By Amanda Little

Last updated 05:46, Friday, 22 August 2008

CUMBRIAN racing driver Oliver Turvey hopes winning the Formula Three championship a year ahead of schedule could land him a Formula One seat alongside his pal Lewis Hamilton next year.

F3 hopes: Oliver Turvey pictured in action, and inset

Turvey clinched the British Challenge Cup with double maximum points at Silverstone last weekend which saw him sweep to a nine-point lead in the title race with two rounds remaining.

The 21-year-old, who has just become the first motor racing driver to be awarded a Cambridge Blue, is preparing for the penultimate round in Romania this weekend.

He admits he’s shocked to be sitting top of the pile in his first season in F3 and hopes it will propel him closer to his dream of racing against Britain’s F1 golden boy Hamilton, a former rival during their days in karting.

Turvey said: “To be leading the F3 Championship in my first year is fantastic as it usually takes most people two years before they’re challenging for the title.

“I am looking to make the step up because we’ve had such a successful year. F3 is seen as the level that all aspiring F1 drivers race in.

“If I win the championship I want to go into GP2, which is one rung below F1 and is the feeder series for F1. The budget will be 1.5million Euros so I’ve got to get sponsorship for it, which my manager is working hard to secure.

“It’s not necessarily too early for a F1 drive as a few years ago drivers went from F3 straight into F1, so it’s not unrealistic. Last year’s F3 champion Marko Asmer is now a BMW F1 test driver.

“Ideally, I would like to get a drive in GP2 and do F1 testing next year and prove myself at every level.

“This is the first year I’ve been able to get a sponsor and be with a good team, so I was able to test over the winter and run on new tyres.”

Turvey, from Langwathby, near Penrith, could virtually seal the F3 championship over the weekend with races on the streets of Bucharest tomorrow and Sunday, before the final round in Donington in mid-October.

Two wins and two fastest laps last weekend at Silverstone saw him crowned the season’s top British driver, and put him nine points ahead of his nearest rival Sergio Perez.

Four drivers have a realistic shot at lifting the 2008 title, so Turvey knows the heat is on.

He said: “If I have a strong weekend in Romania, it will help enormously. I’m on form and I’m very quick at the moment.

“I’ve won three of the last four races and had a mechanical fault in the other when I was on pole.”