PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY
Getting to F1 used to be all about spending ridiculous money to progress through karting, wheezy single seaters and up to F3000, but it’s got a bit more opaque in the last decade or so, the feeder series boundaries blurring, hotshots skipping the queue or nepo babies squeaking through on name recognition.
Best way to improve your chances is to catch the talent spotting eye of Stephanie Carlin, McLaren’s F1 business operations director, who knows how tough it is. “There are more astronauts than F1 drivers, it’s an elite level,” she says. “There are lots of drivers who could have been incredible in F1. The margins in F1 are down to hundredths of a second, so raw talent and 10,000 hours of practice aren’t going to get you there – resilience is one of the most important characteristics.”