I want to race. Where can I begin??? ( Formula One)

[JoeCoolGT]

I want to become a Formula One driver. While I realize that you can't just start driving F1, I don't even know where to begin. Driving at the F1 level is a gift. The drivers are like artists. I want to know where I can find out if I have the gift. Where do drivers begin? What should I be doing to find out if I have what it takes to drive? I would really appreciate any feedback.
Thanks,
Kyle Selvig
JoeCoolGT@aol.com

[freud]

Its pretty easy. Get into a good Karting school and try winning some Kart races. You can then try to get sponsors behind you to find a seat in a top team of British F3 championships. If you are noticed by the f1 fraternity and you have the backing of a Sponsor who can bring in a few million bucks in the team account, You'll get the oppurtunity. You need artistry but also sponsorship.

[freud]

And btw, being the brother/son of a famous GP driver helps tremendously. Strange enough, Ralph Schumacher is the second highest paid driver in F1 after Michael.

Cheers.

[TimD]

Welcome to the forums, Kyle.

At the risk of being depressing, if you are over the age of about 14, with no kart experience yet, then you have probably missed the boat already.

Bear in mind that there are only a max of about 25 seats in F1 cars each year, and that's worldwide. And there are young hotshoes from Brazil to the Czech Republic learning the ropes from the age of eight upwards.

Jenson Button had a decade of race experience behind him before he sat in a racing car.


But on the positive side, you don't need an F1 car to exhibit a flair for competition driving. Indeed, a contemporary car will likely as not disguise a good driver's talent.

In the Racers Forum, there is going on a healthy debate about the first step to take in club motor sport. It's certainly making me think a little more seriously about it.

And if you've got the right stuff, there are forty years worth of preserved F1 machines, which are still lovingly preserved, and raced hard, for us oldies to get our hands on - we who were too busy doing school work when we should have been out karting.

I would actually say that if you are over 17, then probably it's race car tuition which is your first step, rather than karts.

[Liz]

Tim's right, if you are over 14 and not wealthy, F1 has passed you by.

Racing in the lower formulae can be equally exciting, though, if you're in it for the racing and not the money; even at the level we race - Formula Vee - where a lot of the pilots are in their mid to late 30s, we have some very competitive racing for relatively little money. The Bridgestone Racing School runs a racing series for "arrive and drive" type pilots, and have several who come back year after year to run Formula Fords in anger. I'm sure other racing schools do the same.

If you're younger than 30, I'd say racing school would be your best bet. You can get scholarships and tuition aid if that's a problem, and they will tell you honestly if you should keep your day job or not. Meanwhile you'll get a lot of experience, make a lot of good connections, and possibly find your way to a career in race engineering or pit crew work if you're not F1 material.

Good luck, and don't give up. Look at Roberto Moreno, with his first full time ride at the age of 41 and second in the CART championship!

[White Van Man]

Tell that to Takuma Sato...