F1 drivers agree that the cost of feeder championships is too much for a lot of youngster to manage after Zak O’Sullivan lost his F2 seat despite being a Williams junior.
For years the rising cost of the feeder championships – including karting – has been talked upon. Everyone agrees that motor racing is an expensive sport, but it is still promoted to masses as an entertainment spectacle. While the price can’t be lowered as much, but it can still be moderate enough for larger pool to enter.
That’s what the aim is of the governing bodies around the world. But still, the cost keeps on rising especially for immediate championships like F3 and F2. Even at the karting level, – as Fernando Alonso indicates – it is too much for academies to support a driver for a season.
The recent drop of Williams junior driver O’Sullivan re-ignited the cost topic. Having won the GB3 title in 2021 and finishing second in F3 in 2023, the British driver graduated to F2 in 2024. Despite the two race wins with ART Grand Prix, his season never took off, to be just 14th in the drivers’ standings.
Granted that his team is not doing well enough either, but time was ticking race after race, to a point that he was eventually dropped after 11 rounds. Even though he is a Williams junior driver, he ran out of funds to see-through the 2024 season after results dried up.
Ironically, he has been replaced by another Williams junior driver Luke Browning, which is touted just a co-incidence situation. The drop for O’Sullivan kicked-off the debate about the rising cost and good drivers not getting to see-through a full season.
Here’s what some of the F1 drivers said –
Fernando Alonso: “I think we all will agree that motor sport is extremely expensive right now, not only from the top categories. I think karting became a little bit too much, you know, 200,000, 250,000 for a season in karting now, it seems not logical starting point for any motor sport enthusiast. So, yeah. It’s not an easy fix. And I don’t know how it could be policed in a way. But yeah, I think we are all concerned about that.”
Pierre Gasly: “Yeah, I think it’s definitely a talking point because over the last eight years, I think the price already doubled. So when I’m hearing what the price is in Formula 2 compared to where they were before, and you are talking about 2 million plus, without any guarantee you’re going to make it to a professional level and be able to live off the sport. So completely agree that is something we’ve got to address. The number of races has increased. Prices have increased. But it’s giving less chances to some potential talents that won’t have the funding. And I agree with Fernando.
“It starts already from karting. I don’t know, around me, many people that can pay that much for a 10 or 11-year-old kid. And hopefully, as a sport, I think we’re all aware of it. I think it’s a question of taking the right actions. I think we are doing a lot of improvements. with integrity, diversity, et cetera, 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 and ultimately stopped after Formula 4 because they could not afford the prices moving up. So yeah, hopefully as a sport, we can tackle that issue.”
Oliver Bearman: “Yeah, I mean, it’s sad, you know, he’s a really talented driver and I think he was going in a really good way. His team was struggling a little bit, so I think compared to his team-mate, he was performing really well as a rookie. and a situation like that when you can’t finish the season due to funding, it’s not easy. The budgets are getting higher and higher pretty much every year in the feeder series. And yeah, without the help of my sponsors and partners, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did.
“My car is completely full in F2 and it’s thanks to that that I’m able to compete. It’s tough because, you know, you have to fund it yourself and find the backing. And without that, you can’t show your talent. And I’m sad for Zak because I think he’s, every time I’ve raced him, he’s been performing really, really well. And yeah, I rate him really highly as a driver. So it’s a tough situation and a sad one as well.”
Franco Colapinto: “Yeah, I think Zak has shown this year that he was strong. He was doing a good job. Unfortunately, motor sport is like this. It’s very tough in some ways. It is a very, very expensive sport and something that we cannot change. I think we have a lot of support now of many companies that are showing in the sport. F2 has grown so, so much compared to the last few years. F3 as well. And that has, I think, allowed us, the drivers, to find more sponsors. And it has been very helpful. But it’s tough. Of course, very sad for him. I’m sure he will find a way to get back in. And he’s a very talented driver. So yeah, let’s hope we can do so.”
Here’s what Zak O’Sullivan said
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