Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen highlighted a major red flag in today's karting landscape. Ahead of the Monaco GP, the two F1 champions revealed the exorbitant costs at the grassroots level that are preventing young talent from ascending to F1.

During Thursday's media day in Monaco, Hamilton shared the example of a personal connection, saying (via GPBlog):

"I know someone who has a kid who is eight years old that is spending over a million dollars a year."

The Ferrari driver, whose father, Anthony Hamilton, once worked four jobs at a time to support his junior racing career, shed light on how much money it required back then, adding:

"When I started, my dad spent around £53,000 in the first year. That was remortgaging the house and maxing out all the credit cards."

Max Verstappen had similar concerns about the rising costs. During Thursday's FIA press conference, Rodrigo França of Car Magazine Brazil asked him if kids today should opt for karting or sim racing, considering the latter requires lower investment.

"Yeah, I think in general we all learned a lot from go-karting," Verstappen replied. "I think it’s still, of course, a great category. The problem is the prices are just going through the roof. I mean, people are paying 10k-12k for a round in Minis. I mean, that’s just insane, these kinds of prices."

The Red Bull driver used this issue to highlight how experience outside of karting has become vital.

"So, for me it’s more about, yes, the prices are just going through the roof in go-karting, and that is limiting sometimes some real talent that do not have the financial backing to even reach it to formula racing at the moment," Max Verstappen added.

Esteban Ocon Echoes Max Verstappen: 'I Would Not Be Here With That Price'

Esteban Ocon is one of F1's biggest rags-to-riches stories. The French driver's father was a mechanic, and his mother helped her husband run the garage, which was attached to their house.

However, with finances running weak at one stage, the family sold their house and the garage to continue funding his junior racing career. It all paid off in the end as Mercedes signed Ocon to its junior program, and he eventually made it to F1.

After Max Verstappen raised concerns about the karting costs, Esteban Ocon, who was sitting in the same press conference, said:

"Yeah, I think Max summed it up very well, and it’s fair to say that if I had to restart my career and being go-kart, it’s as simple as it is now, I would not be here with the price that, you know, a race in Mini costs now. You know, it’s quite crazy how expensive it is, and, yeah, it’s a shame that it is that way. Unfortunately, that’s how the world is in motor sport."

The costs for racing only increase as drivers advance from karting through to junior formula. Full-time F3 and F2 seasons cost millions of dollars, and only those who reach F1 or branch out to other top categories get some return on investment.

Read more at Motor Culture!

Written by

Yash Kotak

Edited by

Yash Kotak