British
Cian Shields is a racing driver born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and of Irish descent — a combination that makes him one of the few Scots currently chasing a path to Formula 1.
The climb
Shields started karting at eleven and won the IAME Series Benelux X30 Junior title in 2019. He moved into British single-seaters, learning his craft before a 2022 GB3 campaign with Hitech that brought a win at Silverstone, three podiums and 13th overall. In 2023 he stepped up to Euroformula Open with Team Motopark and finished runner-up on the back of four race victories — comfortably his strongest junior season and the result that opened the door to the FIA ladder.
Formula 3
Shields contested the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Hitech Pulse-Eight, but it was a chastening campaign in one of the world's most competitive junior grids: he finished last of the full-time runners and failed to score a single point all year, a sobering reset after his Euroformula success.
Formula 2
Late in 2024 he was thrown a Formula 2 lifeline, joining AIX Racing for the final two rounds. He started both events near the back but capitalised on a safety-car pit stop in the Qatar feature race to take 11th. He stayed for a full rookie F2 season in 2025, which was punishing — 24th in the standings — though he produced a standout drive in the chaotic Montreal feature, climbing eleven places to sixth for his first F2 points. He also banked F1 mileage, testing for Aston Martin in June 2025, and tried Formula E rookie running with Cupra Kiro in 2026.
2026 / current season
Re-signing with AIX for 2026 was a 'no-brainer', Shields said, valuing the stability of a familiar team and engineers as the platform to finally turn potential into results. He topped the final pre-season test session for AIX, a confidence-boosting marker, and lines up this year alongside rookie Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. — grandson of the two-time world champion — in an intriguing lineup. With a full season of F2 experience behind him, the early aim is a 'good haul of points' from the opening rounds and a clear, demonstrable step forward in his second full campaign, proving the lessons of a tough 2025 have stuck.