The cost of getting into F1 - raconteur.net Interesting article about what young drivers face today to get into F1..talent is no longer enough,even to get into the driver development schemes. So basically you end up with talented +'rich' drivers getting through to F1, whilst possibly even more talented 'poor' drivers do not get a chance. So you do not in fact end up with the best drivers in the world?
When a team can line up $50M in sponsorship but needs $75M to run a decent car, guess where the other $25M comes from?
Not exactly correct... when racing first started pre ww1 you had a lot of aristocrats, but also a lot of "inventors" who raced to prove their designs. Panhard, Renault, Peugeot, Bugatti etc.. who were not all aristos.. you were just as likely to see the same guys flying planes, and doing other "dare devil" activities. after WW2 is when you got more dedicated drivers & then some aristos... but mostly "paid" drivers... who brought some sponsorship with them... and usually that was in the form of wealthy patrons... much like the renaissance patrons. since the mid 60's its taken money and more money to get into the sport. until about the mid 70's you could kind of make it into F-1 If you were good, but that was becoming more and more rare. Niki Lauda being the most famous pay driver to make it to the top.
