Gloucestershire’s Zak O’Sullivan has made the shortlist for the Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award after an outstanding 2021 season in the GB3 Championship.

It was announced earlier this month that the 16-year-old had made the long-list of 10 for the prize, which was launched in 1989 with the aim of finding and assisting the best junior British racing drivers.

Now, the judges have whittled down the list to the final four and chosen the GB3 champion-elect alongside Euroformula Open driver Louis Foster, Red Bull Junior driver Jonny Edgar and GB3 rival Oliver Bearman.

They will put O’Sullivan’s skills to the test in a range of machinery around Silverstone, including MotorSport Vision Formula 2 cars, a BBM Sport Ginetta LMP3 sportscar and an Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Previous winners of the award include current British Formula One stars George Russell and Lando Norris, plus 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button.

“I thought it would be difficult to make the final four of this award so I am honoured to be chosen,” said O’Sullivan, who has raced for renowned feeder series team Carlin in both years of his single-seater career.

“I’m thoroughly looking forward to testing my skills in a really exciting range of cars and benchmarking myself against the other finalists.”

The judging panel includes BRDC vice-president and F1 driver steward Derek Warwick, double British Touring Car champion Jason Plato and previous award winners Darren Turner, Andrew Kirkaldy and Alexander Sims.

They will be responsible for choosing the winner, who will be announced at the Autosport Awards on December 19.