The Road to F1

It goes without saying that the 24 men who comprise today’s Formula One drivers are at the very pinnacle of their careers. After all, no other form of motorsport is as prestigious, globally recognised or so comprehensively covered by the media. So, it figures then that there’s no way an F1-wannabe would be able to waltz straight into a drive (at least nowadays) without having cut their teeth in a multitude of other series. But just how do drivers ascend that ladder in order to take their place on the most esteemed grid in the world?

All champions of the modern era of F1, with the curious exceptions of Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill, got their first taste for racing at the helm of a go-kart. These days, once you’ve gravitated your way to the top of the go-karting heap, a tangled web of competing single-seat series presents itself. But, even just 10 or so years ago things were much simpler if F1 was your final destination: Formula Ford (1600cc 110bhp engines with no aero), Formula Three (2000cc 200bhp engines with basic aero), Formula 3000 (3000cc 400bhp engines with complex aero), and Formula One. No questions asked.

Getting back to the 21^st century though, it would seem for a start that Formula Ford is in terminal decline. It’s only ever had one truly prolific championship in the form of the British one, and glancing at its list of champions you’ll need to go back to 1998 to find the first grand prix winner in the form of reigning F1 champion Jenson Button, and then all the way back to 1987 to find the one previous to that – Eddie Irvine. Instead, the first real breeding ground for talent today is Formula Renault, which even saw Kimi Raikkonen leap straight up to F1 from there off the back of a dominant 2000 campaign in the British series.

Despite that anomaly, Formula Three remains the place to discover exciting talent, some drivers in the past having graduated directly to Formula One from it. The British championship was historically the one to be in, with the likes of Nelson Piquet Sr., Ayrton Senna, Johnny Herbert and Mika Hakkinen all having taken the spoils. The recently formed Formula Three Euroseries, borne out of a merger between the flagging French and German series, has also given us Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel in its short history. Whilst there are other notable F3 contests in Italy, Spain, Japan and South America, none seem to be able to churn out such hot talents off their production lines as the British and Euroseries championships.

This year though, F3 has a big rival on its hands in the guise of GP3. The new series' main appeal is that unlike with F3, it is a single championship that boasts a spot on the F1 support bill. This means its finest drivers are in with a very strong chance of graduation to GP2, perhaps even more so than the F3 boys. In order to combat this, The British F3 championship has firstly increased the number of races at one race meeting from two to three in order to provide better value for money, and has also introduced pit-stops to provide its competitors with a more 'F1-like' experience. With the new FIA president Jean Todt giving a vote of confidence to F3 with the creation of the International Trophy, it seems likely that the GP3 vs F3 battle will rage on for a few years yet, giving GP2 hopefuls something of a choice in which path they take in the meantime.

GP2 firmly re-established the F1 ‘finishing school’ in 2005, taking over the ailing Formula 3000 which was beginning to suffer from dwindling grid sizes and in a few cases its champions being unable to reach F1. Whilst GP2 features Nico Rosberg, Hamilton, Timo Glock and Nico Hulkenberg on its roll of honour, there is one man who was unable to convert a GP2 success into a F1 seat the following year – Giorgio Pantano. After ascending the ranks of F3000 and then having been unimpressive at the helm of a Jordan in 2004, it seemed nobody was willing to give him a second chance after his GP2 success. He remains the exception however, and with 26 F1 drives available for next season, it’s highly probable that the leading lights of this year’s GP2 championship will find themselves catapulted into the highest level in 2011.

Despite GP2 being the tried and tested method for getting to F1, it isn't the only one. The World Series by Renault, a GP2 rival, has produced the likes of Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica, and the Japanese Formula Nippon championship, whilst no longer regarded as part of the beaten track towards F1, has given us De La Rosa and Ralf Schumacher in the past. Further to that, many IndyCar stars have tried their hand at F1, Montoya and Villeneuve being among the success stories, and the dreadful Michael Andretti being the name that springs to mind when it comes to those who, shall we say, weren’t quite as impressive.

But, whichever route you choose, motorsport is prohibitively expensive – the going rate for a year with a top F3 team is around £400,000, and well in excess of double that sum for a year in a competitive GP2 seat. This means unless your father is the Duke of Westminster, you’ll need a major sponsor on board to keep your bank balance afloat. This role traditionally belonged to cigarette brand Marlboro, but since the increased restrictions on tobacco advertising came to being, Red Bull is now probably the most prevalent backer of young talent. Their Red Bull Junior scheme has seen Christian Klien, Tonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed, Sebastien Buemi and most recently Jaime Alguersauri all land drives in the Red Bull or Toro Rosso F1 teams in the last five years, and there’s little doubt that the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, who are currently scaling the rungs of motorsport with help from the Austrian drinks firm, will find themselves in a similar position in the next few seasons.

More to the point, these series in which the stars of tomorrow earn their stripes provide some fabulous racing. I implore you, if you are already a fervent F1 anorak (which is probably a safe bet given you’re reading this) to give, if you have Eurosport, watching GP2 a go. The racing is nearly always intense, and given that the guys at the wheel are somewhat less experienced, the chances of some tangles are rather high. It’s a mighty shame the BBC passed up the opportunity to show it, unlike ITV who during their tenure as F1 broadcasters went to great lengths to provide us F1 fans with some great entertainment.