He had his first test in F1 machinery back in 2003, and is eyeing a full time Formula 1 test seat for 2008.

Does he have what it takes?

Marko Asmer broke new ground when he became the first Estonian to test for a Formula One team when he drove a Williams-BMW four years ago. Asmer was born in the Eastern European state in 1984 when it was still under Soviet control. His father Toivo was a racing driver before becoming Estonia’s minister of regional affairs from 1999-2003.

Asmer got into karting before pursuing a racing career in Britain. In 2003 he won the British Southern and Northern Formula Ford Championship, did a couple of Formula Renault V6 races and was second in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival. He got his first F1 test that year despite his relative lack of experience in race cars.

He began the first of what would be four years in Formula Three in 2004. The first two were in the British championship with Hitech Racing, for whom he delivered two fastest laps and tenth overall in 2004, then six podiums and two pole positions (but no wins) en route to fourth in the championship the next year. Asmer was also the highest-placed British F3 driver in the annual F3 Masters and Zandvoort (seventh overall).

For 2006 he tried his hand at the Japanese series and scored a single win. He planned a dual assault on the British and Japanese championships for 2007, but quickly elected to focus his energies on the British series. He dominated it, winning 11 of the 22 races and beating Maro Engel by 85 points. He also made his fourth appearance in the Macau F3 Grand Prix, finished a best-ever fourth, and scored fastest lap.

After winning the title Asmer set his sights on graduating to Formula 1:

My goal is to succeed in F1 one day and I suppose I feel more hopeful about that now than I did last year. I have met people informally in F1 and other series so I can start building contacts, but who knows what and when anything will come out of it.

Asmer has clearly mastered Formula Three – although some would point out that he’s had long enough to. Whether he’s quite ready yet to step up to more powerful machinery remains to be seen. He will test alongside Javier Villa at Jerez, and on paper the GP2 race-winning Spanish driver seems the more likely candidate.

Photos: British F3 Media

More about Marko Asmer at Maximum Motorsport

The odds of seeing an Indian in an Indian-backed F1 car in time for the first Indian Grand Prix are pretty good. Here’s a quick look at Chandhok’s career to date.

Born in Madras in January 1984 Chandhok was the Indian National Racing Champion at the age of 16 with a record seven victories from ten rounds. He moved up to Formula Asia with Team India Racing, winning the first five rounds and taking the championship.

He then spent three years in British Formula Three – the first two of which were in the Scholarship category for older cars. Sixth overall in 2002, he won eight times and ended the year third, 9.5 points behind champion Ernesto Viso.

In 2004 he remained with his T-Sport team and stepped up to the championship class but left the championship after 18 races, by which time he was 14th on 37 points with a highest finish of fourth at Donington Park.

He switched to the World Series by Nissan where he joined fellow Indian Narain Karthikeyan at RC Motorsport. He took a best finish of fourth in the final race at Jerez.

Chandhok remained at RC Motorsport for 2005 (in what was now called the World Series by Renault) while Karthikeyan joined Jordan to become India’s first F1 driver. But he left after six races having failed to finish higher than 11th. He made three starts for the Indian A1 Grand Prix team in its inaugural season, managing no better than 15th at Brands Hatch,

He returned to Asian motorsport in 2006, winning the new Formula Asia V6 by Renault championship with seven wins in 12 races held at three different tracks.

That led to a return to Europe-wide competition in 2007, joining the Durango GP2 team. Chandhok has improved consistently throughout the season, scoring his first point in Istanbul and leading the following race before he was knocked off by Kazuki Nakajima.

He took a cool debut win in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, resisting pressure from championship contender Lucas di Grassi before passing Andy Soucek around the outside at Les Combes.

Already he’s building a strong base of home support. Following the win he said: “It’s the first time I’ve heard the national anthem at a Formula One Grand Prix, so that’s a special feeling. It’s been live on TV in India so everyone’s going crazy back home. My phone has loads of missed calls already!”

No doubt Bernie Ecclestone is rubbing his hands in glee at the thought of all those people following Chandhok’s progress into F1.

A leap straight into F1 next year would surely be too premature for the 23 year-old. But with another season of GP2, plus perhaps GP2 Asia where local knowledge will surely pay dividends, an F1 testing deal in 2009 could pave the way nicely for that all-important arrival on the grid in 2010…

Photo: GP2 Media Service / Andrew Ferraro

But Kazuki has forged close connections with Honda’s arch rival Toyota – partly to avoid any suggestion that his ascent through the lower categories has come because of his surname.

He’s got a reputation for being a bit wild – but he’s landed a plum testing role for Williams nevertheless. How good is Kazuki Nakajima?

Kazuki was born on January 11th, 1985 in Aichi, Japan. He formed his connection with Toyota when he moved out of karts into Formula Toyota in 2003, winning the championship.

That led to a season in Japanese Formula Three with the TOM’S team. He also briefly raced in Formula Renault before he turned 17 – the minimum age at which drivers can race in Japan.

He finished fifth in the Japanese F3 championship where his team mates were Richard Antinucci and Sakon Yamamoto (since an F1 driver for Super Aguri and Spyker). After winning the first two rounds of the season he never won again, but beat Yamamoto in the championship.

He stayed in Japanese F3 for another year, finishing second overall in 2005 behind Joao de Oliviera, a long established F3 talent. He also raced in the Japanese GT300 series, ending the year eighth.

Then came the inevitable move to Europe, to contest the 2006 F3 Euroseries with Manor Motorsport. The year began brightly, with second in the opening round at Hockenheim followed by a win in round four at Eurospeedway Lausitz.

But thereafter his campaign trailed off, and a double DNF in the final two rounds left him seventh in the championship. Team mates Kohei Hirate and Esteban Guerrieri finished the season third and fourth.

Nonetheless Nakajima moved up to GP2 for 2007 and became test driver for the Toyota-supplied Williams team.

In a year when test drivers have seen far less mileage than they have previously, Nakajima has had a lot more testing to do than many other drivers in the same role at other teams. But is that a result of his skill or Toyota’s backing? After all, race driver Alexander Wurz’s technical feedback is highly praised.

His reputation for speed and occasional wildness has followed him into GP2 where he races for the DAMS team. After a slow start to the season he hit his stride with a string of podium finishes in the middle of the season. But he threw away a shot at victory in the sprint race at Istanbul with an ill-judged lunge at race leader Karun Chandhok that ruined both their races.

He is currently fifth in the championship, but notably well clear of team mate Nicolas Lapierre, who is in his third season of GP2.

With his connections, his surname, and three Japanese teams in Formula One, the younger Nakajima looks like a good bet for an F1 start in the near future.

Perhaps he even has an outside chance of replacing Ralf Schumacher?

Photos: LAT Photographic / Glenn Dunbar

Read more about Kazuki Nakajima at Maximum Motorsport

Teenager Javier Villa is already in his second season of GP2 and has three wins to his name. With F1 reaching unprecedented popularity in Spain thanks to Fernando Alonso, could Villa soon be the second Spaniard in an F1 race seat?

Villa was born on October 5th, 1987 in Colunga, Spain. He entered the Asturian Cadet Karting Championship in 1996, aged ten. By 1998 he had become champion, and the following year was runner-up in the Castilla-Leon cadet karting winter series.

The young driver returned to the same winter series in 2000 and became champion. That year he also finished second in the Asturian Junior Karting Trophy and the Open Toyota cadet karting series. In the Spanish Karting Championship he was fifth in the cadet class.

Two more years in karting saw him claim another title – he was Asturian Karting Junior Championship in 2001 – then in 2002 he finished fifth in the Open Toyota Karting Junior series.

The following year he made the transition into racing cars with the Repsol Racing for Spain team in the Spanish Formula Junior Championship. After that he moved up to Spanish Formula Three in 2004. He won the Junior Cup and was ninth overall with a best finish of fourth at the penultimate round at the Circuit de Catalunya.

He remained in the category for 2005 but switched to the Racing Engineering team, which took him to fourth in the championship with two wins, 23 points behind champion Andy Soucek.

Racing Engineering then moved Villa, now aged 18, up to its GP2 team for 2006. He didn’t score a point all season, although he made four more Spanish F3 starts and finished second in three of them.

The team retained him for 2007 and after 13 races he is fifth in the championship. He has won three times, but all three victories have come in the shorter sprint races.

Villa’s talent in leading from the front is clear – but whether he can improve his qualifying and mount a consistent championship campaign remains to be seen. But remember in the ‘old GP2′ – F3000 – even Alonso only won once…

Meet the rookies will return next month.

Photo: Andrew Ferrari / GP2 Media Service

Who’s this talking? Michael Schumacher’s manager, Willi Weber.

And what potential star of the future is he pushing? Nico Hülkenberg.

A new generation of German drivers are following in Schumacher’s footsteps. Already this year Adrian Sutil, Markus Winkelhock and Sebastian Vettel have made their Grand Prix debuts. And Hülkenberg is next in line to follow them.

He was born in Emmerich, Germany on August 19th, 1987 – so he’s still a teenager for three more days!

At the age of 15 he won the German Junior Kart Championship and in 2003 he became German Kart Champion. He remained in the series for another season, finishing second overall.

After another year in the German Kart Championship, in which he finished second, Hülkenberg stepped up to the German Formula BMW championship in 2005 and won it first time.

He also finished first in the Formula BMW world final – but was demoted to third after the stewards decided he had brake-tested other drivers during a safety car period. Vastly talented and controversial? Sounds like Schumacher to me.

Formula Three followed but Hülkenberg entered the German series in 2006 rather than the more prestigious European championship. He ended the year fifth, winning once at the Hockenheimring, but not scoring any further wins after a mid-season switch from the Dallara to the new Ligier chassis.

Hülkenberg came of age in the second A1 Grand Prix championship in the winter of 2006-07. He started all but two races for the German team, and the outfit that finished 15th in 2005-06 were champions thanks to Hülkenberg’s nine victories. He collected the winner’s trophy from Michael Schumacher…

He returned to Formula Three for 2007, stepping up to the Euroseries with champions ASM. But it’s been a year of inspiration and exasperation in equal measure.

He was second in the season opener at Hockenheim, sensationally won at the Norisring from 18th on the grid and added another fine win in the wet at Zandvoort.

But he crashed out of the first Norisring race, was penalised at Magny-Cours for passing the chequered flag twice in qualifying and collided with Filip Salaquarda in the race.

With eight races to go he is fifth in the championship, 41 points behind team mate and championship leader Romain Grosjean. But Hülkenberg took an important win in the prestigious, non-championship Masters of Formula 3 race at Zolder.

Can he end his season on a high? Weber is certainly expecting him to. He reckons: “If everything goes to plan Nico should be ready for Formula One in 2008.”

Photos: F3 Euroseries

Read more about Nico Hülkenberg at Maximum Motorsport

Whether he’ll sink like father Michael, or swim to the title like grandfather Mario, is the big, big question.

It’s big, because it could also be the key to unlocking F1 popularity in the States.

After Mario’s family emigrated to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the family stayed there and that’s where Marco was born in March 1987 – six year before Michel’s ill-fated F1 debut with McLaren.

F1 fans invariably bring up Michael Andretti’s F1 career when looking for an example of an American racer who failed in F1. That rather oversimplifies things, as Michael could have made a better fist of his F1 career had he been more realistic about it and chose to base himself closer to McLaren, rather than stay in the States.

And of course it ignores the record of Mario, an extremely versatile and accomplished racer who won a hell of a lot more than just the 1978 world championship.

Marco began his career in the Barber Formula Dodge Eastern Championship in 2003, winning eight times. He was Barber National and Southern champion the following year.

In 2005 he raced in the Star Mazda championship and Indy Pro Series. He was fifth in Star Mazda but it was the six races in junior Indy Car category where he made his mark – winning three times and setting three pole positions.

With that he moved up to the Indy Car Series in 2006 with his father’s team, Andretti-Green, aged 19. He came within a lap of winning the Indianapolis 500, finishing second behind Sam Hornish Jnr. He won at Sears Point and ended the season seventh in the championship, beating team mates Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta, and being named rookie of the year.

He tested for the Honda F1 team in December and again in February but stayed in Indy Cars – which, of course, is supplied exclusively by Honda. However 2007 has not been kind to him. He suffered major crashes at Indianapolis and Mid Ohio, and is yet to repeat the win he scored in his maiden season.

The young Andretti could be the driver that switches on a generation of Americans to F1. But a season of GP2 on the F1 tracks might give him a better preparation for the top flight than the Indy Racing League.

Photo: Dana Garrett

Related links

• F1′s famous names return
• Ten best… American F1 drivers
• F1: It’s nepo-tastic!
• Superstars with super names
• Mario Andretti biography
• Michael Andretti biography
• Meet the rookies
• More on Marco Andretti at Maximum Motorsport

He’s certainly got talent. Grosjean is currently leading the F3 Euroseries and is one of five racers on the Renault Driver Development programme.

Born April 17th, 1986 in Geneva, Switzerland, Grosjean races under a Swiss licence and won the 2003 Swiss Formula Renault series with ten wins from ten starts.

He then moved to French Formula Renault (SG Formula) and was seventh in 2004 (with one win) and champion in 2005 (10 wins). He also took two podiums in the Formula Renault Eurocup at Valencia.

Grosjean made his F3 debut at the blue riband Macau event at the end of the year – a demanding street circuit and not an ideal venue for a debut appearance. He took Loic Duval’s place in the Signature-Plus team, started 19th and finished ninth despite losing a several places on the first lap. He beat team mates Fabio Carbone and Guillaume Moreau and raced convincingly with many F3 regulars.

Stayed in the F3 Euroseries with Signature-Plus for 2006, the team hoping to recapture its form having switched from Opel to Mercedes engines. He ended the year 13th with only a single podium. But he also made an appearance in the British F3 event at Pau and won both races, from pole, setting fastest lap both times.

For 2007 he moved to the F3 Euroseries champions ASM, that steered Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta to victory in the last two seasons. After 12 races he leads S̩bastien Buemi by nine points with five wins. He took pole position at the Masters of F3 race at Zolder Рbut stalled at the start and finished 14th.

A step up to GP2 or the Renault World Series would be a likely move for him next. He’s currently on the same Renault Driver Development programme that eventually gave Heikki Kovalainen a shot at F1, so perhaps the latter will be his next step.

Photo: F3 Euroseries Media Service

Read more about Romain Grosjean on Maximum Motorsport

Di Grassi is currently battling four times F1 starter and BMW test driver Timo Glock for the GP2 championship. He races for Lewis Hamilton’s old team, and has the backing of Renault’s Driver Development programme, which has already given him his first F1 test.

Today sees the beginning of new series looking at the drivers aiming to make it into F1.

Di Grassi did a few races in Formula Renault before stepping up to Sud-Am F3 aged 18. His season ended when he crashed heavily at Curitiba and, not having any insurance, couldn’t afford to continue. Nonetheless he still ended the season second behind Danilo Dirani.

He tested for Hitech at the end of 2003 and the Renault Driver Development programme placed him with the team in British F3 for 2004. But he struggled with Renault’s Sodemo engine and ended the year eighth with two wins at Thruston – the only victories all year for the Renault power plant.

Renault moved him to the F3 Euroseries with Manor for 2005, but early in the year he suffered a huge crash with Giedo van der Garde. He finished the season third behind the dominant ASM cars of Hamilton and Adrian Sutil. Di Grassi triumphed the prestigious end-of-season race at Macau, beating Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, but Hamilton was not at the race.

In 2006 he joined the Durango team in GP2 and scored eight points. But for 2007 he bagged a coveted drive with ART – champions with Nico Rosberg in 2005 and Lewis Hamilton in 2006.

After 13 of 21 rounds he is one point behind championship leader Timo Glock, who has had an unusual number of mechanical failures for a one-make series such as GP2. Consistency has been the name of di Grassi’s game – he’s scored points in all but one race.

It could still be enough to give him the GP2 title – and both the previous GP2 champions have stepped straight into F1. Could di Grassi, who so far hasn’t won a championship in any racing category, be next?

Photo: Alastair Staley / GP2 Media Service

Read more about Lucas di Grassi: Lucas di Grassi biography