Could the motor racing world have just discovered the next Jenson Button, a star who arguably deserves a Formula One drive more than the dozen-odd pay-to-race drivers in the single-seater sport?

Chris Middlehurst has been crowned this year’s champion for the 2013 Protyre Formula Renault Championship, after securing his 13th podium of the season as he raced to 2nd in round 14 at Rockingham in Northamptonshire. And he still has two races to go before the season comes to an end.

With six wins, four pole positions and five fastest race laps, it is the 18-year-old’s first ever championship victory in any category he has competed in. 

“What a great race today and a great way to win the championship with another podium,” an elated Chris Middlehurst said. “The car has been great everywhere this year and the team (MGR Motorsport) have been fantastic and it’s been down to me to seal the deal. To win championships, you don’t necessarily have to win races, just score points and keep on the podium as much as you can and that’s what we’ve done.

“As a single-seater driver I’d like to go up to European Renault or somewhere like that but it’s all down to the budget. We’ll work hard over the coming months where that’s concerned but we do have one or two things in the pipeline which might be a surprise.”

Mark Godwin, who owns the Bardon-based MGR Motorsport team, added: “It’s an amazing feeling and all the more sweet we’ve done it here, at Rockingham. Last year, we were very close to winning the championship but we had an awful weekend at Rockingham. It really couldn’t have been any worse. We kind of wanted to do it here – it’s absolutely fantastic to have won the championship so early.”

With two races to go, and the champion already decided, Chris Middlehurst so far has 392 points to Weiron Tan’s 297 and Jorge Cevallos’s 265.