Reply To: F101 Requests: Short Videos Explaining Formula 1 Nuance

[Davidicus]

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Hi,

I am very interested in learning more about privilege, money, and sponsorship dynamics in F1. More specifically:

– With examples like Lance Stroll being the son of billionaire team owner Laurence Stroll, now Nikita Mazepin having a billionaire father willing to invest in Haas: how does sponsorship & money in those privileged situations allow those drivers opportunities to race in F1 versus perhaps others who were ‘more deserving’, for whatever reasons?
– In F1’s history, what are other examples of this happening, and in hindsight did they benefit those teams?
– If F1 teams could go back in time, could you guess which teams would make different decisions based on money & talent?

– In a somewhat related & broader socioeconomic context, how does family upbringing play into F1? Verstappen, Sainz, and now Schumacher (I am too new to know any more examples off the top of my head) – we know that the earlier you start in F1 the better, and I assume these guys were driving by the age of 4 or 5, with every opportunity for advancement in resources, access, and name recognition alone. How does this give them a (huge) leg up in the sport? It’s almost a chicken vs. egg scenario. For example, with someone like Mick Schumacher, how much of “oh he’s a Schumacher, there’s no doubt he will be successful because he will be surrounded by resources, therefore we are going to invest in him.” I am thinking of Malcom Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’ if you’ve read it, where he talks about Hockey kids being born in Jan/Feb dominating the NHL rosters, partly due to the monthly cutoffs where they were the largest kids of their peers, and therefore got the most attention from their different peewee coaches as they advanced in the sport.
– Contrastingly, are there Family/name scenarios that put(s) adverse pressure on drivers, & restricted their space to blossom into their own identity? And how did/does that translate onto the race track?

– In a more opposite example of Lewis Hamilton, exactly how rare and incredible is his story coming up from ‘humble’ beginnings versus almost all of his competitors? What obstacles did he have to overcome that don’t immediately meet the eye?

– All of these questions cumulate into my biggest set of questions, which is if somehow F1 were able to knock down these barriers and find ways to allow more people a chance to get into F1, how would that change the sport? Or, how would F1 have to change, obviously in a transitory way? What would be step 1, 2, and 3? Have they openly recognized this is a problem, and spoken about ways they plan to fix it?

Thank you,
Davy