In motorsport there are many financial barriers that have prevented talented drivers going further into the sport. This can be seen in Formula 1 (F1) because, in recent years, drivers have been accelerated through the ranks by having extensive financial backing and even connections within the sport. These drivers now have one of the twenty-two spots on the grid and they might not necessarily have the talent to be in Formula 1. F1 is supposed to be the top level of sport and only have the best of racers, however by letting people who are willing to pay a lot more money we can see that the sport is not all about the talent.
A career in racing usually starts in go-karting, where highly competitive children compete for the top spot in racing. These children are are competing on a very fair standard and have minimum advantages over their opponents. Most karts are relatively equal and have the same engine. This is where the cost comes in, because to compete on an international stage it will cost over $150,000 to cover the cost of traveling, the kart, mechanics, spare parts and race entry fees for one season. Due to the fact that most karting championships do not offer sponsorships, this money usually comes from parents paying. This might be considered to be ‘worth it’ if you are a top runner, however winning the karting championship does not mean you are going to be offered a drive in formula 1. Most of the top racers are equally as talented in terms of driving and they are racing vehicles that simulate racing at its most pure form. Today, every racer on the F1 grid has come from karting.
Let’s say you have spent your $150,000 and won the karting championship, now you are ready to move on to the next step, which is single seater racing. There are many single seater championships that you can race in, one of them is Formula 3 (F3). F3 has a collection of talented racing drivers who could afford to move on to the next step toward racing in F1. However, most of the drivers are still not established because it is a very drastic change from karts to cars. This means for their first season most drivers are still paying for their own careers. One season in European F3 cost around $750,000 and most people compete up to two years in this category. After the first year, if you race very successfully there is a chance you can be taken up by a major team and have a greater chance of making it to Formula 1. However, even if you win the F3 championship there is still no guarantee that you are going to F1.
Now that you have spent over up to $2.25 million of your own money and dropped out of university, made some major sacrifices and been the best racer in each category you can now be considered by one of the F1 teams to join Formula 2 (F2), which is the ranking before Formula 1. This ranking usually only takes sponsored drivers who race in equally competitive cars in front of the F1 crowd. In this category most people are then recruited to Formula 1. However due to the competition and fact that F2 drivers do not get paid most are forced out of the sport and have join other categories of racing that are willing to pay.
This traditional route makes it nearly impossible for drivers to get into Formula 1, even if they have the talent to be competitive in racing. On the grid there are some drivers who have made it using other routes, an not necessarily have talent to be considered one of the best drivers in the world.
Max Verstappen was the youngest driver when he joined at the age of 17 and is predicted to be a future champion. Max was quickly pushed through the rankings, without necessarily having the talent. At the age of 16 Verstappen won the world karting championship. He then moved on to Formula 3, where he had a short and mildly successful career. He was signed on the team not because of his performance in F3 which can be seen as he did not win the championship, however his father raced for the same F1 team in 2003 where the team was called Minardi. This connection allowed Max to race in the team and show what he could do. This shows how Max Verstappen was accelerated through the ranking to get a spot in F1.
Another example of this is Lance Stroll. This young driver raced in many categories before joining F1. He was a semi-successful driver however he was never expected to be a F1 driver. This is until his father, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, agreed to pay $40 million for one season as a full time driver for Williams Martini Racing. This allowed Stroll to compete in Formula 1 without having to wait and succeed in all the categories before Formula 1.
Using this knowledge, we can see that in the current situation in Formula 1, the financial barrier is so great that most talented drivers are not able to compete past go karting. This has lead to people being able to pay their way through the sport and not necessarily being the most talented. A solution for this problem would to make a cheaper competitive platform where racers could have a chance to compete for a seat in F1. Nissan has made a program called the GT Academy, which uses a Playstation game to find a potential driver. This competition then lets people who do not have the money still have a chance to become a racing driver.
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