“The sport is more expensive than ever before”-The Billionaire Boy’s Club that is Formula 1
Formula 1 has always been portrayed to correlate with the glitz and glamour of the sporting world and why wouldn’t it be? Travelling the globe in multi-million-pound race cars is the luxury lifestyle many kids would dream of, but unlike a lot of other sports, the opportunity to live that dream seems far more unattainable and completely out of a young athlete’s control in a lot of cases. Why is Formula 1 such an exclusive club, and is there anything that can be done to try and change that for future generations?
Formula1News Journalist Nick Golding believes newfound longevity is one of the many factors.
“F1 drivers nowadays are staying in the sport for longer, this means there’s going to be less seats for younger drivers.”
Single seater racing is the pinnacle of motorsport, formula racing is the pinnacle of single seaters and Formula 1 is the pinnacle of formula racing. When you understand the scale of the ladder young drivers have to climb, it is much more comprehensive to appreciate why so few manage to forge a career in the sport they love.
The most obvious obstacle aspiring drivers have to face is the extremity of costs associated with racing in formula cars. A price that no other sport can really compete with due to the materials and facilities that are essential to the sport from karting all the way to Formula 1.
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher recently stated it would cost around £13m for a young driver to reach F1, a fee so ridiculous it doesn’t even sound factually correct, but it is. With this in mind, drivers with more money move up the ladder more quickly, and that doesn’t stop at the top, drivers like Nikita Mazepin and Nicolas Latifi earnt and retained seats in F1 before F2 Champions such as Oscar Piastri and Nick De Vries due to their father’s wealth.
Nick Golding believes the landscape of Formula One has changed significantly in recent years, and the financial battle young drivers face could be about to get worse if no action is taken.
“F1 is in an incredible position, but it’s also in a very dangerous one. The sport is more expensive than ever before, there are more eyes on the sport in the world than there has been ever before”.
Golding added: “The victims are when you look lower down the ladder. You can easily spend £700,000 just on karting.
“The entry fee for Formula 2 is 1.5–2 million dollars. It’s only going to get higher too because that’s the way the worlds going.”
Due to these extortionate prices F1 was labelled as ‘The Billionaire Boy’s Club’ by Lewis Hamilton who remains the only ever black Formula 1 driver in history, and also the most notable current driver to come from a more working-class background. F1 is determined to diversify the grid through race, gender, and class with multiple programs in operation to ensure they succeed. One of these programs is the ‘F1 Academy’ which aims to encourage more female participation in formula racing.
Golding stated: “The biggest problem for female drivers is sponsors, and that’s the point of the F1 Academy to give them a platform. The goal is to get more female drivers in F3 because at the moment there is one.”
F2 and F3 are the best place to be for junior drivers as they run under the FIA, the same organisation that Formula 1 is under. Other series offer similar machinery on a smaller stage such as GB3 but being part of the show on a Formula 1 weekend is something truly special. However, being part of the circus of F1 comes at an increased price, with drivers in the lower formulas still having to make the long-haul trips to each round.
Joe Ellis had his dream of Formula 1 taken away before he could even get started, without the finances or natural ability to support a karting career. Since then, he has trained and worked as a journalist within Formula One, including almost two years as the F2 and F3 correspondent for The Chequered Flag, making him an expert on those progressing up the ladder.
“I do think you could get away with slightly fewer rounds. They’ve flown the F2 and F3 teams to the other side of the world to Australia just now, for the teams and drivers that are there they’ve probably had to stump up an extra 10 or 20 grand to cover those costs.”
He added: “As much as I love watching, if they had to take away a round or two to make things financially easier for some of the drivers who are very talented and haven’t had the chance because they can’t afford it, I wouldn’t be against that.”
You’d like to believe that if you are the best in the world at something, you would be rewarded for it, but that currently isn’t the case in Formula 1 and Joe Ellis believes it’s directly due to financial issues.
“Part of the problem is a lot of the best drivers have already been lost to the system.
“Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargent (current F1 drivers) were second and third in British F4 behind a guy called Jamie Caroline who’s now no longer racing (single seaters) because he can’t afford it. He could easily be in F1 now if someone was willing to fund him.”
Caroline now races in the European GT4 series, well below where he would of hoped he would be at this point in his career.
Funding is an absolute essential for motorsport, but how a driver secures this funding is inconsequential. Those who don’t have the money to progress themselves must seek sponsorship in order to secure a seat.
GB3 Douglas Motorsport driver Shawn Rashid explained first-hand the tole trying to secure funding has on drivers who can’t support themselves.
“Part of the sport that a lot of people don’t realise is being a race car driver is almost half of it is being a businessman. Half of the year, even before the season ends you’re going around looking, trying to market yourself and talk to sponsors, gain sponsorship, and find money.”
Rashid explained that the financial pressure drivers are under can out-weigh the fear of travelling at such immense speeds stating: “you’re not worried about getting hurt, even when you’re about to go off track and you know you’re about to wreck, it’s not oh shit I’m scared I’m going to get hurt it’s more oh fuck I’m going to fuck up the car.”
GB3 drivers race in exactly the same cars as Formula 3 drivers but those in GB3 aren’t there due to not being good enough, with the previously mentioned financial restraints forcing a lot of drivers to cheaper series. Rashid thinks the competition in GB3 is as good as anywhere and the series is a perfectly viable feeder series for young drivers.
“The competition in GB3 is insane. I’m sure a lot of these guys names will end up being at the top of the sport.”
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