The cruel side of Formula 1: talent not enough, without money there is no future on the track
09/08/2024 07:00 AM
Formula 1, among all motorsport categories, is perhaps the hardest to reach, both because you have to climb through many categories before having even the slightest chance to enter the paddock, and because there are only twenty available seats, and the costs are extremely high.
Many young drivers, after a couple of seasons in the junior formulas, are forced to “settle” for other categories due to a lack of budget, where they often excel and continue their careers in the best possible way. Just as an example, a Formula 2 season can cost over a million euros, excluding damage to the car, and it’s always necessary to consider competing for at least two seasons in the category.
For this reason, sponsors and the increasingly renowned academies that support some drivers in their early careers are crucial. However, even this is not always enough. Theo Pourchaire, a French driver who won the F2 championship last season and is also part of the Sauber Academy, recently stated in an interview that he still aims for F1, but it is very complicated for him because he doesn’t have any major sponsors to offer.
“I’ve done my best on track. Sure, some say that winning the championship in your third year of Formula 2 isn't great, but I won it at 20 years old. I'm the youngest winner ever in both F2 and F3, so I don't have anything to prove on the track. I just need an opportunity. That's all.”
“Unfortunately, though, I don't have big sponsors backing me. I don't have money to put on the table. I have to be honest. So I'm just a Formula 2 champion trying to find something to do at the moment.”
Pourchaire’s words should give us pause. Despite his results and being part of the Sauber Academy, the Frenchman has been left without a seat, just like Felipe Drugovich and Liam Lawson.
Next year, we will see three new faces on the grid: Jack Doohan, Oliver Bearman, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. These three drivers, besides their talent, are also supported by three major teams, Alpine, Ferrari, and Mercedes, who have been backing them for a long time and guided them through the junior categories.
However, looking at the current season, Franco Colapinto, who has been replacing Logan Sargeant since Monza, is rumored to bring at least 500,000 euros per Grand Prix to the Williams team, which, along with his performance behind the wheel, made him a preferred choice over other candidates.
Formula 1 has thus become, even more than before, a category for a select few, with all the other drivers having to turn to other championships, as has happened in recent seasons to many Italians who found success in closed-wheel racing and in the Indy world.
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