Not many 24-year-olds get the opportunity to be put in charge of something as prestige and downright cool as a karting academy. Fewer still would be in a position to have it named after them, or to have their venture backed by a major racing organisation. In that context, with any kind of perspective, Sergey Sirotkin's current predicament is no sob story.

And yet, as he very candidly acknowledges shortly after the unveiling of his junior karting academy - launched under the banner of his backer and major motorsport player SMP Racing - his new set-up is "good, important and the right thing to do" but is not what he what he'd imagined he'd be doing at this point in his career.

Sirotkin spent the academy launch day presenting his new programme, answering numerous queries from the attendant children and their parents as well as the media, and going up against challengers in several heats at the indoor track that will host the academy. Admittedly, the extent of the 'challenge' he faced from Autosport was avoiding my stricken kart after I'd spun on a low-grip patch... twice.