A Tipton St John teenager has his sights set on Formula 1 glory after being snapped up by the racing team which helped launch Lewis Hamilton to world championship success.

A Tipton St John teenager has his sights set on Formula 1 glory after being snapped up by the racing team which helped launch Lewis Hamilton to world championship success.

Driving ace Harry Tincknell, 17, of Hayne Barton, has been signed up to race in this season's Formula Renault UK Championship by reigning champions CRS Racing- which boasts world champion Hamilton and F1 stars Kimi R�ikk�nen and Heikki Kovalainen amongst previous drivers.

Ambitious Harry caught the eye of the Leicestershire-based team's bosses during a successful drive in the Formula Renault Winter Cup at Rockingham and Croft and will make his Formula Renault UK debut at Brands Hatch next month.

CRS Racing Team Director, Andrew Kirkaldy, said: "Harry has fantastic potential and has proven himself on-track, despite his lack of mileage in the car; we've been instantly impressed by his commitment and professionalism. After our success in last year's championship we are certain that Harry will complement the team for 2009."

Delighted Harry, who hopes to go on and emulate the success of his hero Mika Hakkinen, said: "CRS's winning performance last year proves that they are definitely the right team to be with. I'm looking forward to getting back to testing in preparation for the season opener in April."

Harry now faces the challenge of moving into single-seater racing after seven seasons in karts where his exploits took him as far afield as Japan.

The Formula Renault UK season takes place over 10 weekends and supports other championships such as the British Touring Car Championship and World Series by Renault. Drivers in the series compete using identical, two-litre Renaultsport-Taatus racing cars.