A SEVENTEEN year old Felsted driver has become the youngest ever F1 racer to drive at the famous Monaco grand prix circuit. Michael Lyons who drives for the Hillspeed Racing team made history on May 10 and 11 after competing in the prestigious Grand Prix

A SEVENTEEN year old Felsted driver has become the youngest ever F1 racer to drive at the famous Monaco grand prix circuit.

Michael Lyons who drives for the Hillspeed Racing team made history on May 10 and 11 after competing in the prestigious Grand Prix Historique on the Monte Carlo street circuit.

Taking the wheel of a glorious blue 1977 Hesketh 308E the teenager qualified in a respectable seventeenth position on the grid. After making a tremendous start and rising four places inside the first lap however, Lyons was forced to retire after gearbox problems.

Team principle Richard Ollerenshaw was very prod of the young stars performance. "He did an excellent job and it was just a shame he was forced to retire after such an outstanding start. I am confident he would have finished inside the top 10, he really is a credit to himself."

Lyons only had 14 laps to learn the track from scratch and was easily the youngest driver in the field. Mr Ollerenshaw continued: "He did a top job, the breakdown was unfortunate and we were disappointed for him, but he can still take away a lot of positives from the weekend."

The teenager's next race is on Monday 26 when he returns to his usual single-seater Formula Renault BARC for the fifth round of the 2008 season at Oulton Park.