Kenzo Craigie (; born 29 September 2010) is a British racing driver who competes in the Italian F4 Championship for R-ace GP as part of the Mercedes Junior Programme.

Born and raised in Epsom to a Jamaican father and French mother, Craigie began competitive kart racing aged six. After a successful karting career—culminating in his victory at the junior World Championship in 2024—Craigie graduated to junior formulae.

Early life Kenzo Craigie was born on 29 September 2010 in Epsom, Surrey, England. He is of Guadeloupean lineage through his French mother, Flora, while his father, Paul, is Afro-Jamaican; he wears both flags alongside the Union Jack on his racing helmet, telling The New York Times in 2025 that "representation really drives [him]". He initially played association football and says he was a member of the Chelsea youth academy before his father introduced him to kart racing.

His association with Lewis Hamilton—the only black driver in Formula One history—began when he joined the Mercedes Junior Team in 2023, expressing his desire to continue Hamilton's efforts to increase ethnic diversity and female representation in motorsport. Alongside Hamilton, he proclaims Marcus Rashford as his sporting idol and is a fan of football club Manchester United. Raised in Epsom, he is privately educated at Downsend School in nearby Leatherhead.

Racing career Karting (2017–2025) 2017–2023: Prominence in Britain and international debut At six years old, Craigie started kart racing at the local Daytona Sandown Park and debuted in the bambino ranks of the British scene, scoring a podium in his first race. By 2020, he had emerged in club championships across England, placing fifth in the TVKC Autumn Cup and twenty-fourth in the British Championships. He debuted on the international scene in 2021 at the RMC Grand Finals in Sakhir, having improved to ninth in the British Championships. He dominated the national Cadet class the following year, winning the Ultimate Karting Championship, Kartmasters British Grand Prix, British 'O' Plate, and finishing runner-up in the British Championships, where his successes saw him claim the Mark Hines Memorial Trophy and his nomination to represent the United Kingdom in the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy. He closed his cadet career by winning the TVKC Icebreaker Cup at PF International. Part of the Mercedes Junior Team from 2023 onwards, he stepped up to the junior international Rotax Max and IAME categories, where he finished runner-up in the RMC Euro Trophy and English Championship with Argenti Motorsport, as well as tenth and twelfth in the X30 Junior and Junior Max categories of the British Championships, respectively; he finished twentieth in the RMC Grand Finals.

2024–2025: World Champion

In 2024, aged 13, Craigie progressed to OK-Junior—the premier under-15 international class—under the wing of six-time World Champion Mike Wilson, finishing nineteenth in the European Championship and third in Champions of the Future. His World Championship debut was staged at PF International, where he won a club championship round the year prior, and proved a battle for victory between him and compatriot Noah Baglin; in torrential rain, Craigie closed a three-second gap to Baglin by the final lap, when they swapped positions repeatedly—often going off-circuit—until a final-corner collision saw Baglin in the wall and Craigie becoming World Champion. After closing the season by winning the IAME Warriors Final in X30 Junior, Fabio Marangon of Vroomkart stated karting was "Craigie's world, and we are just living in it" and contrasted his acclaim to Kimi Antonelli. His battle with Baglin and eventual overtake was named the FIA Action of the Year in karting.

Craigie's progression to the senior OK class in 2025 was met with mixed results, opening with ninth in the WSK Super Master Series and fourteenth in the IAME Winter Cup. His highlight of the season was victory in Champions of the Future over eventual World Champion Thibaut Ramaekers and European Champion Christian Costoya, his second international title. Craigie finished tenth in the European Championship, scoring nearly half of his points with a podium in the season-ending Rødby final. He closed his karting career with fifth in the World Championship at Kristianstad, the same position he ranked in-class in the International Karting Ranking. Upon his graduation to junior formulae, Sam Joseph of The New York Times proclaimed Craigie as a "prodigy".

Formula 4 (2026–present) Craigie debuted in junior formulae with his 2026 pre-season campaign in the UAE4 Series with R-ace GP, with whom he tested Formula 4 (F4) machinery extensively over the winter break. On debut at Yas Marina, he finished seventh in a race-long battle with Elia Weiss in the opening race before claiming his maiden podium in the reverse-grid race and another points finish to end the weekend third in the championship. Another three points finishes followed for Craigie in the second Yas Marina round. He took his maiden pole positions at Dubai—the second with a margin of 0.492 seconds over championship leader Oleksandr Bondarev—where he took his maiden victory in the opening race and dropped behind Bondarev in the final race to solidify his third-place overall. He closed the season with two points finishes and a mechanical retirement following a collision with Tomass Štolcermanis at Lusail. He ended the campaign on 118 points—73 behind third-year champion Oleksandr Bondarev—with one victory from three podiums and two poles, as well as the rookies' title over Christian Costoya.

For his main campaign, Craigie remained with R-ace GP in Italian F4. Following two points finishes on debut at Misano, including thirteenth in the final, he improved to eighth in the Vallelunga final. Having finished seventh and sixth in the opening races at Monza, penalised from the podium in race one for contact with Thomas Bearman, he crashed at Lesmo-II in the final. The mid-season E4 Championship opened at Vallelunga, where Craigie won the second race and trailed Luka Sammalisto in the standings, before surpassing him with two victories and another podium at Paul Ricard following a hat-trick of poles.

Formula One In February 2023, Craigie became the youngest member of the Mercedes Junior Team, aged 12.

Awards and honours FIA Action of the Year: 2024 Mark Hines Memorial Trophy: 2022

Karting record Karting career summary Season Series Team Position 2019 Camberley Kart Club — Honda Cadet Ambition Motorsport NC† Shenington Kart Racing Club — Honda Cadet NC† 2020 Clay Pigeon Kart Club — Honda Cadet Ambition Motorsport NC† Lydd International Kart Club — Honda Cadet 22nd East of England Cup — Honda Cadet NC† Kartmasters British Grand Prix — Honda Cadet 32nd Fulbeck Championship — Honda Cadet NC† TVKC Autumn Cup — Honda Cadet 5th British Championships — Honda Cadet 24th 2021 PF Challenge Cup — Honda Cadet Ambition Motorsport 21st Wessex Challenge — Honda Cadet 9th Dunkeswell Kart Club — Honda Cadet NC† Clay Pigeon Kart Club — Honda Cadet NC† Kartmasters British Grand Prix — Honda Cadet 4th British 'O' Plate — Honda Cadet NC British Championships — Honda Cadet 9th RMC Golden Trophy — Micro Max 20th RMC Grand Finals — Micro Max 34th 2022 RMC Euro Trophy — Mini Max 34th PF Challenge Cup — Honda Cadet 21st Kartmasters British Grand Prix — Honda Cadet Zip Factory Team Kartmasters British Grand Prix — IAME Water Swift Argenti Motorsport 14th Ultimate Karting Championship — Honda Cadet Ambition Motorsport British 'O' Plate — IAME Water Swift Argenti Motorsport 9th British 'O' Plate — Honda Academy Zip Factory Team British Championships — Honda Cadet London Cup — Honda Cadet 2023 TVKC Icebreaker Cup — IAME Water Swift Argenti Motorsport British 'O' Plate — Junior Max 26th Ultimate Karting Championship — Junior Max 75th Shenington SuperPrix — X30 Junior 11th English Championship — Junior Max RMC Euro Trophy — Junior Max British Championships — X30 Junior Argenti Motorsport 10th British Championships — Junior Max 12th Trent Valley Kart Club — Junior Max 41st RMC Grand Finals — Junior Max 20th International Karting Ranking 213th International Karting Ranking — Junior Max 6th 2024 TVKC Winter Warmer Trophy — X30 Junior Argenti Motorsport 6th British 'O' Plate — Junior Max 8th IAME Euro Series — X30 Junior GGM 19th British Championships — Junior Max Argenti Motorsport 44th CIK-FIA European Championship — OK-J Prema Racing 19th Champions of the Future — OK-J CIK-FIA World Championship — OK-J British Championships — X30 Junior Argenti Motorsport 4th IAME Warriors Final — X30 Junior VictoryLane International Karting Ranking 21st International Karting Ranking — OK-J 9th 2025 IAME Winter Cup — X30 Senior VictoryLane 14th WSK Super Master Series — OK Prema Racing 9th CIK-FIA European Championship — OK 10th Champions of the Future — OK CIK-FIA World Championship — OK 5th International Karting Ranking 12th International Karting Ranking — OK 5thSource: As Craigie was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles Podiums Points Position 2026 UAE4 Series R-ace GP 12 1 2 0 3 118 Italian F4 Championship 18 2 0 3 6 268* * E4 Championship 6 3 3 4 4 138* *Source:

Season still in progress.

Complete UAE4 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrant123456789101112Points2026R-ace GPSource:

Complete Italian F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrant12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728Points2026R-ace GPMIS13VLL2MNZ3MUG12IMO2MIS23**Source: Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. Season still in progress.

Complete E4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrant123456789Points2026R-ace GP**Source: Season still in progress.

Notes

References

External links