Winkworth backs young racing driver on fast track to Formula 1

Winkworth is revving up its backing for young racing driver Zak O’Sullivan.

At 18-years old he is already on the fast track to racing stardom.

He was handpicked to join the elite Williams Driver Academy as its next F1 prospect. 

Winkworth’s support for the rising star began back in 2019. Zak’s family have a long association as landlords with the Winkworth office in Shepherd’s Bush and the sponsorship began with Shepherd’s Bush franchisee Carl Burgess, who handed over to Rupal and Ravi Patel when they took over as franchisees of the office in 2022. 

Now Winkworth has stepped up its support for Zak across its network of more than 100 offices, with a launch for all its agents, which took place at the Williams Racing Museum in Wantage, based at the F1 racing team’s UK headquarters. 

After winning the prestigious British GP Kartmasters event at just 14 years old, Zak stepped up to cars in the Ginetta Junior Championship, taking second overall, before graduating to British F4 with nine wins and 18 podiums in 2020.   

After dominating the British F3 Championship with seven wins and 14 podiums in 2021, Zak was selected by Williams Racing to join its new Driver Academy. 

He was awarded the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award in 2021, and tested Aston Martin F1 machinery as part of his prize package. 

His rise through the ranks has been guided by his family. As soon as racing became serious, Cheltenham-based Zak was home-schooled to fit all the training and schoolwork into a packed schedule.  

Zak graduates to F2 next season, the step directly below F1, after a record-breaking season in F3 where he won four races, securing second in the standings. 

Williams Racing rewarded Zak’s performance and hard work behind the scenes with a Formula 1 race weekend debut at Abu Dhabi this year, with Zak driving Alex Albon’s car in the first official practice session. 

With a F2 title challenge and more F1 testing with Williams on the cards in 2024, Zak looks set to achieve his dream of racing in F1 by the 2025 season. 

Dominic Agace, chief executive of Winkworth, said: “Zak’s talent has captivated us all at Winkworth and we are delighted to be supporting him as a network. 

“We are encouraging all our offices to get involved and look forward to staging promotional activities to give our clients and agents an opportunity to take part in some of the highlights in the forthcoming season.” 

Zak  added: “I am delighted to be expanding my partnership with Winkworth in 2024, having built such a great relationship with the Shepherd’s Bush office over the last few years. 

“The team has been very supportive of my racing, crucially in the early seasons where budget was a concern. I am excited to open this up to the wider Winkworth network and look forward to welcoming them into the F1 paddock next season.”