The Reality of Becoming a Formula 1 Driver

That like button. It really helps us out, and that's the only time I'll ask. So is it fair that your average sim superstar is never going to have the resources to show their stuff in Formula 1? No, but that doesn't mean you can just buy your way into a championship, either. Into Formula 1, sort of, but a championship? That's going to take a bit more than money. It takes discipline, focus, and most of all, talent to get to spray the champagne, but yes, also money, but that doesn't mean you need tons of money to go racing.

Find your local Sports Car Club of America chapter, and you can try out Autocross for literally dozens of dollars. I do Autocross a lot, and it's a lot of fun. Graham is nodding his head behind the camera. He's done it too. Here you can just race your daily driver, and it's not unheard of to see a bone stock Yaris beat Mustangs, Camaros, and even Corvettes around the tight Autocross tracks. It's all about the driver, not the car. There's also spec Miata racing, the most popular club racing in the world. You can get started there for as little as $5,000. You probably won't win because top cars spend upward of $100k on their rides, but there's nothing stopping you from showing up and giving it a go.

Or you can do the 24 Hours of Lemons, the series of endurance races that last up to, you know, 24 hours long, where participants are forbidden to spend more than $500 on the cars. And that's a situation where you can buy yourself in and actually stand a chance of winning. If you're like me, you spent your youth drooling over fast cars, idolizing professional drivers, and playing every racing video game that came along, secretly harboring thoughts of spraying the champagne yourself one day. If you're like me, that never happened. Sure, there are Cinderella stories where the underdog was given the chance to run with the pack and leapfrog that to a successful career, but the big obstacle here is the same as it is in most places, and that is money.

Even if some drivers pay their way behind the wheel, in the end, they're paying to embarrass themselves. Are you a fan of the Type R or just cool cars in general? Have you ever felt like something was missing, something big, but also small? Well, I have something for you. Introducing Stocky. That was (bleep) sick.

Introducing Stocky, the brand new, high-quality car collectible for us, car nerds. We wanted to make something the perfect size to display on your desk, next to your TV, in your dorm room, in the shop, wherever. We explored a ton of different deformations before finally landing on this, something that we think is the perfect mix of fun and stylized while still staying true to the original car.

Speaking of the car, we want to make a ton of different Stocky's, but for Stocky 001, we knew that we had to go with one of the most iconic and legendary tuner cars of all time, the DC2 Integra Type R. And I am so stoked to announce that we have partnered with Acura, making this an officially licensed Acura product. We're launching this in a bunch of sick different colorways, everything from OEM finishes like Phoenix yellow, authentic Honda championship white, and Nighthawk black pearl, to crazy versions like glow-in-the-dark, primer gray, translucent.

We're even going to make a gold one, like actual gold. We're really stoked with how it turned out, and we hope that you guys are too. Now's your chance. Get one early. The Kickstarter is only up for 30 days. Get yourself a rad, new collectible. You deserve it.

Thank you very much for watching Wheelhouse this week. If you're a Donut superfreak and you want to chat with other fans like yourself and get exclusive content, check out the Donut Underground. Click that join button right down there. It's for the super freaks only. Check out our podcast, Pass Gas. We talk a lot about Formula 1, and it's a really great time. Check us out on other social media @donutmedia. Follow me @nolanjsykes if you want. Don't let these rich guys get you down. You could still go racing. Be kind. I'll see you next time.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(whimsical music)- To put it lightly, Formula 1 rookieNikita Mazepin is tough to watch.MAZ-A-PIN, or MAZ-A-SPIN,as he's come to be known,has been ruffling feathersand rubbing bumperson racetracks for years,but his arrival in Formula 1in 2021 only acceleratedthe conversation aroundwhether or not he actuallydeserves his spot in the mostlegendary racing series in the world,and while Mazepin'sembarrassing and sometimesdangerous performance alonewould justify the outcrythat's resulted in a hashtag and a websitethat counts up the last time he spun,everything has beenexacerbated by the factthat he essentially boughthis way behind the wheel,or rather, Mazepin'sdaddy buying his way in.(gloomy music)You see, this is DmitryMazepin, Nikita's dad.He's a Russian oligarch, billionaire,and founder of Uralchem, acompany with a yearly revenueof more than $100 billion.The elder Mazepin is currentlyspending $20 million a yearfor his son to be able to drivealongside Mick Schumacheron the Haas F1 team.So that begs the question,can you buy yourself into F1?Big thanks to insurancecomparison site The Zebrafor sponsoring today's episode.For the next 60-ishseconds, you're not goingto see anything fancy, just allof us looking all melancholywasting the money wewere paid for this ad.So hopefully we're boringenough that you usethe next now 48 seconds tocompare insurance policieswith The Zebra.It's really that easy.Go to thezebra.com/wheelhouseto start your search today.Don't worry.We'll wait to start the episode.You got like 30 more seconds.(engine revving)(tires skidding)(paper ruffling)Oh, did you open a new taband go to The Zebra and thinkI wouldn't say anything else?Well, for those stillwatching and who don't knowabout The Zebra, they'rethe nation's leadingcar insurance comparisonsite that has no stakein what policy you get.They really just want you toget the best policy for you.The Zebra is super convenient.You enter some basic infoand you can sort throughall sorts of options pickedby the experts at The Zebra.Bing, bang, boom, you gotyourself a new policy.Well, our time is almost up.So click the link in the descriptionor head to thezebra.com/wheelhouseand learn everythingyou ever wanted to knowabout car insurance.(bell dinging)(video beeps)The fact is, racing costs money.No matter how talented youare, unless you have the moneyto show up, you're not goingto be taking any podiums.You want to be the bestbasketball player in the world?You can grab a ball for$20 and practice dribblingand crossovers 'til your fingers fall off,hop on down to the local courtand start challenging people.The only thing it'llcost is your afternoonand perhaps your pride,but if you want to race,you're gonna need some cash.Hell, even a good sim setup isgoing to cost you a few grandand that's not an optionfor a lot of kids.So how does a driver evenmake it into Formula 1?Well, let's map it out.First, you're going to want to go kartingand I don't mean the go-kartsyou absolutely dominatedat your cousin's birthday that one year.I'm talking about shifter karts,FIA regulated, 100 mile perhour open-wheel buzz bombs,sporting engines that revup to 16,000 RPM in racesthat last up to 24 hours.This isn't kid stuff and it comeswith adult price tags to match.Think $40 to $50,000 a year or morejust to show up at the beginner levels.All the Formula 1 driversget started in kartingand they begin earlierthan you might think.Current champ LewisHamilton started at eight.Max Verstappen was five.Some start as young asthree, yeah, three years old.When I was three, I was stillstruggling to use the toiletand these guys are startingtheir racing careers.Let's say you start atfive and spent four yearsmaking waves in the karting world.That's conceivably 200kout the window already.By now, you're around 10 yearsold and looking to move up.Every next rung on theladder is going to cost youmore than the last,though it's not unheard ofto skip a step or two, buteither way now is the timeto start looking forsponsors because by the timeyou make your way up tothe senior karting level,you can expect to drop around80 to 100 grand a year,and you'd better plan tocompete for a couple of yearsat least before moving up to the next rungon the ladder, Formula 4.These junior open wheelersare capped at 160 horsepowerbut at least the cars inFormula 4 finally looklike Formula 1 cars and not little karts.The bad news is though,there's another price jump.The rules are intendedto cap the price of entryat around $125,000 a year,but that's not the total priceas it doesn't factor inincidentals like traveland you know, accommodations.Most likely scenario is that even ifyou're insanely talented,you're going to spendthe next five years moving up throughFormula 4, Formula 3, and Formula 2with huge price bumps at every level.For instance, a single yearof Formula 2 could cost youseveral million dollars, allfor the hope that you'll dowell enough to get noticed,because even if you'rethe best of the best, the sad fact is,you still can't drive Formula 1.In order for that to happen,there are still some hurdlesto overcome and moneywon't solve them all.First, to drive F1, you haveto be at least 18 years old.That's easy enough, but youalso have to score a minimumof 40 points in racesover a three-year periodin the lower tiers.If you absolutely dominate out there,you could get this donein a single weekend,but that's easier said than donein Formula 2 versus Formula 1.Just, the standings areway more unpredictable.In Formula 2, the races aremuch closer, and the winnerof the previous race might not even placein the subsequent race.Still, 40 points in three yearsis a perfectly attainable goal.The real barrier to entry is completing300 laps in an F1 car becauseyou're not gonna be ableto do that on your own.Like, you need a team toinvite you out and put youin their car with theirpermission or you can fulfillall those requirements andthen pay your way into a drive.Got $20 million or so?That can only get you aspot on a lower level team,but you will be behind the wheel in F1.Lots of drivers over theyears have taken this line.You ever heard of Sergio Perez,Lance Stroll, Pastor Maldonado?How about MichaelSchumacher or Niki Lauda?All of them were pay driversand all of them made a namefor themselves one way or another.Lots of teams have used pay driversas a reliable source of revenue.In fact, this practicegot so bad in the '70sthat teams would have sixto 10 drivers in a season,some of them only doingone race, all so the teamcould raise enough moneyto live for another season.They eventually changed therules so you couldn't do this.Dang, there goes my shot.I was gonna borrowJames' Up To Speed wages.I could drive on those things,as long as it's not at Monaco.Even if you did go thetraditional route and didn't buyyour way in, you'll stillhave invested millionsand millions just to getto this point, just to earnthe opportunity to compete at this level.This means you had to bepretty damn close to richbefore you even sat behind the wheeland you wouldn't be alone.Senna, Clark, Hill, all rich,all the way back to the firstF1 champion, Nino Farina,who was heir to the Farinacoach-building fortune,a company that built custom bodiesfor Lancias, Fiats, Alphas, and Ferrari'sbefore the latter'spartnership with Pininfarina.From its very inception,F1 has been a playgroundfor the rich for the samereasons that you don't see a lotof poor people gettinginto competitive sailing.Rich guys have alwaysplayed with expensive toys,but while you can buy yourway into F1 to a degree,you can't just buy yourway into a championship,as Mazepin has proven.You still need talent.All the money in theworld isn't gonna buy youthe 40 points you needto qualify, and for that,you're going to have to win some races.Not everyone can dothat, and that's ignoringthe overall fitness you need to competeat the Formula 1 level.Driving in Formula 1 is like doing P90Xwhile driving in Formula 1.Over the two hour, 300 kilometer race,drivers are gonna battleextreme dehydration,lose about three quarts of bodily fluids,experience extendedexposure to temperatureswell in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.I would not do well, I sweat a lot,and they drop half a dozenpounds of overall body weight.They also pee in their suits.Maybe I'm not so enviousof them after all.Also, they're racing against the other 19best drivers in the world,and the concentration neededto maintain that focusthroughout a race is somethingI just don't have.I tried reading a book theother day and I almost died.Race conditions like thatcan send regular peopleinto shock or worse.So it's no surprise that driverslike Jensen Button compete in triathlons,while Alex Zanardi, whotragically lost his legsin a race in 2001, went onto become a world championhand cyclist, winning twogolds and a silver medalat the 2012 London Paralympics.These guys are athletes,no asterisk needed.Hey, if you're liking this video so far,hit that like button.it really helps us out, andthat's the only time I'll ask.So is it fair that youraverage sim superstar is nevergonna have the resources toshow their stuff in Formula 1?No, but that doesn't mean you can justbuy your way into a championship, either.Into Formula 1, sortof, but a championship?That's going to takea bit more than money.It takes discipline, focus,and most of all, talentto get to spray the champagne,but yes, also money,but that doesn't mean you needtons of money to go racing.Find your local Sports CarClub of America chapter,and you can try out Autocrossfor literally dozens of dollars.I do Autocross a lotand it's a lot of fun.Graham is nodding hishead behind the camera.He's done it too.Here you can just race your daily driver,and it's not unheard ofto see a bone stock Yarisbeat Mustangs, Camaros, and even Corvettesaround the tight Autocross tracks.It's all about the driver, not the car.There's also spec Miataracing, the most popularclub racing in the world.You can get started therefor as little as $5,000.You probably won't winbecause top cars spend upwardsof $100k on their rides butthere's nothing stopping youfrom showing up and giving it a go,or you can do the 24 Hoursof Lemons, the seriesof endurance races up to,you know, 24 hours long,where participants are forbidden to spendmore than $500 on the cars,and that's a situationwhere you can buy yourself inand actually stand a chance of winning.If you're like me, youspent your youth droolingover fast cars, idolizingprofessional drivers,and playing every racingvideo game that came along,secretly harboring thoughts of sprayingthe champagne yourself one day.if you're like me, that never happened.Sure, there are Cinderellastories where the underdogwas given the chance to runwith the pack and leapfrog thatto a successful career,but the big obstacle hereis the same as it is in mostplaces, and that is money.Even if some drivers paytheir way behind the wheel,in the end, they're payingto embarrass themselves.- Are you a fan of the Type Ror just cool cars in general?Have you ever felt likesomething was missing,something big, but also small?Well, I have something for you.Introducing Stocky.That was (bleep) sick.(upbeat music)♪ I want that new thingnew thing new thing ♪♪ I want that new thing new thing ♪♪ Give me some of that ♪♪ Give me some of that ♪♪ Yeah yeah ♪(tires skidding)Introducing Stocky, thebrand new, high qualitycar collectible for us, car nerds.We wanted to make somethingthe perfect size to displayon your desk, next to yourTV, in your dorm room,in the shop, wherever.We explored a ton ofdifferent deformationsbefore finally landing onthis, something that we thinkis the perfect mix of funand stylized while stillstaying true to the original car.Speaking of the car, we want to make a tonof different Stocky's, but for Stocky 001,we knew that we had to gowith one of the most iconicand legendary tuner cars of all time,the DC2 Integra Type R, andI am so stoked to announcethat we have partnered with Acura,making this an officiallylicensed Acura product.We're launching this in a bunchof sick different colorways,everything from OEM finisheslike Phoenix yellow,authentic Honda championship white,and Nighthawk blackpearl, to crazy versionslike glow in the dark,primer gray, translucent.We're even going to make agold one, like actual gold.We're really stokedwith how it turned out,and we hope that you guys are too.Now's your chance.Get one early.The Kickstarter is only up for 30 days.Get yourself a rad, new collectible.You deserve it.(video beeps)- Thank you very much forwatching Wheelhouse this week.If you're a Donut superfreak and you want to chatwith other fans like yourselfand get exclusive content,check out the Donut Underground.Click that join button right down there.It's for the super freaks only.Check out our podcast, Pass Gas.We talk a lot about Formula 1and it's a really great time.Check us out on othersocial media @donutmedia.Follow me @nolanjsykes if you want.Don't let these rich guys get you down.You could still go racing.Be kind.I'll see you next time.