So you wanna be a Formula 1 driver?

so you want to be a formula one driver okay that's simple enough as anyone who has been in the motor racing paddock can attest to getting to formula one is as simple as saying abc if you had no mouth or vocal chords or any ability to communicate in any capacity it sounds pretty cynical to say something like that but there is a reason for it it's because not all is as it seems in this game i know i sound like a negative nancy here and that's because i'm a glass half empty kind of guy but to elaborate on the issue i'm going gonna run through the process it would take to get your sorry ass to formula one tell you what my boy you tell me exactly what you want and i will very carefully explain to you why it cannot be anyway sit back grab some popcorn and let me run you through the process of getting to formula one stardom right so let's start off on the grassroots of motorsport most racing drivers will begin their careers in carts you don't necessarily have to but you will be doing yourself a favor by hauling one of these things around in your youth this is where you develop as a racing driver in every aspect drivers of all ages compete in this category oh yeah that reminds me it would be a good idea to start the sport out at a young age i'm thinking six seven eight years old starting it out in your early teens would be pushing it but if you're a 47 year old man living in your basement blowing your garden hose i hate to be the bearing of bad news here but the odds are that your formula one dreams is probably over comprende in any case karting is quite a cheap sport to start out in that is until you start buying stuff purchasing your own cart trolley equipment sets of tyres trailer if you need one will start costing you five figures depending upon the condition of the cars and the state of your country's economy you start off club racing then you get to the nationals where you find out that some of the top drivers and top teams are spending ludicrous amounts of money for a four day weekend we're talking new sets of tyres and in some cases new chassis in every single session and don't forget politics because i mean hey even that [ __ ] and karting then of course there is the international karting scene this is the place where some parents would fork out 130 000 pounds for one season of racing for their kid is it stupid you bet it is problem is that's the reality of motorsport and reality is kind of kicking ass at the moment so that's what you're up against but let's theorize that you succeed in the karting scene despite all of that fantastic i guess now you'll be looking to progress into racing cars well you need to be a certain age for that generally 15 to 16 years old is the earliest now if you're on the path to formula one my advice to you would be to compete in either the adac or italian f4 championships generally though serious about making it to the big time compete in both series in a calendar year formula four is the first step for new racing car drivers looking to embark on a serious racing career and was initially conceived so that yearly costs do not exceed 100 000 euros but this being motorsport we're not quite at the stage yet where those intentions have been met generally the drivers sorry the driver's parents spend around 300 000 euros per year for such championships some more so and that's before we get into the miscellaneous stuff such as travel accommodation and so forth and so on i mean some teams do include that stuff but it varies from team to team and hey if you live on the other side of the world like i do you need a crib over in europe whether you'd be living in an rv or a monaco apartment you're gonna have to start shelling out for that stuff but say you accomplished this where am i and you set yourself up to race in the formula four championships that i mentioned before try and set yourself up with a team like vanama sport or premier power team why you may ask because they're the best it's that simple really the formula four cars aren't the greatest of things to hit the motor racing scene either known to be temperamental when it comes to handling so odds are you may have issues with it during the year that will affect your performances but this being a video based on hypotheticals let's say you wind up victor at season's end the next logical step for you would be to progress into formula 3 but it's not totally straightforward as there are several different f3 series across the globe there's the regional series the lp euro cup but ultimately if you're serious about making it to formula one you're going to need to jump into the deep end here and plant yourself into the fia formula 3 championship and if you're not in a premier car when you sign yourself up for this gig odds are you're going to drown in the mid pack we've seen that with drivers this year such as dennis halger and eagle fragger the cost for the series you're looking at about half a million euros easy but by this stage you're on the support bill for formula one which means that prying eyes will be lurking not too fortunate on the wealth side well theoretically you can get yourself into a driver academy such as the ones that renault ferrari and red bull and they should sort your money woes out right ah yes sure if you believe that very rarely does an academy solely fund a driver the majority of those academy drivers bring in at least some amount of money to their respective teams i know it sounds counterintuitive but have you ever heard of the saying there is no such thing as a free lunch well the same thing applies in motor racing because motorsport sucks but let's say you're one of those one in a billion talents like a charles clare or a max verstappen or a taiyo poor chair or someone else let's say you can get an academy to fund your career entirely well that's fantastic you're now sussed on the money front you just gotta trust that they're gonna put you in the right series and some of these cats aren't very good at doing that getting back to f3 now that you've got a blank check which let's be real is extremely unlikely but let's theorize you two winter series would serve you well develop your skills during the off season get some super license points of which you need 40 to compete in formula one so a few include asian f3 and the toyota racing series and those series will cost you around about a hundred thousand euros as a rough guideline and those championships only last for a few weeks at a time add that onto the already existing half a million that we discussed earlier and all of a sudden you've accumulated enough money to kickstart a well-funded indie film but whatever you compete in the formula 3 series you win the title somehow all as well now you have to move up to the fia formula 2 series as anyone who wins the formula 3 series is not allowed back in but i mean hey you don't want to compete in another season of f3 right right so now you're in formula 2 the step below formula 1 and the price for competing in the series one to three million euros depending upon what team you're worth i mean sure you can get a free ride like some drivers have in the past but unless your teammate is a rich canadian or son of an oligarch or someone in deep with a russian mafia odds are you're gonna have to fork out some dough for this venture and besides if those types of drivers are your teammates you're likely gonna have to be helping them out as part of your free ride deal and depending upon certain things you may be required to let off the throttle every once in a while if you catch my drift what's more no matter how good your team is rookies typically don't fare that well in the series so odds are you're gonna be spending two years in the series that will start pushing the budget in excess of six million euros seriously [ __ ] the spore however you beat all the odds and you miraculously win the formula 2 title and like the f3 series you can't compete there again which means the only place for you to go now is formula one so how do we get on the formula one grid well if you want to see our funds your campaign the last driver to do so is now paying 30 million euros a year for a seat 30 million euros that is double the budget of jojo rabbit but hey you're part of the academy right they should shepherd you into the top flight of motorsport right hold your horses girlfriend which one are you worth reno for instance is notorious for keeping their drivers in a holding pattern and never really promoting them to formula one so if you're part of that academy you're [ __ ] out of luck ferrari do bring up their drivers into teams such as alfa romeo but given how stacked their academy generally is you're gonna have a lot of convincing to do to get yourself into formula one ahead of someone whose last name may be schumacher alecie or fetipaldi or maybe you're part of that red ball academy now these guys do give their drivers a shot although they seem picky with who they choose but if you are part of the academy and you do get to third base with helmut marco then congratulations you're finally into formula one then that's the problem you're in formula one a place running up with politics rich folks i'm extremely angry and the oh so dangerous creatures that plagued the known world the french and you're also part of that red bull academy which means that you're more than likely gonna be thrown into alpha terry and drivers who are drafted into that team rarely last more than two to three years in formula one at all some even less and most will not be promoted to the main red bull seat either down to lack of opportunity or perceives lack of ability so unless you can make a big splash at alfa terry redbull may not promote you and other teams won't take an interest in you but at the end of the day you are a formula one driver and all it took was tens of millions of euros in funding a potential move to the other side of the globe implementing yourself into an environment with a ritual the coup where your last name most definitely means more than your performances where success doesn't guarantee rewards where ego trumps logic where stupid rulings can change based on which way a fart blows in the wind on any given day and above all else achieving a racing record more successful than any other racing driver in history so to everyone watching this video my question to you is what's your excuse but you know i hope it doesn't spoil your days too badly hopefully motor racing can become more accessible to those without wealth in the future maybe areas such as simracing can help shed light and some of the best talent out there regardless of their backing or maybe the sport is doomed [Music] yeah probably that but anyway people thank you very much for watching drop a comment below subscribe to the channel if you're awesome and always remember keep it respectful be wholesome don't be a madness and as always i'll see you all later [Music] [Music] is [Music] hey

Channel: Josh Revell

Views: 1,446,217

Keywords: F1, Formula 1, F1 2021, Formula One, how to become a f1 driver, race car driver, driver, racing driver, sport, racing, motorsport, auto racing, motor racing, driver academy

Id: ujbE2X3So5c

Length: 9min 47sec (587 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 21 2021