not necessarily.. many of them found multiple sources of income which (in many cases) they not pursue otherwise. When their kid gave up the racing dream, they could enjoy the higher income for their own joy and pleasure. Or to turn it into a passive income, or just the pick the one way of making money they enjoy the most and have a more enjoyable life than they had before. So for some it could have been a sacrifice, but for many it could have been a life-changing and satisfying journey.

F1 is the most exclusive sport. Only 20 competitors.

Ocon is shit ;D Thats why

Probably because Ocon doesn’t deserve a seat

@@maxverstappen7160 nah he deserves a seat, its just that he doesnt have a champions pace and racecraft. hes more akin to a top midfield driver like Hulkenberg and Timo Glock

1 question is ocon being paid good money now? did it pay off ?? money wise

@@mobyhuge4346 I’ll happily eat my words if he beats Gasly, I just don’t think he has any abilities that stand out + he’s an absolute asshole to his team mates (in my opinion). Very dislikable guy on track, off track, seems like a standup bloke.

I agree with you, I wish I had got the chance at F1 but I played hockey growing up and chances are small at playing in the NHL and I know F1 is a lot smaller, This took 5 nights every week from me and now at the age of 18 that was all for a very childish dream that now I just play for fun for 2 nights of my week.

Not to mention how dangerous it is.

It’s a sport for rich kids. The next Michael Schumacher could be growing up in a council estate somewhere but would never have the resources or opportunity to ever even get into the sport. That’s one thing I appreciate about football - it has next to no barriers to entry

Exactly! Also, at 8 years old, usually, one isn't focused and determined enough. When I started playing soccer/football, I didn't like to do conditional training every day and just wanted to play ball. The commitment required to be a pro is insane.

Yeah, I was thinking about this too. I'm afraid that if I began competitively in karting at an early age, I'm not going to know the people I know today who mostly I know from school. If there are one of the few things I enjoyed is schooling, I like studying and having friends.

They got to get that superlicense first though right? Even Mazepin at was at least good enough to get one. And no one can just buy a superlicense. They have to earn it with good performance in the junior categories. And if they keep not performing in F1 they will be replaced with someone else.

@@nickklavdianos5136 And after getting booted out of f1, Mazepin competed in a few ralley championships and won all of them. Mazepin is a really good driver but F1 are just the best drivers in the world.

😂

EVERY f1 driver has rich parents.

@@madmans1419 Hell no. Did you not just watched the video? Hamilton Ocon Vettle didn’t come from money.

Ofc he is after all the goat

@Ching Chong There was nothing single about that decision.

That's no joke. Every driver in F1 has to be really skillful to be in there, even if they have a lot of money to offer to the team

The GOATFather

Le goàt

And as Hamilton pointed out recently - the door is now shut for people like that. Karting is ridiculously expensive now, as shown in the video. While previously someone in the top 5% of a wealthier nation could finance their kid's karting career without any sponsors and with modest sacrifice, now you'd need to be one of the top 0.5%, and even then it's sketchy.

Yes, though I would argue that if Ocon would get a spot with a top team and win a WDC, he would join that league. Also, this may sound crazy but Verstappen isn't far behind in this regard. I'm not a big fan of him, maybe I would if he joined Ferrari (he and our strategy team killed us this season), but his history is not as straightforward as many assume. As a Dutchman, it's almost impossible to escape the story of Max and how he got to F1. Yes, his dad is a former F1 driver, but given that Jos wasn't always, let's say wise with how he spent his money, all of the family's money still had to go to Max's dream. (And there is that story of Max effing up one race and his dad made him walk home for like 15 km in the middle of Italy before coming back and picking him up again. Insane. I guess that partly explains the obsessive winning mentality.) I think what made it easier for Max is his last name. He had more financial means than Seb and Lewis (e.g. his parents didn't have to sell their house), though not much more, but he was the son of a former F1 driver. That helps with sponsors. The same goes for Mick Schumacher I suppose, though because of Michael's success in F1, the Schumacher family is way richer than the Verstappen family was.

You don't understand the video. The video is saying that overall there's just a few thousand kids who F1 champions had to beat (vs tens of millions for footballers). And that's still true for the few exceptions like Ocon and Hamilton who were not super rich: they were still only competing with a very small pool of people. Probably the only thing that could change that is if teams start spotting talent from sim racing.

Oh please, their families weren't anywhere near as poor as they like to claim.

Hamilton was never poor. He even raced rc cars as a kid. Those things are EXPENSIVE. His father wasn't a millionaire but they were well off.

Did you beat any of them ?

Yes I’ve beaten, Latifi, Mazepin, Mick and even some other GT drivers

That's genuinely impressive

sallamiyorsan helal knk

Sorry brother!

Loeb is a good example because he probably was (is?) top 10 in the world at a certain time and he very nearly raced in F1. Was this close.

Being a great driver in another racing category doesn't necessarily mean your talent will translate over to F1. The skillsets are varied. There have been plenty of drivers who were successful in other racing categories but average or even poor in F1.

@@areebsiddiqui758 also a very good point hence Loeb being a great example as he seemingly had pace to get a Toro Rosso seat. If I remember correctly it was contracts/scheduling that prevented it in the end

Sebastian Loeb is a rally driver tho. why bring him into this. f1 in general has the best single seater/open wheel racing drivers in the world. rally drivers are not included in the equation

rally is a completely different form of racing

alonso at some point was sponsored by telefonica and santander

​@@1lyxbollyvykn714 lmao yes,when he already was in Renault and Ferrari . Gtfo

Well he forgot a lot of people, Bottas, Russell and Tsunoda also didn't have that much money

That's the problem though. If you don't have money, your parents have to pretty much restructure their whole lives and careers just to support your motorsport dreams. And that's a massive risk most people aren't willing to take. Compare that to football, where most kids start off by simply playing with their school mates while going to school.

​​@@coin5207 well I think tsunoda have the supported of Honda since early age... In fact I think he is right now in F1 because the union Red bull- Honda. And I like Tsunoda but is it...

How so? I saw him in the most recent series

@@cameronmckelvie81 He's trying to sell the narrative that Ocon's family didn't have anything to eat before Ocon made it into F1, which is pure bullshit

@@anameyoucantremember Loool absolutely.

@@anameyoucantremember thanks!

that story doesn't inspire intelligent people, just fouls. Not mentioning is fake.

I think they only focused on drivers currently on the grid 😮

I think his first season solidified his presence in formula1 He was in hot demand before suzuka 2005. He was extremely close to winning the 2003 title

@@SacristanRacing msc sr is on the grid 😮

and alonso too, his father was an olympic shooter but he never would of made it to f1 without being picked up by Flavio Briatore

@@gherbo1609 Michael who was broke as fuck like broke broke until Mercedes sponsored his entry to Jordan in 1991,

yeah but even those stories dont exactly raise your hopes, we have probably seen 5 drivers like them from poor backgrounds get successful out of thousands of families who have given everything but still havent gotten to the top step of motorsport

me too cant wait them to hit 1 million

But we still see few middle class ppl who play tennis in atp wta gs and world tour 1000 level thanks to winning some 250 tourney and sponsorship. In formula racing its impossible, even formula 4 is like "club for millionaire kid". Lets face it, f1 driver can never claim to be the best, they simply the best among millionaire kids

@@muhammadfarhan581 The problem isn't Formula 1, the problem starts at karting. Neither the Vettels nor the Hamiltons were millionaires to put their kid in formula 1, they worked their ass off to let them go racing and make that dream possible. But if you think about it, how many families took the same path and got stopped because their kid simply wasn't as skilled as others. If he had known where it would lead to, Hamilton's father would've probably worked even more jobs to give Lewis even more opportunities. But how many fathers and mothers sacrifice everything and invest every last penny they got to make that dream work for their kid only to realize later that he/she doesn't have the talent to compete at the top. So the concern should be how to facilitate access to the sport with a lower budget cause that would solve the problem "Are they really the best?" by itself. Talking about F1, it's safe to say that the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc and so on are among the best racing drivers you can find on the planet. If you are that good then in let's say 8/10 cases you will get recognized by an academy or some sort of youth programm.

@@consti1873 to show how good you are you need to access the right facilities. Which unfortunately is not present in many countries. Only places where F1 is more popular and these youth programs exist is mostly Europe.

@@muhammadfarhan581 What are you talking about? Sergio perez for instance, had a very humble upbringing. He literally had to drive his gokart in a way that his tires lasted longer then the norm. He was talented from the beginning and got sponsored as a result.

Yes, sports like tennis and golf are expensive. But more importantly beyond the cost comparison is exposure. Tennis and Golf are sports where most schools will have a team at a relatively young age. I was introduced to tennis when I was in grade school during gym class and my middle and high school had tennis and golf teams. This goes for all forms of motor sports in any country but usually unless either the parent loves motor sports you aren’t going to get the needed exposure as you will like in other sports to find out whether or not you have the talent for it. You will never find out truly who the fastest driver in the world is.

How are things different today? Pay drivers and rich kids always existed in F1. Things are actually somewhat better now.

Thank you!

Indeed. Some players are fairly bad on grass. Also, it depends if you are fully fit or not.

It’s not personal, everyone who knows about tennis knows that Grand Slams count matters the most not the lone grand slam title ie- Wimbledon.😂😂 You mean to say if Berretini or Alcaraz win it then they would be considered best player in tennis? Even if Rafa or novak won 3 G.S other than Wimbledon that year. What a joke. Lol

And then the pay driver will be the winner, coz car is esensial in this sport. And the way money talk in this competititon make the range quality of "bad" and "talented driver" is not that far (almost all would came with same path and experience).

@@ekosusetyo217 That's a really underestimating how freaking hard driving a F1 car is. F1 drivers are fucking good athletes. Driving a F1 car is not like just pressing a key on keyboard as hard as possible and expecting everything to go smoothly. Pretty sure 99.9% of drivers will be unconscious even before they finish half the GP race due to exhaustion. If what you are saying was the case then why the hell companies are even spending millions of dollar on drivers academy and then hundreds of millions on according to you "talented" drivers when their are hundreds of billionares kids itching to get into the sport? After all there are only 20 seats so nothing should be wrong with that right?. A good car with "bad" drivers will not win championship. It will win new DNFs records.

​@@ekosusetyo217 depends on the pay driver and how much worse or better the cars are. the pay driver would probably win because it's not like they are actually terrible drivers

@@sanjay_swain i never said that F1 driver not a talented or bad driver. I just emphasize that the range of skill that paydriver and the super talented driver in F1 arena is not that far, so car is super esensial at that gap.

@@ekosusetyo217 As with everything, the skill and talent required to save those final few hundredths off, to get that one more overtake, to break those few feet later, grows exponentially.

Another one! 😉☝️

Here's a reason Multi 21 Seb....

@@TheBatmobeale I was faster, I passed him, I won

@@rb0042 Translation: "I'm a petulant child"

Thank you! Hope you're enjoying the journey 😄

Thanks, Ben! 😀

Did it the long and hard way and became the greatest to ever do it. There's no better story to write tbh.

@@lordsabre66 greatest 😂😂😂

@@malikazeez3743 you laugh but Lewis is genuinely fantastic and easily top 5 all time.

I don't understand your reasoning

@@jamesc.2907 There isnt any

I do understand ur reasoning.

@@sebastiaangase8536 What does he mean then ?

@@jamesc.2907 He's saying that the most naturally talented racing driver in the world is probably someone who has never raced a car but the drivers of F1 are better than the most naturally talented person because of the time that they have invested in perfecting their skills.

There might be someone better than Max Verstappen. But the guy is probably too poor to drive a car.

@@gold9994 yes

@@gold9994 I mean I've said that forever. The next senna for example is out there but he probably won't ever get a chance. Just like Micheal Schumacher was kinda almost never even in F1, but then got lucky, and look how well he did, but even though he was that good he almost never had a shot to make it.

Also Kimi.

Alonso and Schumacher also weren't rich if I'm correct

@@mohammadnashitsiddiqui2168 Michael & Ralf's parents were decently wealthy, not millionares, but still wealthy. And the fact that they co-owned the legendary Erftlandring karting track also helped.

Can you already stop with this Ocon BS? Even monkey could win that race in Hungary, when all top drivers crashed in first corner and 2 time world champion is blocking 7 time world champion behind you. Ocon is and always will be noob, was just lucky one time. How can you even put him in same sentence with Vettel and Hamilton?

@@Asp1re8 100%, Gasly's win had some credibility to it. Ocon is famous for blocking his own teammates and still being overall slower. Maybe Gasly can make him look mediocre enough to get someone deserving in that seat

One of the drivers showcased here (Norris) has a sister who's a show-jumper (or equestrian, at least), so it really is more similar than most realize

The Schumacher family also have big connections to the equestrian world too

Thanks, Shubhojit!

Claiming to be the best drivers in the world is where problems is.

Thanks very much! All opinions welcome in the comments 😊

You are quite correct. A certain Jim Clark never drove a kart and entered formula 1 as a lotus driver - you just have to be naturally gifted. Most people would consider him the most naturally gifted racing driver of all time. However, it's highly unlikely he could follow that particular route today.

That's true for most sports I feel, except maybe football since it's so popular. I actually hold the belief that most people would probably be considered geniuses in a given area (not necessarily sports) but most fail to find it during their lifetimes

I say Juan Pablo Montoya is a more talented and better driver than Alonso.

arguable but i will go with alonso@@KillaSin515

That's already happening. - James Baldwin was given a drive in the British GT Championship after winning season 2 of World's Fastest Gamer. - Cem Bolukbasi is in his first season of F2, competing in multiple different racing series after two seasons of F1 Esports. There's likely more cases that I don't know of yet.

The Gran Turismo academy has already got multiple talented sim racers a drive in real cars

@@Slimmeyy but James already had a racing career I'm pre sure before that. These are drivers that already race. It's not like you can sit in your room and then get a real life car from being good at a sim. Almost always they were already racing.

@@tamezzodiac2862 not to mention u still have to pay insane amounts once u join a team

@@bkak2245 yes

Thanks, Gnana!

Say what you want but Verstappen will never be on Max's level. Yeah he had a good season but max has consistency.

Exactly latifi and mazepin proved that

Unless your daddy owns the team then they can't really kick you out, can they?

Thanks, Alejandro! 🙌

Why would people be quiet about it?

@@sagittated because the result isn't gonna change, even with RBR breaching the cost cap in 2021. Hell, Ferrari used an illegal engine in 2019 and got to keep all their points.

@@Slimmeyy actually, whether or not the ferrari engine was actually illegal is behind closed doors because noone can confirm what actually made that engine so much quicker than the others. the suspected reason of course is the fuel flow sensor but the way that ferrari worked around this whether it was either outsmarting the sensor or straight up manipulating it is a secret between FIA and ferrari. therefore you cannot really conclude that ferrari cheated when we dont have the information about how they were so quick. red bull however, going over a cost cap is definitely cheating.

@@no1washerezz former F1 driver and F1 stewart Mika Salo spilled the beans. Every team running a Ferrari engine in 2020 had to use less fuel.

@@Slimmeyy that is the punishment. it does not entail why their engine was so quick and whether or not it was a grey area, or outright cheating

That means a lot! Thanks, Kevin!

And he dominated all these rich kids

@@j4genius961 He wasnt on the poverty line mate. His parents were middle class with a well paying job, and all he was ron dennis personal plaything who fast tracked him into a winning car from the age of 13.

He was signed by Mclaren at a very young age to be an academy driver. His racing career was kickstarted by Mclaren

@@nickfury8973 Yeah, dont know where this narrative of this poverty stricken kid who gets to f1 by pure determination and talent comes from. Its not like schumi who got into f1 from a similar background but had to have freak circumstances to get in with a mid team, Lewis future was secure for all but the early part of his career

@@dylanburston7453 still impressive for a middle class family though.

😄 Takes years of practice!

@@AthleticInterest I completely agree with you.

Lewis yes. Max NOPE

You seem like a relatively new F1 fan

@@adityanarain9428 how am I wrong then? You just said stuff, now prove how I am wrong

@@adityanarain9428 and when did you start watching F1?

@@KillaSin515 bruh, why then? Why do you think that is? Max hasn't yet proved to you he is one of the best drivers of all time? Not saying he's a Senna, Schumacher, Clark, but he is at least on the top 20.

You still can, by outperforming your teammates. If you're consistently performing better than them, people will notice.