Will Stevens told me he would be an F1 driver when he was in Year 8, says his former Southend schoolteacher

Stevens will begin his first full season in F1 in free practice in Melbourne today and there will be a host of his former teachers and pupils at Southend’s Thorpe Hall School cheering him on.

And none more so than his old form tutor Lee Pullen who still remembers Stevens telling him he would one day become an F1 driver.

“When I joined the school in 2003, Will was in my form group and told me on my first day that he was going to be a driver in Formula One when he was older,” recalled Pullen.

“He was in Year 8 at the start when I remember some people having a ‘yeah right’ kind of reaction and telling him to get a plan B.

“However, he was always very focused on what he wanted to achieve and it’s great he’s been able to get there.

“I’ll certainly be watching him again at the weekend.”

Stevens started Thorpe Hall School at the age of seven and stayed until Year 10 when his family moved to Surrey.

And, by that point, Stevens’ racing career had already started to take off.

“In Year 10 we cut down his curriculum time for him to be able to commit to his karting a bit more,” recalled Pullen.

“But I always remember him as being a very popular pupil who was into a lot of sport.

“He had an older sister there at the same time who was really into her dancing and the family were really involved with the school.”

Since leaving the school, Stevens has continued to shine and he made his Formula One debut for Caterham F1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season.

He finished the race in 17th place and Pullen was surprisingly nervous watching the excitement unfold from his Southend home.

“I’ve always kept tabs on Will’s progress so I made sure I sat down to watch the race but I had real butterflies in my stomach which I certainly wasn’t expecting,” said Pullen.

“I’m sure it will be the same again on Sunday and it almost feels the same way as if I was in the car myself!”