An Atlantan in Formula One? Shawn Rashid is trying to make it happen.

Then Shawn Rashid is just for you.

If you like auto racing, all the better.

Rashid is a 29-year-old professional driver trying to reach Formula One, the world’s most popular motorsport series. The son of a Pakistani immigrant father and a Michigander mother, born at Piedmont Hospital and raised in Buckhead and DeKalb County (before moving to Costa Rica for much of his youth), he faces long odds to be one of the 20 drivers on the F1 grid, where world-famous racers such as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen pilot their open-wheel, single-seat rockets.

On top of being old for someone at his stage of racing, Rashid is also an extremely late arrival to the sport. He’s also a rare American in a sport populated primarily by Europeans. But he does have talent, drive and, not least, belief that he can make it.

“It’s been a wild journey,” Rashid told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s been quite unique, honestly. It’s very common for me to hear from people that (say), ‘You’re too old to have started and you shouldn’t do this and you should do something else.’ But it’s never really deterred me.”

Only five years ago, there was no need to deter Rashid, because not only was he not a race-car driver, but he wasn’t even thinking about becoming one.

In 2020, he graduated from Purdue with a degree in industrial engineering. He was interviewing for jobs and figuring out his next steps.

He had been a high-achieving student. From their parents, Rashid and his sister Amber knew all about the value of not just hard work, but belief in self. His father, Noman, arrived in Atlanta from Pakistan in his mid-20s in 1986 with barely any money or English-speaking ability. He took whatever jobs he could get and ultimately became the successful owner of a car-repair shop (Buckhead Collision). His mother, Diane Leonall, had put herself through nursing school at Emory.

“I just have a really strong believe that, really, anything is possible as long as you really believe it can be done and as long as you’re willing to put in the work,” Rashid said.

Growing up, Rashid played sports like tennis, basketball, soccer and golf. He had always enjoyed cars, growing up around them in his father’s shop and playing with remote-control models, but the idea of racing cars “was never on the radar,” he said.

That began to change before his graduation from Purdue, when he took racing lessons at Laguna Seca Raceway in central California, a gift from his dad.

There, he learned quickly and excelled in competitions. He stayed for an advanced course, where he performed well again. Instructors were surprised when he told them that he had never previously raced and even suggested that he consider becoming a race-car driver, Rashid said.

Rashid returned from California and continued his job search. But he began considering the possibility of making the huge leap into racing. He meditated and prayed often.

Trying to help, Rashid’s father arranged a meeting for his son with a former driver named Johnny O’Connell through a mutual friend. O’Connell, who lives near Lake Lanier, is a four-time winner of the famed 24-hour race at Le Mans.

One night around this time, Rashid said he had a dream that he believes was a conversation with God. He said he received a message to follow his passions “and all I had to do was walk through the door when it came. I had to be the one to make the choice, make the leap and ultimately trust and have faith that everything will work out.”

Rashid then received what might have been a nudge toward the edge. As it turned out, O’Connell’s son Canaan was working at Laguna Seca as an instructor. And, while he rarely calls his dad, he had reached out a few months earlier to rave about a student.

The student was Rashid.

Credit: Photo courtesy Rory Butcher

Credit: Photo courtesy Rory Butcher

“It was like this synchronicity that happened,” Rashid said. “I kind of took that as a message from God that this is something that I should pursue.”

Johnny O’Connell verified the most unlikely coincidence — or, if you prefer, fateful connection.

“The initial communication was like, ‘God, everything is lining up here,’” Johnny O’Connell said. “’There’s a lot of good vibes going on here.’”

O’Connell began mentoring Rashid, who started training on go-carts at Atlanta Motorsports Park in Dawsonville.

“Great kid, great family,” Johnny O’Connell told the AJC. “I love him to death.”

O’Connell saw Rashid’s ability to control the car well and fearlessness. In 2021, the next step was for Rashid to move out to California, where he trained at a driving club.

“If there was one thing, he was going fast without thinking about why he was going fast,” O’Connell said. “He was just like a crazy teenager, ‘Dad gave me the keys to the Ferrari.’ But, obvious talent and huge commitment and desire. Like, next level. Which is what you need.”

At that point, to continue his Formula One pursuit, Rashid moved to Oxford, England, in 2022. He started in the National Formula Ford Championship, a low-level circuit for formula racing. He finished fifth in points standings and won once with four podium finishes in 19 starts, an impressive showing for a driver who was essentially a novice.

In 2023, he moved up to the GB3 Championship, a more competitive regional feeder series. Results did not follow. It was a learning experience for Rashid.

“I found out pretty soon that motorsport has a lot of sharks in it,” he said.

He switched teams and performed better in 2024, ending the season 17th out of 33 drivers. He is competing this season with Nielsen Racing on a different series, Euroformula.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Relay Film

Credit: Photo courtesy of Relay Film

The journey has tested his determination, belief and resources. To start, there’s only 20 spots for drivers in F1.

Beneath the top of the pyramid are hundreds of drivers like Rashid. Many of them started racing go-carts as young as 8. The best earn F1 seats at the minimum age of 18. Of the 20 drivers in F1, 14 are younger than Rashid and five are 22 or younger.

Beyond that, until drivers reach F1, formula racing is a largely self-funded operation and is staggeringly expensive. Over the past three years, the estimated cost for Rashid’s mission to F1 has been between $2 million and $2.5 million, manager Rory Butcher said. The expenses have been borne by Rashid’s family.

“I’m very blessed,” Rashid said. “My parents have put everything into this pretty much. But that’s their mindset with everything.”

Said his father, Noman, “Every single penny, I’ve not regretted.”

The planned jump to the next rung of the ladder, Formula Two, will cost even more. It was why Rashid was back in Atlanta in May, including an appearance at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, telling his story and making a pitch for sponsorship support. (His tale also is told on his website, rashidroyalracing.com.)

Rashid is trying to catch up to the skill level of competitors who not only are more experienced but younger, deliver results, raise sponsorship support and find a seat on an F2 team. Then he would have to perform well there to get the notice of an F1 team willing to take a chance on him.

“There’s a lot of stars that need to align,” Rashid said.

He has auditioned with F2 teams and done well, he said, but the financial support also has to be in place.

Because of the cost, “you don’t see drivers stay in F2 or F3 for longer than one or two seasons,” said Butcher, Rashid’s manager.

Given his late start, it’s impressive that Rashid has made it this far. That said, it remains a long shot, and an expensive one at that.

But overcoming long odds is part of the purpose that he believes to be divinely inspired.

“Of course I want to be a world champion,” he said, “but my top goal is to inspire people. I want to be an example for people that this is possible.”

An Atlantan with no racing experience until his college years reaching motorsport’s apex?

It would be a heck of a story.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Relay Film

Credit: Photo courtesy of Relay Film