Formula One considers itself to be the pinnacle of motorsport and in terms of a single seater racing series, not other championship comes close to the global appear of F1. North America’s premier single seater racing championship pulls around 7 million views per race while F1’s latest figures suggest their TV audience is in excess of 70 million each race weekend.

Of course the legendary Indianapolis 500 is part of the Indycar racing series, yet the fact the teams spend the month of May at the circuit preparing for the ‘big one’ makes it almost an event which stands alone from the championship.

For decades Formula One’s regulatory body the FIA has attempted to build a ladder which facilities kids in karting all the way to becoming a Formula One driver with Bernie Ecclestone formalising the international series below F1 as GP3 and GP2 back in 2006.

 

 

 

FIA introduced F4 for cheaper racing

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were the first graduates through the programme to F1 although they have been joined by many since including Lando Norris, George Russell and Oscar Pisatri all winning in the categories.

Whilst the world of karting remains a minefield in itself with different racing series offering differing styles of challenge, the first rung on the ladder to single seater racing proper is the newly formed F4 competition by the FIA back in 2014. This provides a cost effective formula beneath F3 where budgets for a season now exceed £1m.

F4 is not a global championship as the next steps up the ladder are, but one which is regional and individual nations host their own championships with a common set of rules. Drivers may now contest the different F4 affiliated championships and receive super license points helping them towards their F1 super license.

Yet all is not well on the laser to F1, as budgets are rising in even the simplest form of racing. Top level karters are now operating with budgets in Europe of around €200,000 which is a far cry from Hamilton fiddling around with his dad in his Stevenage garage with a second hand kart costing a fraction of that.

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Karting – 6 figure budgets required

Fernando Alonso who trains karting drivers was recently appalled at the cost of Martin today when asked. “I think karting became a little bit too much – you know, €200,000, €250,000 for a season in karting now, it seems not a logical starting point for any motorsport enthusiast.

“It’s not an easy fix. And I don’t know how it could be policed in a way. I think we are all concerned about that,” concluded the double F1 champion.

Pierre Gasly who famously grew up karting alongside Esteban Ocon also reflects on the cost of the F1 ladder and how in his experience ,many of his competitors just fell away. “I don’t know, around me, many people that can pay that much for a 10 or 11-year-old kid. And hopefully, as a sport, we’re all aware of it.

“Because, even on a personal level, I had very good friends in karting who were very talented and ultimately stopped after Formula 4 because they could not afford the prices moving up. Hopefully as a sport we can tackle that issue.”

Hill sees Hamilton ‘HUGE gamble’ by Ferrari

 

 

 

F3/F2 costs double

Ten years ago, a writer form this site interview the organisers of the GP3/2 series in Abu Dhabi and at the time the likes of Daniil Kvyat were paying €500,000 for a season in GP3. Gasly now reveals the cost of the international FIA later to F1 has sky rocketed.

“It’s definitely a talking point because over the last eight years, I think the price [has] already doubled. So I’m hearing what the price is in Formula 2 compared to where they were before, and you are talking about $2million+, without any guarantee you’re going to make it to a professional level and be able to live off the sport,” concluded the Frenchman.

And in terms of the F4 program the FIA instigated, all is not well as far as that step of the ladder in concerned as Gasly explained. Italian F4 is notoriously expensive with a single season costing a fifteen year old kid an estimated €750,000. As much as the FIA try to pave the way for talent over money, the problem remains increasingly exacerbated as each year rolls by.

Clearly the road to F1 is very expensive and treacherous to navigate and for Williams academy driver Zak O’Sullivan it came to an abrupt halt before the end of his last season. O’Sullivan has a competitive CV coming runner up in the 2020 British F4 Championship, winner of the 2021 GB3 Championship and runner-up in the 2023 Formula 3 championship to eventual F2 champion and Sauber F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto.

Hamilton first Ferrari pictures

 

 

 

O’Sullivan out with 3 races to go

Having won in the Monaco feature race and the Belgium Sprint race plus numerous other solid race performances, the 2024 F2 season came to an abrupt end for Jake with three whole rounds remaining.

Though this is not the end of O’Sullivans dream. Today he announced he will race in Japanese Super Formula next year. With the latest generation of F2 cars not to a number of the drivers liking, Japanese Super Formula is regarded as the closest single seater racing experience to F1 out there.

O’Sullivan reveals: “I’m really excited about being in a car you can attack in. I mean, it’s just no secret; I wouldn’t be the first to tell you that the F2 car’s not the best race car in the world. And I think the easiest way to describe it is it’s quite counterintuitive to anything you’ve driven before. Inevitably, some drivers click better with it [the F2 car] than others.

“So, when I tested the Super Formula car, I really enjoyed it. High downforce, again, but the [Yokohama] tyres are a bit more predictable than the Pirellis – just a good car to drive with power steering, and something a bit closer to F1, which is nice,” Jake concluded.

The series has been dominated b y Japanese winners in recent times, yet the likes of Pierre Gasly Liam Lawson and Theo Porchaire all competed in Japanese Super Formula as did Indycar winners Felix Rosenqvist, Alex Palou and Pato O’ward.

Marko makes Verstappen announcement

 

 

 

Wolff’s game of “blink first” is finally over

Having lost the 2021 Formula One drivers’ title race on the last lap of the last Grand Prix of the year, Toto Wolff spent much of the winter not knowing whether his star driver Lewis Hamilton would return to the team. Clearly having something left to prove, Hamilton finally emerged battered and bruised almost two months to the day from his crushing defeat by Verstappen to announce on social media “I’m back.”

Had Hamilton known what was ahead of him, on reflection he made have made a different choice even taking temporary retirement as so many before him have done, before returning to F1 refreshed.

Hard on the heels of the pain of Abu Dhabi 2021, came the FIA’s biggest car design rule changes in living memory for the 2022 season. This happened previously in 2014 where Mercedes aced the new V6 turbo hybrids and went on to dominate Formula One winning eight consecutive constructor titles as no team has ever done before…. READ MORE