Lewis Hamilton lashed out at the rising costs of motorsport as he called for the FIA to introduce school attendance rules to ensure children in karting continue to receive a good education in case they don’t make it to Formula 1.
The story has been thrust to the front of motorsport news once again as Zak O’Sullivan, a Formula 2 driver, had to drop out of the series because he was unable to complete the season despite winning in Monaco and Belgium in his rookie season.
It’s a theme common around the world as families find out they can no longer fund their child’s expensive talent with teams electing to choose cash instead, meaning working class drivers are often dropped.
It means that working class racers such as Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Esteban Ocon are rare in the modern climate of motorsport, with O’Sullivan’s story being the all-too-familiar outcome for most budgeting families.
“Most certainly people from my background [working class] aren’t getting here because it’s too expensive,” Hamilton told members of the media, including Total-Motorsport.com, at the Baku City Circuit. “It’s crazy expensive.
“I don’t know how much more it is today, but I heard It’s two or three more times than what it was when I started.
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“If I hadn’t been signed by Mercedes and McLaren I wouldn’t be here today so I think it’s definitely concerning it continues to rise about the costs.”
Hamilton demands FIA action
Making it to F1 is hard. With just 20 seats on the grid, it is a very exclusive club to get into and many talented drivers have simply had the door closed in their faces such as the F2 champions, Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire.
Brutally, that can be where the dream ends, but it can also be far earlier for others leaving them without a chance to continue forging a motorsport career if they’re dropped as early as the Formula 3 or Formula Regional series.
So in the quest to make it, Hamilton revealed there are worrying stories of young karting racers skipping school to continue to practice their talent and he said the FIA has to shut this down by demanding school punctuality too to protect them in later life if they don’t make it.
“I also heard about karting that kids aren’t going to school anymore,” Hamilton added to media. “And it was difficult for me but I think it’s important for the sport that the kids continue to have something to fall back on.
“To get your license you must have to stay in school to get your education so then over 99% of the drivers that probably don’t get to F1 will be more likely to get accepted and to have something to fall back on.
“Because it’s so competitive now that kids aren’t going to school at all because they’re just practicing and practicing. That can’t be good for their future.”
Gasly backs Hamilton up
Hamilton, despite struggling with costs himself, emerged out of a generation where it was just about possible to still make it to a high level and secure a sponsor to complete the rest of the job as he earned Ron Dennis’ backing at McLaren.
That came after his father worked multiple jobs to fund him through the junior levels but even he made sacrifices such as never buying new clothes and with hyperinflation around the globe since 2008 and 2020, it’s only becoming tougher.
One of the drivers who went through that period of inflation is Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who debuted in French F4 in 2011 and reached GP2 in 2014, before making it to F1 in 2017 and he called for action to slash costs, suggesting it’s overlooked compared to other initiatives.
“The number of races has increased and prices have increased,” Gasly said to media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “But it’s giving less chances to some potential talents that won’t have the funding.
“It starts already from karting. I don’t know around me how many people that can pay that much for 10 or 11 years old kid.
“I think it’s a question of taking the right actions. I think we are doing a lot of improvements with integrity, diversity, etc…, but definitely need a step in that direction in cost reduction to give more opportunities to more kids.
“Because even on a personal level, I had very good friends in karting who were very talented who ultimately stopped after Formula 4 because they could not afford the prices moving up. Hopefully as a sport we can tackle that issue.”
