan was crowned champion in the Club 100 North Championship and vice-champion in the Club 100 South Championship. In total, across 78 race weekends, Ethan has been on the podium 47 times.
The cost...
Steve Guest is Ethan's dad, he told us about what the year ahead looks like for Ethan: "This year Ethan is racing in two championship seasons, which will cost around £40,000.
"Once Ethan turns 14, he can race cars. Then the price really goes up and the numbers just keep adding on to the end," he said.
Steve told us that around two thirds of this year's fees have been covered by sponsors. He told us: "I have now become his social media manager, which is like working another full time job. I am also his chauffer and hotel booker. We did 27 race weekends last year alone," he said.
When it comes to the cost, Steve said: "We will go as far as we can and if we do end up stopping, it will never be about Ethan's talent. It will come down to the budget and the funds.
We asked the racing governing body about how the price of the elite sports is affecting accessibility. A spokesperson from Motorsport UK told us:
"Motorsport can be affordable; you can participate in many StreetCar disciplines including Autosolo, Road Rallies and Trails in an any road car with a free licence.
"However, we do also recognise that elite sports such as Formula 1 do require considerable resources to reach. Motorsport UK provides many initiatives from Girls on Track and Race for Diversity to the Motorsport UK Academy, for which we have just selected a cohort of 35 athletes.
"These programmes are designed to assist talented athletes who most need help to achieve their full potential in order to preserve the UK’s status as a world-leader in motorsport."
The funds aren't the only cost, Ethan spends a lot of his free-time training to keep his fitness level where it needs to be.
This is what an average week in Ethan's life looks like:
- Monday: Personal trainer session
- Tuesday: Boxing
- Wednesday: MMA
- Thursday: Boxing
- Friday: Race simulator session
- Saturday - Sunday: Race weekend
Ethan told us: "Usually my friends go to town on a Friday and have food together while I am packing my bags for the race weekend. Racing does sometimes get in the way of being a normal teenager but I just look to the future," he said.
Ethan knows he has to keep delivering results to keep the sponsors, but ultimately he wants to keep doing what he loves most.
We asked him what his dream career would be: "I have always said F1 would be nice. I look up to Max Vertsappen because I like how he stick up for himself and is aggressive on track.
"At the end of the day, just to race professionally would be amazing. I am not bothered about the category because as long as I get to do what I love everyday, it will never feel like work," he said.