Britain's youngest racing driver is four-year-old with eyes on Formula 1

Britain’s youngest racing driver is a four-year-old boy who can zoom around in a kart at 40mph before he can read and write. Video (click to play above) shows little Raef Virdee - he’s only just started school, and is already being tipped to become a future racing star by current F1 drivers.

Raef takes driving lessons every week at MPH Karting Academy, Solihull, West Mids., watched on by his proud parents Lionel and Armadeep. The pint-sized speedster got into racing after watching F1 on TV with Lionel, 35.

The property developer said: “I think racing is in our DNA. My dad worked at Jaguar developing engines and I’ve always loved cars.

Youngster met Mercedes F1 driver

“Raef would always be playing with toy cars and whizzing around in the electric cars he had. When he was just one he was reciting the names of his favourite drivers like Schumacher, Barrichello, Raikkonen and Massa. His interest and ability has grown and he has a real talent for knowing how a kart handles and he has no fear.”

Talented Raef, from Birmingham, has already caught the eye of Mercedes F1 driver Frederik Vesti during a one-to-one session.

The Danish driver, who started racing aged eight, said: "He's four years old, so he has got a big advantage on me. He's already quite impressive and it's just cool to see. The next step is going racing against other kids of course, learning to pedal, try to overtake and defend, eventually winning his first race."

F1 tot has a full-time coach

Raef will be old enough to compete with other young drivers in January when he turns five. Recently he smashed the record at the Midlands Sutton Hill track with a lap time of 45.18 seconds.

Raef now has a full-time coach, Harry Darby, who trains him each week at MPH Karting Academy in Solihull, West Mids. Harry said: "The lap times never lie, and he's producing some extremely quick lap times, to the point where I'm having to do some practising to make sure that he doesn't beat me. He's our fastest bambino driver that we've ever had in the last five years."

Proud mum Amardeep, 36, is also keen on racing and often watches Raef whizzing round the track.

She said: “Raef is so talented and we want to support his dream.

"Outside of racing he’s happy playing with his cousins, meeting with extended family and friends, having play dates and going to the park."