Many of us grow up not quite sure of what we want to do or what our place in the world is – but not Lazarus Añonuevo. He was just four years old when he decided what path he wanted to take in life.

“I watched this show Drive to Survive, and I grabbed my dad’s hand and I said ‘This is what I want to do’, that’s when I knew I wanted to do go-karting racing,” says Lazarus.

Now aged nine, the young driver is on track to becoming a champion Formula One driver. In the past few weeks, Lazarus has secured a win at both the ACT Titles and the NSW State Titles, taking home the Blue Plates.

“No-one has won the Novice Championship in Canberra as a Canberran for years; it is always someone from NSW or a Queenslander or from Victoria that wins it. When he crossed the line last month, the whole grandstand – 100-150 people – were like ‘Yeah, finally a Canberran local has won the championship’,” says Al Añonuevo, proud papa.

The 2023 season was a strong one for Lazarus, being named Canberra Kart Racing Club Novice Champion and runner-up in the Southern Stars Series and ACT Titles. Lazarus has been re-signed by DR Kart Racing Australia and Elite Driver Academy for the 2024 season.

Self-proclaimed as one of the slowest drivers on the road, Al says at first he didn’t even know how to spell go-kart and thought it was like bumper cars or power carts. Researching the sport, Al discovered the Canberra Kart Racing Club.

“It is cool because inside [the club] you can see Mark Webber’s name because he was a club champion, just like Lazarus was a club champion last year,” says Al. “Oscar Piastri, he’s in the same league in the Australian Karting Championship that Lazarus is fighting for; you look at that and you’re like, ‘this could be possible’.”

When the family first went to meet the team, they learned that Lazarus was too young to get a practice licence, as the minimum age is six and minimum racing age is seven.

“We tried to put him in dance, swimming, basketball, every sport and he used to pretend he was sick because he didn’t want to do it. So, we bought him an electric go-kart that went 25-35km an hour and said, ‘Let’s see if this is actually something you want to do’,” says Al. 

Lazarus was keen to get out to the park each weekend where they created their own tracks on the footpaths. They then bought a simulator for the young enthusiast, which he has used to memorise a number of the Formula One tracks.

“The Crown Towers last year had a Ferrari simulator set up and he actually broke the record.”

The week Lazarus turned six, the family drove to Wollongong to collect his go-kart before heading to the Mark Webber Circuit.

“By the second session, the liaison officer was like,  ‘I think your kid just broke the record’. All first-timers we were told will do this track in four minutes, by the second session he was doing it in a minute twenty,” says Al.

Going that fast can be frightening for some, but Lazarus says the fear doesn’t last.

“The first time is, maybe for a whole week or a whole month, they will be scared. Then they will build up their confidence and then they would get less scared,” says Lazarus.

At seven, he began racing. Starting at the back with the other newbies, it didn’t take long for Lazarus to be overtaking more experienced drivers. In his first race as a P-plater, he earned a podium place.

Currently in the Novice class, for ages 7-10, Lazarus will then move up to Rookie, ages 10-13. When he’s 12, Lazarus will be able to get behind the wheel of a race car and there are teams already showing interest in getting him on board.

“They are doing in excess of 220km [per hour] as a 12-year-old; I’m going, let’s make sure he has the race craft, which is the most important. He does have a few people that are eyeing him out already … Danilo Rossi, owner of DR Kart Italy said that if he wants to race in Italy, they’d be more than happy to do that, so there are definitely options for him.”

In the natural progression, a driving academy has to pick up the driver to train and race for a few years. Al says skilled drivers progress to Formula Four, Three and Two before hitting the big leagues in Formula One; the youngest driver to be picked up for F1 was just 17.

Rising at 7am every day, Lazarus does his training, agility, neck and core exercises and jumps on the simulator. Al and Sarie have had many conversations about how to take the next steps for their son and considered going to Italy when he turned 13 for the opportunity to be picked up by Ferrari’s academies.

“We found out that Ferrari is actually opening a driver academy here [in Australia] in 2026; he would 11 when that happens so maybe some stars are aligning here,” smiles Al.

Reaching speeds of 100kmph already, Lazarus has experienced a couple of incidents on track, including one that saw him ejected from the car. He got right up and wanted to get back behind the wheel. The races can be hard to watch for parents.

“I can’t watch honestly; I feel sick every single time. I thought maybe after the first year I would get better at watching him but if you see me, the whole family is over there [at the stadium] and I’m behind the shed praying to god that he comes back safe and sound. I am very proud and I am very stressed,” says Sarie.

Supported by the grassroots club, Al says everyone is happy to help each other when required. The club hosts training days which Al says are mainly to teach the parents how to assist and ensure their kids are safe.

“We had to learn everything, we didn’t even own the right tools and people used to laugh at us because I had carpenter tools to build a house,” smiles Al.

Now the mechanic on the team, Al and the rest of the family are there to support Lazarus every step of the way. Migrating to Australia from the Philippines in the mid-1990s, Al was a talented tennis player in high school and was scouted. Unfortunately, his mother didn’t have the money to send him anywhere and Al promised himself he would do whatever it took to help his child achieve their dreams.

“Sarie and I both come from nothing, we migrated here, we love Australia, we’ve tried to build an amazing life here and not waste the chance our parents gave us … Why do we work so hard in the first place if we can’t give the little people in our life as much support as we can?” says Al.

From the basics of safety and good sportsmanship, Al and Sarie instill in Lazarus the importance of good driving and being fair on the track. The young racer’s parents radiate with pride and warmth.

“If you make a mistake they are always there, they tell you to learn from your mistakes and just don’t do it again,” says Lazarus.

When the competition gets a bit hairy, Al and Sarie try to lead by example, remaining level-headed because they understand how they act affects how people see Lazarus.

“The way we see it, we’ve worked hard to give Lazarus the best chance; why would we do something like that to ruin it. People have come up to say he is overtaking and this and that, but I’m like, ‘this is racing, it is a sport, what do you want him to do?’,” says Al.

A proud Canberran, Lazarus is always keen to tell fellow racers where he comes from.

“He wants to represent his city, he loves going to every state and saying ‘Hey, I’m from Canberra, it is my home track, if you want to come and race, come to Canberra, it is pretty cool’,” says Al.

Eager to encourage other youngsters to test out the sport, Lazarus has this advice for any budding motorsport drivers.

“Just give it their all and the results will happen,” he smiles.

Follow Lazarus Añonuevo on his journey to being a Formula One champion; instagram.com/im.lazarus.a

Canberra Daily is keen to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.