question?

...April 1st was two weeks ago dude.

 

To reach F1, 20 is too old. You would have to kart for awhile and then catch an eye of some one who knows the ins and outs of the sport. And you would have to rack up a lot of years in a race car in order to impress anyone. It doesn't sound like you have too much time in a car, so maybe you should set your goals a little lower. Good Luck.

 

Wasnt Damon Hill in his late twenties before he ever sat in a F1 car(Brabham), he went on to become world champ.

 

Nothing wrong with a dream... just don't quit your day job quite yet.

First thing to do: find the nearest kart track and kart series options. Join. Hire someone good to give you a few private lessons to start, and then plan on driving every weekend and getting a lesson every month to review your progress. At the end of six months, you'll be a pretty good driver to an outstanding driver; you'll have a good idea where you stand and where you'll have to go to get even as good as the best in your kart league.

The progression... start kicking butt in your kart league... move up into some open wheel race series... kick butt there... keep moving up to Formula 3000 or comparable... kick butt there...

And if you manage to work through all that in just a few years because you have so much natural talent and were willing to work at it super-hard, you may have that shot at F1.

However, more realistically, after five years, you may still be trying to reach the top of your kart league. You'll have long since realized that F1 is not in the cards for you. But you will have found some great friends and a great hobby... motorsport racing is super-fun at any level... it just won't pay the bills...

So, as I said before, don't quit your day job.

Brian

 

Yes. However, DH was already well established as a Moto racer before he went F1 racing. I believe he even won at least one title in Moto racing. Not only that, he also has the name "Hill" and the connections that are needed to help get him into F1.

 

Karting is a good place to start. But F1 may be a bit out of reach. If you can supply gobs of money you can probably go as far as F2000 until talent is really needed. Then you can start to have aspirations on going further. A premier development series like formula Atlantic will cost you about $50,000.00 per race if you go with a winning team. If you do well there you can get a ride with the IRL or CART. But you will still have to bring the wallet!!

Also remember who Damon Hills father was?

 

Depends on what you did in your previous 20 years. If you raced go karts etc you're fine. If you consider getting into racing now, then it is too late.

Reminds me of a conversation I had in the bathroom of a race track last year: We were racing IRL replicars for fun and a guy in his early twenties asks me how he could become professional. I gave him similar advice as Brian's (see below) but thought to myself: Forget it buddy, that boat has long left.

When I took my Skip Barber racing class there were two talented kids in their early teens. Everybody was stunned about their talent and so I talked to a Skip instructor whether we'd ever see them racing professionally. He was very honest and said no way. Way too old to get started.

However starting at that age doesn't mean you can't become a succesful racer. Just not in the pinnacle of the sport.

 

Remember guys that a pro racer is simply one who drives in a pro series. Some are paid to drive and help develop the car (the very select group at the front of the pack) and everyone else is having someone pay their way. if you have sponsorship you can be a pro racer. Ex. if you can raise $1mil to from a sponsor you can do a series that will cost about $750,000 to run one year the other $250,000 is your salary so you can test and develop a car instead of working a regular job. Racing is a sport that is a meat grinder; ask anyone who actually tried to make a living in it and they will tell you how hard it is. Most people race for fun and team owners that are successful usually made their money somewhere else b4 they started a race team. If you really want to race you will find a way come hook or crook. The days of “being discovered” are over. Kimi went to F1 after a stint in Formula Renault but he was a prodigy of Keke Rossberg and he brought him to where he is today. Money talks.