Steps for becoming an F1 racer

Becoming an F1 driver costs a lot, and I mean a lot. Not only you will need an insane amount of talent and dedication but you will need a crazy amount of money. And this process takes a lot of time.

  1. Go-karting

    2. This type of Go-karting is not the one that you can go to once in a while to race against your friends but you will actually have to get on a team. Getting on a Go-karting team will not be very problematic but what comes next will. When you get on a team, you will most likely have to buy a go-kart yourself. A second-hand go-kart can cost from $1000 to $3500 depending on it's condition, so I think you understand how much will a new go-kart cost.

    GoKart

    CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

    Image by Cajie

  2. Formula 4

    3. F4 is the next step after Go-karting if you manage to survive and complete the needs of karting and if you are lucky enough to get into F4 car. In Formula 4 you will be getting paid a good amount of money which will make you able to pay all the debts you had because of karting. Not only that, you can upgrade your own F4 car if you would like to, or maybe even buy yourself an F4 car.

    F4Car

    CC BY-SA 2.0

    Pic by zechariah craig

  3. Formula 3

    4. Some people go straight to F3 after karting but that's pretty rare. Formula 3 will be pretty much the same except that the car is going to be faster, your opponents will be better and you will be getting paid more.

    F3Car

    CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

    Picture made by superleague formula: thebeautifulrace

  4. Formula 2

    5. Formula 2 will be the next step of becoming an F1 driver. Even though you will the experience in F4 and F3, F2 will be way different. Since it is the last step until you will become an F1 driver, it will be pretty similar. The cars will be almost as fast as an F1 car and your oponents will be more competetive. But the good thing is that you are getting paid a bit more than in Formula 3 & 4 and the most important thing is that you are almost at your destination.

    Image description

    CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

    Photo by superleague formula: thebeautifulrace

  5. Formula 1

    6. Congrats! If you made it to this point you have successeded! Even though your dream has come true, now you have to face crazy differences. Everything has already happened in the past 4 steps, but this time everything is even more insane than before.

    FerrariF1

    CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

    Photo by 98octane

Conclusion:

Becoming a Formula 1 driver is an insane journey that takes lots of dedication, talent, and of course money. It is a very small chance for anybody to become an F1 driver, but everything is possible!

LH

CC BY-ND 2.0

Photo by Evil Monkey Ali