It’s no secret that many past and present Formula 1 drivers come from wealthy families, but when you look at the cost of karting and single-seater racing, it isn’t surprising.
A single season in F2 or F3 requires millions, and that’s if you can find the few hundred thousands needed to get through karting and entry level single-seater championships. Even with personal sponsors, drivers and their families still have to cover those costs and to put it simply- its just not realistic for the majority of aspiring drivers. Some drivers are lucky enough to have parents that can easily pay their way through, others work extremely hard to fund their child’s career, but for some, the financial barrier is just too big to break through even with all the talent they need. There are literally only 20 seats in F1- and thousands of kids with dreams that might never happen; the odds of making it are miniscule.
Chloe Grant is a Scottish racing driver who has competed in karting since she was 7, and has raced in GB4 and F1 Academy. She recently posted on her Tiktok, where she has over 70k followers, about how she was struggling with the idea of not participating in a racing season this year due to funding issues- especially watching her boyfriend, fellow racer Tom Lebbon, compete in the International GT Open.
She told me: “When I go to his races and watch him do what I dream of, I’m so proud of him, but there’s another part of me that’s like ‘I’m so jealous of you right now’. It is difficult, I’ve cried quite a lot. It just sucks.”
Young drivers have to work hard to secure funding from sponsors, and they have to work even harder when their parents don’t have the money to fill in the very large financial gaps left over.
“I’ve had to go really out of my comfort zone, just walk into businesses and speak to them- that’s how I got John Clark [Motor Group]. Emails work if you have a friend of a friend, but people just ignore them and put them in the bin.”
“You have to forget the fact you’re female- it’s not a diversity thing, sponsors actually couldn’t care less. Don’t start with ‘I’m an upcoming female driver’, just say you’re a driver. You’re making us stand out and making us different, and we just want to be the same.”
When Chloe started karting, there were no other girls on track with her but she met one or two others as she progressed- now, thanks to initiatives such as F1 Academy and Dare to be Different, there are so many more girls starting to race.
“I’m really, really happy to see it. I never thought of it as an issue at the time, just a matter of different interests. It’s awesome to see the progression throughout the years and I actually didn’t think this would happen, so it’s really good.”
Chloe participated in the first season of F1 Academy with ART Grand Prix in 2023, an all-female feeder series equivalent to F4 that aims to provide young women with access to track time, racing, testing, and support with technical, physical, and mental preperations for a career in motorsport.
“The girls were so lovely, obviously as soon as we were on track we had to do what we had to do, but I do really miss all of them. We all got along and most of us became really close.”
“Jess [Edgar] and I have known each other for years, even before F1 Academy. We actually cried when we had to split up and not race against each other last year because we’d always raced alongside each other ever since we both started in single seaters.”
Jess completed another year of F1 Academy after Chloe left, and is now competing in the British Kart Championship.
The 2024 season of F1 Academy was filmed by production company Hello Sunshine and made into a Netflix Documentary, and somewhat controversially didn’t include anything of the inaugral 2023 season- which was called out by the 2023 champion Marta Garcia on Tiktok. This season also wasn’t broadcast to the public, leading many to think that 2024 was the first season.
“I feel like they’re acting like our year didn’t happen, and when I speak about how I’ve done F1 Academy, I’ve had so many people be like ‘what do you mean?’ because I wasn’t in it last year. It was just a normal championship when it started- the only difference was that it was all female. The teams chose their drivers, it was less about the media and more about driver development. Now it’s so focused on the media.”
In 2023, the cost of F1 Academy was partially subsidised by Formula 1, but left €150,000 to be covered by the drivers. This was reduced to €100,000 in 2024, but that is still a lot of money to find. Unfortunately for Chloe, she wasn’t able to secure her seat for a second F1A season despite testing for Campos Racing, who ran cars in the 2024 championship supported by Haas and Sauber.
She instead found a drive in GB4 with KMR Sport and finished 8th in the driver’s championship, and contributed 208 points to lead KMR to the top of the team’s championship.
“My first year in GB4 I didn’t have a positive experience because of the team I was with, but I loved racing with KMR last year. They were fantastic. Going back to GB4 after F1 Academy did feel like a step back, but it was a drive and this year they’d improved massively, I think they are doing a really good job- it’s the same people that run GB3, and I love GB3. I wish I could do that.”
The total cost for a GB3 season is extortionate, just like most single-seater championships, and costs are only rising. It doesn’t help that some drivers can pay a little (or a lot) extra to get a seat.
“I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport and my family have lost a lot for me. It’s more than just a sport; it’s my life. And some people’s families can just pay for them to do things higher up.”
“If they lower the price [of the season], if they increase the price, it doesn’t matter, because you could do a test and be the fastest driver, but somebody slower than you could offer an extra thousand, an extra million, and they’ll get it. There are genuine teams who will say no, they want to win, but a lot of them will choose the money and you’ll just get bought out no matter how good you are.”
“It happens in GT racing too, but it’s less frequent than in single-seaters. It’s really frustrating, to be honest. I see people who have all the money in the world and they don’t commit to the sport like they should, don’t train like they should, have other priorities. Like, I would sell an organ to do what you get to do.”
Luckily, with all her organs unsold, just a few weeks after our interview Chloe raced in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Iberica. I was so happy to see her back on track (literally!) and scoring a podium on her GT debut!
As for the solution to the rising financial barriers to the cost of motorsports, neither Chloe or I could think of a solution. Many F1 drivers have been critical of the issue, like Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon on Williams’ Team Torque podcast, who said that they were already paying a significant amount of money to compete in karts when they started out, but the amounts people are paying now is crazy. Albon said that he knew many drivers who lost funding and had to stop racing at various points of his junior career- and he is definitely not the only one who saw their rivals getting priced out of the sport.
But there’s an aspect of community for these drivers, where they all understand the shared struggle for funding. Chloe talked about a driver she knows called Aidan, who did FRECA (Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine) and ran out of money mid-way through the season. He stopped racing, but got back in this year in British GT.
“He understands exactly what it’s like, so he’s been quite good. And the fact that he’s back racing again is really reassuring for me, it shows me that it’s not over and I can get back to it.”
“There’s a few others that have stopped too, they haven’t started again but they’ve found another area of the sport to get into. Like Nick Taylor, he’s a fantastic videographer. I hope he gets racing again because he’s a really good driver, but he’s found a way to still be at the track and do something he’s actually really great at.”
One of the joys of motorsport is just how big it is- there are so many different roles that are crucial to how the sport runs, so for those who want to be where the action is, there are plenty of options available. But as for those who want to be part of the action, there doesn’t seem to be a one-size-fits-all solution to decreasing the costs. Which sucks. Hopefully with time, and with more awareness being brought to the issue, things will improve and something will be done to get the most talented drivers in seats, not just the richest.
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