He may have taken an unusual path into single-seaters, but Keanu Al Azhari has not looked back since. In the most recent Feeder Series Podcast episode, he told us about his route from karting to the Alpine junior team and the interview that helped kick off his single-seater career.

By George Sanderson

Keanu Al Azhari was born and raised in Dubai – thousands of kilometres away from the European karting championships that produce so many of today’s top motorsport talents. It was through watching his father, Karim Al Azhari, race in local championships that his love for racing blossomed.

In 2018, at just 10 years old, the Emirati took to European karting, beginning a five-year stretch of competing across the continent as well as back home in the United Arab Emirates. The moments leading to his big break in single-seaters, however, began away from the racetrack, in front of a camera.

The Richard Mille Young Talent Academy Shootout is a free competition held since 2018 in which a young karter is selected to receive a fully funded season in Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport.

The shootout, open to karters aged 14 to 16 who have not already signed with a driver management agency, features a multi-step selection process. As 2022 shootout participant Al Azhari explained, there are the standard steps: CV submission, physical tests, race simulations on track. And then there are the less conventional ones, beginning with a video submission.

“You had to record a video for them to pick. It was 14 drivers that they selected,” Al Azhari explained on the Feeder Series Podcast. After being selected, he explained, candidates underwent a physical assessment, a mental assessment and a talking assessment – which Al Azhari said was ‘probably the most interesting thing [he had] ever done at a track’.

In the talking assessment, candidates individually sat down with representatives from watch manufacturer and title partner Richard Mille, racing team MP Motorsport and management agency All Road Management, who organise the shootout.

Then, faced by a panel of prospective interrogators, they have one task: talk.

“They don’t give you direction. Nothing,” Al Azhari recalled. “I had to come up with a lot of things on the spot, but I never really struggled with that. I’m a very open person, so it was really interesting to see and to experience, and I think I did well.”

Despite showing up with ‘very minimal preparation’, Al Azhari was dominant in the assessments, displaying both physical and mental strength as well as raw pace around the Circuito de Navarra. It was an eye-opening moment not just for the youngster but also for his father, who had supported his karting ambitions throughout. 

“From that day on, my dad said, ‘Okay, maybe we need to put a bit more time into this’,” the 17-year-old recalled.

Al Azhari advanced to the finals, which grew from five to six candidates because of the slim margins between some of the drivers. The shootout was designed to identify the best all-round option, but it was evident that Al Azhari ticked every box, having been towards the top in all assessments and on the timesheets.

“The qualifying time, I was eight tenths ahead of everyone,” he said. “I showed up and I was just dominant, which was really nice to see. It was one of my first times in an F4 car and I just felt at peace. I enjoyed it so much, and I just knew that I had the skill and I’d like to keep working with it.”

Success in the Richard Mille shootout earned him the seat with MP Motorsport in the 2023 Spanish F4 Championship, but 2024 proved to be his true breakout year. He claimed his first single-seater victories in F4 UAE and fought for the title against Freddie Slater and Kean Nakamura-Berta, ultimately finishing third.

In Spanish F4, meanwhile, Al Azhari led the way for much of the season before losing consistency in the final rounds. It opened the door for his MP Motorsport teammate Mattia Colnaghi – who succeeded him as the RMYTA scholarship shootout winner – to usurp him and take the title by 10 points.

But even in the wake of defeat, there remained hope.

“The talent became recognised, and the results, and Alpine gave me a call and said, ‘Let’s do something’ ,and that’s how it came along,” he said of his accession to the Alpine Academy. “It took years of effort and dedication and results, and then it all came together.”

With Alpine’s backing, Al Azhari competed in GB3 this season, securing one victory and four further podiums on his way to sixth in the drivers’ standings. His team, Hitech, also achieved a second-place finish in the teams’ championship behind back-to-back champions Rodin Motorsport.

To learn more about Keanu Al Azhari’s GB3 season and his career to date, listen to the latest Feeder Series Podcast episode featuring host Jim Kimberley and GB3 editor George Sanderson, released 11 November.

Header photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography