For Laurens van Hoepen, it was clear from a very young age: he wanted to become a racing driver and preferably advance to Formula 1. Next season, the eighteen-year-old will take an important step in the further realisation of his dream: Van Hoepen will then make his debut in the Formula 3 championship on behalf of ART Grand Prix.

It is often said about a young Dutch talent: 'He could be Max Verstappen ' s successor in F1 '. No doubt Van Hoepen has heard it regularly in recent years. In any case, there is one similarity between the two: like Verstappen, the Wassenaar-born Van Hoepen was in a kart at a very early age. " The first time I was three years old," says Van Hoepen in conversation with GPblog.

Van Hoepen immediately a speed demon

"One Sunday, a good friend of my father's, former driver Toine Hezemans, called if he wanted to come karting with me. I can't remember, but I would have got in and accelerated immediately. I would have really gone full throttle into a corner, while my father and Toine were looking at each other like, 'Oh dear'. But at the very last moment I steered in anyway. It really was one of those beginner karts, so it must not have gone mega-hard. They had put wooden blocks under my feet because I couldn't reach the pedals."

Van Hoepen was caught by the racing bug from then on. When he was five, he was even competing in karting as well as motocross. A bit much, the Van Hoepen family thought, so little Laurens had to choose. His preference was the four-wheelers and at the age of eight there was his first race. A kart race that Laurens won immediately. As he actually always won the following years.

"Sometimes I would talk to my mechanic and we would say, 'What are we going to do this weekend?' Then he told me there was another race there or thereabouts. And sometimes I had missed qualifying before that. Then I entered anyway, without qualifying or without having driven the practice. Still then I won the race by about ten seconds. In the Netherlands, I won everything," Van Hoepen looks back.

Reality check for racing talent

The winning streak came to an end the moment the youngster started trying his luck in international races, mainly Italy. "I was about 10 years old and thought I was just going to win my first race there too. I was lucky I just made it to the final! Or I think I didn't even make the final! It was really a shock, that difference in level. I really thought I was the best. So then you immediately realise that it was good to have taken that step, to measure yourself against better drivers."

Van Hoepen remained active in karts for a relatively long time. A conscious choice, he says now: racing in a shifter kart for a while was seen as a better next step than switching to Formula 4. The entry into motorsport, in Formula Regional (FRECA), still followed in 2022. Thinking back to that time, Van Hoepen is critical of himself: "Speed was never a problem, but I made too many mistakes in my first season. And last year we thought we could go for the championship with ART in FRECA, but we unexpectedly struggled. In the pre-season tests we were constantly at the front, but during the season we were not consistent enough."

ART Grand Prix saw Van Hoepen's potential

Sometimes results do not say everything about performance, says Van Hoepen. Indeed, within ART they were more than happy with the Dutchman's development. "We naturally had conversations about the next step and very soon the conclusion was that I was ready for F3. How last season went and that the results were lacking is a pity, though. Formula 3 is much better known, although the level in the regionals is very high. With F3, you race with F1 in the same weekend, which is super cool; every time in the supporting programme. And the car also does have a bit more downforce, a bit more horsepower. Cool."

Formula 3 is much more in the spotlight than FRECA. With more interest, there are more pressures and expectations. Van Hoepen realises that: "In terms of speed, I expect us to be among the best, although then there are a lot of other factors. I am not going to say that I will immediately grab pole and win the first race. But we have the speed to get good results, at the beginning or later in the season. I am very much looking forward to it."

Nyck de Vries as a sounding board

Eventually, Van Hoepen hopes to enter Formula 1 in a few years' time. " Of course, that's the big dream," he says. In that case, following in the footsteps of not only Max Verstappen, but also Nyck de Vries. The latter is a good friend of Laurens and the Van Hoepen family. For the young driver, De Vries acts as a sounding board. "He helps us with different things. I can always ask him for advice and use his experience well. He went through exactly the same process and knows exactly how this world works."

For Van Hoepen, his season starts in Bahrain at the end of next month. He will not be active at Zandvoort in 2024, as the F3 skips this circuit. " I really regret that," he says. "With all those Dutch fans, that would have been so cool. I was really looking forward to that. But unfortunately. Fortunately there is Spa, but it won't be quite the same!"