Is it too expensive to get into F1? 'They run away at the first figures'

Norbert Vettel, the father of Sebastian Vettel, believes it has become too difficult for young talents to get into Formula 1 because of the high costs. Speaking to Motorsport-total.com the Aston Martin driver's father explained how he thinks young drivers are being held back.

It is by no means a secret that Formula 1 is an expensive sport, but exactly how expensive people sometimes misjudge. Most recently, Ralf Schumacher noted that it costs around 15 million euros to enter the top class of motorsport. According to Vettel, that is the crux of the problem for young talents.

"Maybe now there are people who want to go karting with their children. When they hear the first numbers they are already gone. At the time, we started karting with 5,000 Marks [about 2,500 euros nowadays]. Today, you don't stand a chance with that."

According to Vettel, there is also too little support for young drivers who do well in karting. In his opinion, there should be guidance in finding teams and sponsors so that a younger driver has a better chance of forming a future in motorsport. Currently, such guidance is not there.

Pay drivers and bought-up teams

Vettel also sees a worrying trend emerging: teams being bought up just to give a young karter a chance. This is obviously not a problem unique only to karting. Lance Stroll has had many good results in Formula 1 but it is hard to deny the role of his father Lawrence Stroll in it. Last season, Nikita Mazepin was guaranteed a seat at Haas because his father threw a lot of money at that team. In a broader sense, this falls under the concept of 'paydrivers': drivers who have a place in Formula 1 mainly because they bought their way in.