The St John’s student has just finished his debut season in the Australian Formula 4 Championship, where he finished a commendable seventh overall.

Everingham signed up with newcomer squad Junior Racing Development at just 15 after making the leap from the world of karting to circuit racing.

In 2016 he produced some eye-catching performances, most notably a fourth-placed finish at the start of the season.

“There’s definitely been some great improvements through the year,” Everingham said to the official Formula 4 website.

“It has been a rollercoaster, we peaked in the middle of the year with my results with a best result of fourth.”

That fourth came at Sandown, proving Everingham wasn’t one to get overawed by the big occasion.

That in itself is an achievement for Everingham, who was the youngest competitor in 2016 Formula 4 competition, where the cars reach speeds of up to 230km/hr.

The big occasion is something the emerging star experienced quite a lot this season, with most Australian Formula 4 rounds supporting Supercars rounds.

And the experience of racing on the same circuits as Everingham’s idols was a particular thrill.

“It’s an awesome experience, it’s not every day you get to share the same turf as Supercars,” Everingham said.

“It’s absolutely awesome getting to learn how the track changes, it’s just great being at the event.”

While the competition and sheer speed of the vehicles increased for Everingham this year, there was much more than that he had to deal with.

Learning about racing more, namely the technical aspects, was one of the biggest parts of his development year with the Junior Racing Development team.

“I’m still starting to get confident with the data, it’s all a learning curve and we’re getting there,” he said.

Everingham also finished the year third in the Rookie of the Year standings.