The 18-year-old Briton will receive £200,000, a test in an Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 car, full British Racing Drivers' Club membership, an Arai helmet and Jordan Bespoke personalised helmet bag as his prize.
Loake beat fellow finalists Taylor Barnard, Arvid Lindblad and Callum Voisin to become the 34th winner of the Award, which aims to find and boost rising British single-seater racers.
He was announced as the winner at the prestigious Autosport Awards at Grosvenor House on Park Lane.
Aston Martin F1 team sporting director Andy Stevenson presented the award to Loake, who said: “I am speechless, I honestly cannot believe it. This is the best thing I’ve received in my life. Thank you to everyone for helping me and sticking by me. I cannot believe it.
“I cannot put it into words, the whole way through the event, the fitness test, the simulator test and the full track test, it was so rugged. I am so thankful for this.
“It has been an incredible season for me, I wasn’t expecting it, and hopefully next year I can make a step towards Formula 3. My family have been there from start to finish, they are the ones who took this chubby kid from karting to win this. I cannot believe it.”
A race winner in British F4, Loake stepped up to GB3 with JHR Developments in 2023 and scored four wins on his way to third in the championship.
After a simulator assessment with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, the four Award finalists spent two days at Silverstone. They drove MotorSport Vision Formula 2, Beechdean Motorsport-run Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and United Autosports Ligier LMP3 machinery on the Grand Prix circuit. They also conducted fitness tests with Athletic Thinking.
More: How Aston Martin, Autosport and the BRDC find the next British F1 rising star
Loake joins an illustrious list of previous winners of the Award, which began in 1989, that includes 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button, 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard, current F1 drivers Lando Norris and George Russell, triple Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, and 2014 World Endurance champion Anthony Davidson.
The 2023 Award judging panel was led by ex-F1 driver and BRDC vice-president Derek Warwick. The other judges were four-time IndyCar champion Franchitti, successful McLaren and Lola designer Mark Williams, Le Mans-winning engineer Leena Gade, Aston Martin development driver and 1996 Award winner Darren Turner, GT team boss and 1997 Award winner Andrew Kirkaldy, IMSA champion and 2008 Award winner Alexander Sims, experienced commentator Ian Titchmarsh and Autosport’s chief editor Kevin Turner. The guest judge was three-time grand prix winner Johnny Herbert.
ALL THE WINNERS
1989 David Coulthard
1990 Gareth Rees
1991 Oliver Gavin
1992 Dario Franchitti
1993 Ralph Firman Jr
1994 Jamie Davies
1995 Jonny Kane
1996 Darren Turner
1997 Andrew Kirkaldy
1998 Jenson Button
1999 Gary Paffett
2000 Anthony Davidson
2001 Steven Kane
2002 Jamie Green
2003 Alex Lloyd
2004 Paul di Resta
2005 Oliver Jarvis
2006 Oliver Turvey
2007 Stefan Wilson
2008 Alexander Sims
2009 Dean Smith
2010 Lewis Williamson
2011 Oliver Rowland
2012 Jake Dennis
2013 Matt Parry
2014 George Russell
2015 Will Palmer
2016 Lando Norris
2017 Dan Ticktum
2018 Tom Gamble
2019 Johnathan Hoggard
2020 Not awarded
2021 Zak O’Sullivan
2022 Luke Browning
2023 Joseph Loake
Other awards decided by expert judging panels include the Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future Award, the Autosport Gold Medal incorporating the Gregor Grant Award for lifetime legacy, the John Bolster Trophy for technical achievement, the Pioneering and Innovation Award, Moment of the Year, and Promoter of the Year. A new award for 2023 is Brand Partnership of the Year.
Further categories, which are decided by fan voting, include International Racing Driver of the Year presented by Pirelli, British Competition Driver of the Year, Rally Driver of the Year, Rookie of the Year, International Competition Car of the Year and National Driver of the Year.
To find out who our other Award winners are, go to autosport.com/awards
