F1 2025 Season

[jimharri]

Are any of these racing drivers not born into wealth or bankrolled by their parents?

Must cost a fortune to fund them through the various stages to become a F1 driver.

Obviously Verstappen is and Norris too by looks of it.

I don’t know much about this sport to be honest. I watched the race today as I found it mildly entertaining when it was raining and stuck with it. Not sure getting pissed wet through in the stands and watching cars behind a safety car would be for me though!

Has anyone been to one and is it any good?

Not sure there's been too many lads raised on council estates, or to your average working class family, who's made it in F1. What was Hamiltons upbringing? Middle class?

 

[Chrisja1000]

Not sure there's been too many lads raised on council estates, or to your average working class family, who's made it in F1. What was Hamiltons upbringing? Middle class?

You’d think the council estates could have some series talent. I’ve seen some locals driving around Beswick at high speed away from the police. Incredible driving.

 

[BlueMoonday]

Are any of these racing drivers not born into wealth or bankrolled by their parents?

Must cost a fortune to fund them through the various stages to become a F1 driver.

Obviously Verstappen is and Norris too by looks of it.

I don’t know much about this sport to be honest. I watched the race today as I found it mildly entertaining when it was raining and stuck with it. Not sure getting pissed wet through in the stands and watching cars behind a safety car would be for me though!

Has anyone been to one and is it any good?

I went to the Singapore GP last year and it was superb.

Tickets aren't cheap but covers the full race weekend. Theres quite a few concerts at the race as well and other racing events on track.

 

[supercity88]

Not sure there's been too many lads raised on council estates, or to your average working class family, who's made it in F1. What was Hamiltons upbringing? Middle class?

There aren't going to be any rags to riches stories in F1. Hamilton and Ocon are probably the best stories, in that the parents gave up jobs and/or sold houses to fund their racing careers. Hamilton's Dad was an IT manager who then became a contractor and did other jobs too to try and make his dream happen. Ocon's parents sold their house to generate cash, but as they owned the house in the first place they weren't doing too badly!

Lando you don't need to google to know he came from a shit load of money. If his name was Nando he might be working class.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

There aren't going to be any rags to riches stories in F1. Hamilton and Ocon are probably the best stories, in that the parents gave up jobs and/or sold houses to fund their racing careers. Hamilton's Dad was an IT manager who then became a contractor and did other jobs too to try and make his dream happen. Ocon's parents sold their house to generate cash, but as they owned the house in the first place they weren't doing too badly!

Lando you don't need to google to know he came from a shit load of money. If his name was Nando he might be working class.

It’s a shame but the costs involved in getting into the sport are always going to be prohibitive.

Kicking a football around costs nothing but driving karts costs tens of thousands and goes up exponentially from there.

There’s always grants and funding available but it’s never going to move the needle that much.

IMO there’s also a big difference between guys like Lando who, while yes coming from wealthy backgrounds, have worked from the bottom and have their drive on merit, and the likes of Stroll and previously Maldonado etc who are pure paid drivers.

 

[Metal Biker]

There aren't going to be any rags to riches stories in F1. Hamilton and Ocon are probably the best stories, in that the parents gave up jobs and/or sold houses to fund their racing careers. Hamilton's Dad was an IT manager who then became a contractor and did other jobs too to try and make his dream happen. Ocon's parents sold their house to generate cash, but as they owned the house in the first place they weren't doing too badly!

Lando you don't need to google to know he came from a shit load of money. If his name was Nando he might be working class.

That, and being sponsored by Ron Dennis and McLaren from the age of 10 helped immesurably too.

Daddy Hammy only bankrolled Lewis in junior karting where he was noticed by Ron in 1995 whilst karting, signing him to their driver academy in 1998. They then supported him from that moment on with scope of him having a main drive when he earned enough Super Licence points.

 

[TinFoilHat]

And the first person to congratulate Hulkenberg on his podium?

Max Verstappen of course.

Again, I'm complimenting Max. (What's wrong with me!?)

His move to force Piastri into a penalty was shithousery of the highest order. He was clever enough to do it.

It looks like that move might affect McClaren more than he expected with Oscar having a Rosburg style meltdown. That's also shows immaturity in him by equating the penalty with some sort of bias towards Lando at his home GP. When in fact it was his fuck up and he should own it.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

Not sure there's been too many lads raised on council estates, or to your average working class family, who's made it in F1. What was Hamiltons upbringing? Middle class?

His dad was some form of manager but also took on other jobs to support Hamilton’s road into F1. Definitely working class and a success story.

Wasn’t Alonso’s dad a bricklayer, or something, or was it Schumacher’s?

Either way, it shows that if you have a real talent, you can make it to the top if you have the right support in place.

 

[Pancake Arse]

His move to force Piastri into a penalty was shithousery of the highest order. He was clever enough to do it.

I suggest you read this regarding a safety car restart.

Once the track is deemed to be clear and safe for racing to resume, the message “SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP” is sent to all teams and the Safety Car’s orange lights are turned off.

This signals to the drivers and the teams that the Safety Car will enter the pit lane at the end of that lap. From then, the race leader is responsible for setting the pace and no longer has to stay 10 car lengths behind the Safety Car, but no cars are allowed to accelerate or brake erratically.

 

[Pancake Arse]

The safety car lights are clearly off so Oscar only has himself to blame but it do think a 10 second penalty was out of order.

 

[SWP's back]

Not sure there's been too many lads raised on council estates, or to your average working class family, who's made it in F1. What was Hamiltons upbringing? Middle class?

The parents definitely need a few grand a year AND time for karting for sure.

 

[SWP's back]

It’s a shame but the costs involved in getting into the sport are always going to be prohibitive.

Kicking a football around costs nothing but driving karts costs tens of thousands and goes up exponentially from there.

There’s always grants and funding available but it’s never going to move the needle that much.

IMO there’s also a big difference between guys like Lando who, while yes coming from wealthy backgrounds, have worked from the bottom and have their drive on merit, and the likes of Stroll and previously Maldonado etc who are pure paid drivers.

To be fair to Stroll, he won everything he ever raced on his way up as well.

 

[supercity88]

That, and being sponsored by Ron Dennis and McLaren from the age of 10 helped immesurably too.

Daddy Hammy only bankrolled Lewis in junior karting where he was noticed by Ron in 1995 whilst karting, signing him to their driver academy in 1998. They then supported him from that moment on with scope of him having a main drive when he earned enough Super Licence points.

Yeah but that was due to his talent, he'd never have been there to get the sponsorship in the first place without it.

I don't particularly care about their backgrounds. You can't help but like someone a bit more if they've had to work harder to get there, but as @Johnny Mars Bar says someone like Norris or Bearman might have had the money behind them but that's still a world away from being the son of someone already involved in the sport.

Even then, you need a hell of a lot of talent to succeed unless your Dad owns the team you drive for!

 

[Metal Biker]

Yeah but that was due to his talent, he'd never have been there to get the sponsorship in the first place without it.

I don't particularly care about their backgrounds. You can't help but like someone a bit more if they've had to work harder to get there, but as @Johnny Mars Bar says someone like Norris or Bearman might have had the money behind them but that's still a world away from being the son of someone already involved in the sport.

Even then, you need a hell of a lot of talent to succeed unless your Dad owns the team you drive for!

Didn't say it wasn't. Just pointing out that they had money to fund his karting 'career' from the age of 7 and then he was bankrolled by McLaren from the age of 10 all through his career as part of his financial support and development thanks to Ron Dennis. Loads of young kids in karting never get the break he did or has had since.

Not a criticism, just pointing it out that he too had a huge privilege in having his career funded entirely by an F1 team and Ron Dennis.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

His dad was some form of manager but also took on other jobs to support Hamilton’s road into F1. Definitely working class and a success story.

Wasn’t Alonso’s dad a bricklayer, or something, or was it Schumacher’s?

Either way, it shows that if you have a real talent, you can make it to the top if you have the right support in place.

“The right support in place” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

Hamilton’s story is incredible and in my view him and his family deserve every penny that’s come with the success.

But there are undoubtedly kids out there with the desire and talent to make it who’ll never get a chance because of the financial barriers. More so than probably any other sport.

F1 will always be to a large extent a posh boy’s sport.

There’s other categories of motorsport that are a lot more accessible of course. Touring cars have more working class lads, and NASCAR over in Magaland is proud of its working class heritage.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

That, and being sponsored by Ron Dennis and McLaren from the age of 10 helped immesurably too.

Daddy Hammy only bankrolled Lewis in junior karting where he was noticed by Ron in 1995 whilst karting, signing him to their driver academy in 1998. They then supported him from that moment on with scope of him having a main drive when he earned enough Super Licence points.

There’s widely available footage online of Lewis as a tiny little kid in karts ripping his peers to pieces. It’s clear as day from that alone that he was leagues above so it’s no surprise McLaren snapped him up.

I suppose an equivalent would be those videos of, given this is a City forum, Foden running rings around the other kids when he was in primary school playing in Reddish then getting snapped up by City.

The difference being the cost of sending your 7 year old kid to play on the local field in Stockport on a Saturday is some boots and a Happy Meal after. Junior karting costs tens and tens of thousands of pounds, if not even more. It’s a massive barrier and you’ve got to give credit to Anthony Hamilton for even entertaining his kid’s dream.

Whichever way you look at it, it’s pure Hollywood stuff.

And hey, I say this as someone who until he was shafted in 2021, was never really a big Lewis fan. Jenson was my favourite driver and though I’ve always been and always will be a McLaren fan, in that era I was cold towards Lewis as he usually got the better of JB!

21 changed things a lot for me, the injustice of that flipped a switch and since then I’ve desperately wanted Lewis to succeed in the later phase of his career.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

To be fair to Stroll, he won everything he ever raced on his way up as well.

His dad probably had his henchmen going round supergluing brake calipers ;)

 

[Metal Biker]

There’s widely available footage online of Lewis as a tiny little kid in karts ripping his peers to pieces. It’s clear as day from that alone that he was leagues above so it’s no surprise McLaren snapped him up.

I suppose an equivalent would be those videos of, given this is a City forum, Foden running rings around the other kids when he was in primary school playing in Reddish then getting snapped up by City.

The difference being the cost of sending your 7 year old kid to play on the local field in Stockport on a Saturday is some boots and a Happy Meal after. Junior karting costs tens and tens of thousands of pounds, if not even more. It’s a massive barrier and you’ve got to give credit to Anthony Hamilton for even entertaining his kid’s dream.

Whichever way you look at it, it’s pure Hollywood stuff.

And hey, I say this as someone who until he was shafted in 2021, was never really a big Lewis fan. Jenson was my favourite driver and though I’ve always been and always will be a McLaren fan, in that era I was cold towards Lewis as he usually got the better of JB!

21 changed things a lot for me, the injustice of that flipped a switch and since then I’ve desperately wanted Lewis to succeed in the later phase of his career.

I was the other way. I backed him since he joined the first team, 2008 felt a little sour (Singapore '08) but I lost all respect for him in 2015 and again in 2016. I don't doubt his talent, he's the same vein as Vettel in my eyes. However Seb became more likeable as he aged and won more by that point, whereas Lewis just seemed to become insufferable to listen to. And they both entered the sport in 2007. Lewis is now finding out though that moving to Ferrari post-Schumi is career suicide.

Lewis is still the youngest person signed to an F1 team; that sort of advantage is obviously going to reap rewards and Lewis's own natural talent ensured it. But make no mistake, it's not like his mum was handwashing school shirts in the early hours of the morning whilst his Dad toiled away at two jobs to afford his first go-kart. They had money and invested a lot of it for their son's dream, who was able to use the platform to get noticed by the right people who then bankrolled his career from a very young age. I can't think of anyone else who has had such a privileged start in F1.

Unlike maybe Stroll, whose Daddy bought him an entire F1 team to nuture a talent that wasn't there. :)

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

I was the other way. I backed him since he joined the first team, 2008 felt a little sour (Singapore '08) but I lost all respect for him in 2015 and again in 2016. I don't doubt his talent, he's the same vein as Vettel in my eyes. However Seb became more likeable as he aged and won more by that point, whereas Lewis just seemed to become insufferable to listen to. And the both entered the sport in 2007. Lewis is now finding out though that moving to Ferrari post-Schumi is career suicide.

Lewis is still the youngest person signed to an F1 team; that sort of advantage is obviously going to reap rewards and Lewis's own natural talent ensured it. But make no mistake, it's not like his mum was handwashing school shirts in the early hours of the morning whilst his Dad toiled away at two jobs to afford his first go-kart. They had money and invested a lot of it for their son's dream, who was able to use the platform to get noticed by the right people who then bankrolled his career.

Unlike Stroll, whose Daddy bought him an entire F1 team to nuture a talent that wasn't there. :)

I think that’s very harsh but I’m not going to argue mate.

Schumacher…now there’s a cheating **** whose story has been rewritten and glossed over. Always detested that bell end.

I agree with you on Vettel. Was a proper bell end at Red Bull but seems like a nice bloke now.

Whisper it…but I kind of suspect the same about Max.

 

[Metal Biker]

I think that’s very harsh but I’m not going to argue mate.

Schumacher…now there’s a cheating **** whose story has been rewritten and glossed over. Always detested that bell end.

I agree with you on Vettel. Was a proper bell end at Red Bull but seems like a nice bloke now.

Whisper it…but I kind of suspect the same about Max.

NOT ALLOWED!

Don't get me wrong, nobody becomes a seven-time WC without having talent to back it. And maybe I am pooh-poohing Anthony's determination in seeing his son reach the pinnacle of motorsport a little, but i'm an asshole! :)

It's mostly his fanbase I find issue with. They make out like nobody has ever done what he's done in F1 before or never could again. Ol' Schumi himself said "Records are made to be broken'. He broke Fangios, Lewis broke his, someone will break Lewis's. I don't find him as bad as Schumacher or Prost, or Verstroppen right now, i'm just kind of meh about him.

Personally my favourites have always been Senna, Lauda, Mansell, Hill (Both), Alonso and now Vettel in some regard. His is a story in which he should have been a seven-time champion too, IMHO.