Youngest F1 driver to be signed

Nice, thanks for the link.

 

Cool - thanks Pete.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Sounds like the real deal.
They all do.
I wish him the best.

 

Perfectly representative of the model for modern drivers.

 

amazing what money, connections and the right last name gets you.

 

I guess you can call him "Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton", and if young Stroll develops as quickly as Lewis did, it will be a wise decision to have signed him.

His dad is big into Ferraris and I've seen his cars at places like the Cavallino Classic. He also owns Circuit Mont-Tremblant, by the way.

 

Senna started in go carts at 4 and Lewis Hamilton at 8. He's already behind the ball.

 

The article says that he started karting at age 5....

 

there's a chance this kid might be good, but let's not fool ourselves; he got this ride because of his dad, not because of his talent.

 

Sutil only started at 14 IIRC. He's however the big exception I suppose.

+1

 

Very interesting read - thx for the link.

Raises many questions - Who the devil is Mike Wilson?.....

I know I'm getting old, but I like to believe I still know *most* )) of the "British racing legends" - Particularly in Ayrton's era.

??

Cheers,
Ian

 

"a British racing legend who competed as a teenager against the late Ayrton Senna" - I wouldn't be surprised if that means that the pinnacle of his carreer was being an also-ran in a kart race Senna took part in, too

 

Does it disturb anyone that they're signing drivers who aren't old enough to drink the champagne?

They'll need to take a page from Indy, and celebrate a win with milk.

 

I'm happy to see the Scuderia leaping at this opprtunity (an opp that is a dream come true for any aspiring F1 driver) in the sense Mac did with Lewis. On that note its great for F1 and Canada but why the hell are the US diamonds in the rough not being actively persued??

 

NASCAR...

 

I did not want to turn this thread into another NASCAR vs F1 battle so that is why I left them out. I'm sure there are plenty of young aspiring F1 drivers in the US also and since Canada is my brother to the north I meant no ill will towards them.

 

Are there any? (I'm talking after karting...there are so many karters in the world we can't pick from that)

Which American drivers are around that are kicking European ass (no offence to any other nations, just happens so that pretty much all succesful racers normally start getting noticed when they start kicking European ass...in Europe ).

 

A very good question without an easy answer; Certainly, the traditional feeder series are all based in Europe and it's long been the case that drivers from around the world show up (normally with big bags of gold) and start out in Formula Ford then F3 etc etc. Ayrton, Piquet Snr and many others got started in their late teens in British FF. Winning the British F3 championship normally results in at least an F1 test drive......

Here, it seems we have the Formula Mazda series then nothing - Red Bull tried by selecting promising talent and shipping it off to Europe - Scott No-Speed was (unfortunately!) a graduate....

I guess it would take moving, at a young age, to the UK - Something very few have the wherewithal, time and/or desire to do it seems.

Cheers,
Ian

 

The article says he'd won 70% of the races he entered... There must be something to his talents...

Me thinks you might wish you had a different last name

 

Guy does have a valid point though, I wish only the best for Lance and will be following his progress.

 

hell yeah I'm jealous! I'd love to have a father with lots of money, a race track, and an in with Ferrari

and winning 70% of your karting races doesn't guarantee anything beyond karting, you see lots of kids do well at that level and flame out when they transition to cars.

 

Also if you look at the likes of Alexander Rossi...he seems to do well in the lower classes (GP3), but as soon as he goes in a more powerful car he just goes backwards throughout the race.

Moving to the UK, Spain or Germany at a young age would certainly be a big help, but then what parents would have the resources et all for this, and even then, the chances of even getting an F1 drive are very, very slim at best.

On top of that, Americans simply aren't interested in F1, and they probably never will be (up to even half of European level). A big reason for that is probably the times the races start state side. Who really wants to wake up at 4am to watch a bunch of unknown guys drive on tracks you don't know in cars with names that baffle you sponsored by companies that you've never heard off....It's the same reason why Indy car never caught on in Europe.

 

Wow...after reading that article, I now realize that I must be doing something wrong with my life. lol

Good for him; it'll be interesting to watch his progression.

-G.B.

 

Alexander Rossi and Michael Lewis have had success in Formula Renault and the Italian F3 series respectively but doubtful they have the funding, patience and tenacity to make it into F1 - will probably get frustrated and snapped up by NASCAR or ALMS - You never know.