2020 Formula One

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Neale4brownlow said:
It's not exactly a cheap sport to get into.

Typically speaking, your parents have got to have reasonable coin to put their kids through karting for years.

Its pretty rare you get stories of drivers coming from nothing.

Leclerc' first grand prix he ever watched as a kid was from his parents balcony in Monaco....
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David Campese, a product of Queanbeyan lent money to Webber, another product of Queanbeyan to keep him going or else he probably would never have made it.
 
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Forward Press said:
Hamilton is probably from the 'lower' class when it comes to gaining an F1 drive and even then his parents weren't exactly from a public housing flat in London. It's simply a sport inaccessible to anyone that has to work for a living.
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From memory Kimi's parents were not very well off at all. Also read some stories about Ocon, how his parents legit sold their family home and the family lived out of a caravan to support his racing. he doesnt really talk about it much but it was on a Beyond the Grid podcast with him.

Esteban Ocon: "My family gave up everything for me – there was no choice but to succeed"
 
Also, just found this on Reddit (The info about RIC is wrong, they commonly mention the wrong Joe Ricciardo as being his father. RIC's father owns Riccardo Earthmoving, not the two publicly listed companies mentioned below)

 
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Beejay Crow said:
Don't forget Lando is silver spoon kid of a millionaire as well.
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They all are, didn't chandook say last week it costs $600,000 a year to compete in a season of formula Renault and then f3 and f2 are way north of that. You need millions of dollars just to put your name in front of the big teams.

Only way you make it there without daddy's money is if you catch an eye of a sports academy early on and consistently perform, stagnate for 1 year and they get dumped to the sidelines and it's career done before it begins.
 

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* thats a quick lap, even by Safety Car standards

"2020 Sakhir Grand Prix: Onboard Lap with the Safety Car"



Amazing hearing the SC being driven absolutely full pelt, and it still feels so slow compared to an F1 car.
 
Skull Face said:
They all are, didn't chandook say last week it costs $600,000 a year to compete in a season of formula Renault and then f3 and f2 are way north of that. You need millions of dollars just to put your name in front of the big teams.

Only way you make it there without daddy's money is if you catch an eye of a sports academy early on and consistently perform, stagnate for 1 year and they get dumped to the sidelines and it's career done before it begins.
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yep. Silver spoon or be absolutely elite / draw sponsership (pretty rare anyones been able to do that).

We only see the stories of those who've made it.

Imagine all the untold stories of talented drivers who's familys gave up/sold everything to give them a chance and they didnt make it or ran out of money? It's a brutal industry.
 
Neale4brownlow said:
yep. Silver spoon or be absolutely elite / draw sponsership (pretty rare anyones been able to do that).

We only see the stories of those who've made it.

Imagine all the untold stories of talented drivers who's familys gave up/sold everything to give them a chance and they didnt make it or ran out of money? It's a brutal industry.
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Apparently ADR wasn't even the best driver in his age group in Perth as a teenager.
 
DamoESP said:
fu** thats a quick lap, even by Safety Car standards

"2020 Sakhir Grand Prix: Onboard Lap with the Safety Car"



Amazing hearing the SC being driven absolutely full pelt, and it still feels so slow compared to an F1 car.
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No ones getting out of drs range on this track, full throttle almost 80% of that for an f1 car
 
Noobz0r said:
Apparently ADR wasn't even the best driver in his age group in Perth as a teenager.
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Webber probably wasn't either.

Certainly the most driven, and he did get some good sponsor deals but he wasn't the most talented.
 
Noobz0r said:
Apparently ADR wasn't even the best driver in his age group in Perth as a teenager.
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According to wiki he was driving a 15 year old kart and if recall he has mentioned a moment where he thought his career was over when his dad packed up his kart without saying a word to him because he was driving around following slower drivers, mentions going away and developing a killer instinct aka honey badger nickname.

Wasn't until 2008 formula renault he actually won a championship, then won f3 the year later. Seems more to me his dad wasn't going to spend the big dollars to win karting in perth and once he had equal machinery he stood out.
 
hey shorty said:
Webber probably wasn't either.

Certainly the most driven, and he did get some good sponsor deals but he wasn't the most talented.
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Yeah was going to say this.

It's one thing to be talented. Another entirely to have the drive/belief or more to the point... parents who have the drive/belief in you (and are prepared to risk alot for it).
 
Neale4brownlow said:
yep. Silver spoon or be absolutely elite / draw sponsership (pretty rare anyones been able to do that).

We only see the stories of those who've made it.

Imagine all the untold stories of talented drivers who's familys gave up/sold everything to give them a chance and they didnt make it or ran out of money? It's a brutal industry.
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It really is insane.

I remember watching a doco on Ryan Villopoto - multi time US Supercross and Motocross champion - and his parents sold their home and I think maybe their business too so he could race at the highest level. As a teenage, maybe 16 or so, he had to become the breadwinner of the household. And that was just to race nationally! To get to F1 is many levels above even that. The pressure on these young guys to perform is obscene.
 
Klyntonius said:
It really is insane.

I remember watching a doco on Ryan Villopoto - multi time US Supercross and Motocross champion - and his parents sold their home and I think maybe their business too so he could race at the highest level. As a teenage, maybe 16 or so, he had to become the breadwinner of the household. And that was just to race nationally! To get to F1 is many levels above even that. The pressure on these young guys to perform is obscene.
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And then even once they've made it, its not like F1 is an endless pot of gold for all drivers.

Bottom 5 or so would be on a mill or less a year. Midfielders all on $2-3M/year.

Which is still great money of course. But your position is never guaranteed. Someone like Albon has spent his whole life to get in a seat and his career could be done in dusted in only a couple years.
 
YippeeYiYeo said:
Hes not worthy of driving the best car in the field, and his lack of pace deprives everyone of interest in the race winner. At least Rosberg made Lewis fight for the championship.
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He's number 2 in the best team on the grid and coming second in the championship. He's just doing what is expected.
 
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