Even though his team at that time, Toyota, pulled out of Formula 1 after the end of the 2009 season, it would have been a shock not to see the highly talented Timo Glock on the 2010 grid, so it came as no surprise when he was snapped up by the newly formed Virgin team. He lines up for the Russian-British team - now carrying the new name Marussia - again in 2012.

It was in 2001 that he won the German Formula BMW title and then swiftly and successfully moved through various single-seater categories. In 2004 he got his first Formula 1 chance with the Jordan team, first as test driver and then as race driver with his first Grand Prix in Montréal where he scored two world championship points. Although his move to GP2 was a step back he won the title in 2007 and proved that he deserved the Toyota drive he was given for 2008 and 2009.

Following his first season in Formula 1 with Williams, Nicolas Hülkenberg joined Force India as test and reserve driver this year. For this year he has been promoted to be the team's regular racing driver. He scored 22 World Championship points for Williams in 2010 and started the Brazilian Grand Prix from pole position.

He completed his first Formula One test for Williams on 13^th  December 2007. Shortly after, the iconic English racing team confirmed him as its Formula 1 test driver for the 2008 season, a position he also held in 2009. Hülkenberg started gaining experience in the Formula BMW ADAC Championship, which he won in 2005 with eight victories. In 2006 he raced in both the German Formula Three Championship and A1GP World Cup of Motorsport for A1 Team Germany, with the team winning the title thanks to his nine victories. In 2007 he was third in the Formula 3 Euro Series and went on to win the title the next year. Hülkenberg won the GP2 series in 2009.

When Nico Rosberg won the Formula BMW ADAC Championship his reward was to test a Formula One car on the 3^rd  December 2002 in Barcelona. The 17-year-old son of 1982 Formula One World Champion, Keke Rosberg, was the youngest driver ever to take part in a Formula One test at that time, and his performance in Barcelona earned him two further runs with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team.

The team subsequently signed Rosberg as its test driver for the 2005 season, the year he also won the GP2 Championship. It was no surprise that he was then moved up to a race seat in 2006. He stayed with Williams until the end of 2009 and has been racing alongside Michael Schumacher for Mercedes GP since 2010

When Bruno Senna was confirmed as a Hispania Racing driver for the 2010 season, it was the realisation of a dream for the young Brazilian. It also meant the return of both the name Senna and the distinctive helmet his famous uncle, Ayrton Senna, had worn. Last year he did several races for Lotus, before he was signed by Williams for the 2012 Formula 1 season.

It was a brave move for him to follow in the double world champion’s footsteps, especially after missing out on racing in karts in his formative years. However, from the moment he started his single-seater career in the Formula BMW UK Championship in 2004 he proved racing is in his genes. His single-seater career was successful, culminating in the runner-up spot in the 2008 GP2 series. His first taste of Formula 1 was at a test in Barcelona that same year.

Formula 1World Champion Sebastian Vettel is the perfect ambassador for Formula BMW. He won the Formula BMW ADAC Championship title in 2004 with a record 18 wins from 20 starts. Since then he has gone from strength to strength and became the 2010 and 2011 Formula One World Champion.

Prior to that in 2007 he became the youngest driver to score a world championship point when he stood in for Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber F1 Team in Indianapolis. Vettel turned into a fulltime Grand Prix driver in Hungary the same year when he moved to Toro Rosso. Just over a year later, in Monza, the young German not only secured his first Formula 1 pole, but also went on to claim his first win.

He then moved to Red Bull Racing and won four races for the team in 2009. Vettel's greatest triumph came last year: he won 11 Grands Prix and became the youngest driver in Formula One history to clinch his second World Championship title.

Graham Rahal has a name that is synonymous with motor racing success: his father, Bobby, won the ChampCar series three times, as well as the Indianapolis 500. Graham is aiming to follow in his father’s footsteps and started his single-seater career in Formula BMW USA in 2004. After two years in the series he went on to take part in the Atlantic Championship and then moved up to ChampCars in 2007, finishing his third race in second and becoming the youngest ever driver to finish a race on the podium in this series.

The following year he became the youngest ever winner of an Indycar race and then in 2009 the youngest ever to clinch pole position. He also started fourth on the grid at the Indy 500 and was seventh in the series. Following another successful season in the Indycar series, Rahal switched to the championship-winning team of Chip Ganassi for the 2011 season.

In December 2009 the Australian travelled to the young driver tests in Jerez and after three days in the Red Bull car was fastest overall. Soon after that he was announced as the official reserve driver for both Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso. For the 2012 season, he was announced as regular GP driver for the Toro Rosso squad.

It was in Formula BMW Asia in 2006 that Ricciardo started his single-seater career after being awarded one of the prestigious Formula BMW scholarships. In his Rookie year he was third overall in the championship with 12 podiums from 19 races. He then moved to Italy to compete in Formula Renault and in 2008 won the Formula Renault 2.0 WEC Championship. The next year he was runner up in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and was crowned British Formula 3 Champion. In 2010, as well as his reserve driving duties, he competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, and also raced there last year, finishing fifth for Team ISR.

Although she was born in Switzerland, Simona has carved out a motor racing career for herself in America. After karting in her early years in Europe followed by two years in single-seaters, it was in 2006 that she took to the tracks in Formula BMW USA. She made a name for herself in that season finishing fourth in the series and winning at Lime Rock. She recorded six podiums and with two third place finishes in the races supporting the US Grand Prix became the first woman ever to earn a podium result at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In 2007, 2008 and 2009 she went on to compete in the Atlantic Championship, where she finished third overall last season notching up four wins, two poles and nine podiums from 12 starts. She then moved up to the IndyCar series, where she was awarded the "Rising Star" award at the end of last season. In 2011, de Silvestro lined up in the IndyCar series for the HVM team.