Irina Sidorkova earned her first ever W Series podium last weekend with a second-place finish at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. After starting in P5, the 18-year-old ran a faultless race to finish behind reigning champion Jamie Chadwick, who more than made up for her shaky start in the opening round.Sidorkova finished eighth in the first race, banking herself some points to get her debut season off to a good start. Now, after her podium finish in the second round, she has shot up to fourth in the overall driver standings on 22 points. Ahead of her sit a trio of Brits – week one winner Alice Powell (29 pts), Sarah Moore (30 pts), and Chadwick (33 pts).

After the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, Sidorkova spoke about her performance and said without hesitation that it was "the best race of my career" and explained she immediately recognised her errors from week one and worked hard to correct them in her second appearance in Austria.

"Comparing the race from the previous week, I had a lot of bad luck and I made a lot of mistakes. My mission this weekend was to correct all my mistakes."

Heading into Silverstone, the Russian is confident she will have another strong race, but admitted she isn't looking too far ahead and is aware of the heavy competition in the W Series this season.

Who is Irina Sidorkova?

The racing rookie recently celebrated her 18th birthday and is one of the youngest competing in W Series this year. Sidorkova was initially set to compete in the 2020 season, which was eventually called off due to Covid-19. Instead, the Formula 3 championship held an Esports event, in which the teen placed third overall.

Irina Sidorkova

Sidorkova has been racing since she was just 11 years old, initially finding her love for the sport after watching the film Cars as a child. In just seven years, she has gone from karting and winning the 2018 Junior Russian Circuit Racing Series, to competing at the highest level of single-seater racing for women.

W Series chances

Despite being an underdog due to her age and experience compared to the likes of Chadwick, Powell and Beitske Visser, Sidorkova is already establishing herself as a dark horse of this season.

Fellow youngster Marta García competed in the inaugural W Series championship in 2019 and finished fourth overall after two podium finishes, including a win at Norisring. The Spaniard was just 18 when she earned her victory in Germany, showing even the youngest drivers can challenge the world's best.

Although it's still early on in the tournament, Sidorkova has set the bar high by climbing to fourth in the table already. Her ability to acknowledge her mistakes and quickly learn from them showcases her mental resilience and ambition to constantly improve.

Although a championship title in her rookie season could be a tall ask of the 18-year-old starlet, we can expect big performances to come from her as the thrilling campaign plays out.