The pathways into racing

By Mukarram Hamid

Matthew Round-Garrido speaking about being a driving coach

There are two main pathways for junior racing drivers who dream of competing in the highest levels of motorsports, including Formula One, IndyCar, Endurance Racing, and more. These pathways are drastically different, with one being the more traditional route drivers take and the other being a slightly newer approach that has only recently been put into fruition.   

Most of the drivers currently racing in Formula One have come from a more traditional background, starting in karting, then progressing into junior categories of motorsport racing, and finally moving up to the pinnacle of motorsport. This pathway has always been the most appealing to drivers and has produced some of the best talents in the world, such as Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Micheal Schumacher. However, for anyone who wants to follow in the footsteps of these legendary drivers and hopefully race at the top one day, many barriers exist within this pathway, such as the financial toll.   

Matthew Round-Garrido, a racing coach and driver, said: "It's a very hard thing to do. You'd need so much to go right because there's the financial barrier, but even if you've got the money, that's not enough.   

"You still got to execute the career well, and each season, you must come into it with a plan. Look at someone like Lando Norris (F1 driver); that's someone who executed their career well as he was prepared for each season, did testing to get good, and already had the race craft and he was prepared for each season, did testing to get good and he already had the race craft and then you into race weekends and execute and win, you build a CV that looks like that and how can an F1 team say no?"  

The belief that the financial barrier is a prominent issue facing drivers is a shared sentiment throughout racing disciplines.  

Graham Carroll, a sim racer and former real-life driver, said: "If you go into real-life racing and write the car off, some parents can't afford to fix that.  

"When I raced, it was just me and my dad. I don't have any money compared to these guys, and we still managed to do well, but there's always a barrier."    

Graham Carroll, sim racer and ex driver (Image via GettyImages)

Besides the financial barrier, a driver must continuously perform at a high level to progress up the food chain and get a seat in higher racing categories. However, age is a significant factor in real-life racing as people begin their careers at different times. Still, it has been seen that the earlier a child starts karting, the better their chances are to reach the higher levels of the motorsport ladder. According to PlanetF1, most current F1 drivers started karting around 8-14, but some started younger at around 4-5.    

Round-Garrido said: "I think what's hard if you're someone like me, who only drove (race)cars when I was 15, I never drove a downforce car until I was 18, and then you're so far behind the curve.  

"I'm there trying to learn downforce at 18, and you get kids who are 14 already at that level. So, if you're trying to get into Formula One, for example, your learning rate must be so quick."   

Furthermore, with the junior categories being so competitive and the availability for drivers in the higher rungs of the ladder being in short supply, this is an added difficulty for drivers trying to achieve success and gain a seat in Formula One, for example.   

Round-Garrido said: "There are 20 guys. How many kids dream of being in F1? Millions and millions. So, I'll say it would be on the harder side, that's for sure."   

Carroll said: "There's a reason there's only 20 guys that get to be Formula One drivers; it's a very difficult game to play.  

"But sim racing has opened a new way into motorsport. If you can be extremely good at sim racing and impress, you never know; someone might put you in a car."  

Sim racing is a pathway into motorsports that has only recently been opened up with the likes of Lucas Blakeley, F1 Esports World Champion, racing in Formula Ford. Sim racing has shown successes like Blakeley but has yet to produce a driver who has made it to the higher levels of motorsport racing and has stayed there.   

“Sim racing has opened a new way into motorsport” (Image via GettyImages)

Carroll said: "I used to be teammates with a call called James Baldwin. He won the World's Fastest Gamer, and it let him drive a McLaren in British GT in real life for a season.   

"You've only got one season; that's your prize. What does the guy do the years after that? Nothing. He's stuck back at the same place, and it's great to see, but there are very few guys that have a proper career in real-life motorsport. Most of the time, it's always a season of racing.   

"Who can go out there and pay for a guy's driving for the rest of their career?"   

Unlike real-life drivers, sim racers lack the backing or funding that karting drivers or drivers in junior categories possess. As a result, it is hard for sim racers to transition into real-life motorsports, and the opposite has been seen more in history; many real-life racers who lack funds and financial backing fall into sim racing to maintain their need for racing.   

Carroll said: "I grew up doing go-karts with my dad. I did go-karts from about eight years old till I was 15.   

"I was the British champion in Formula Ford and won the Ford Walter Hayes Trophy. I won everything you could've won in Formula Ford, but I needed £250,000 to move into the Porsche Cup.   

"It was in the middle of the credit crunch when I was trying to become a racing driver; It was just no sponsorship and no money, and I had to just go.  

"I started to play games and got more into sim racing, which led to getting picked up by one team and getting picked up by the other."   

Drivers not having the financial backing to continue their careers in real-life racing is common.   

Round-Garrido said: "I raced Lucas (Blakeley) in karting, and he was good, but he would've never had the chance to race cars with the family money.   

"Jarno Opmeer (2x F1 Esports World Champion) was racing in Formula Renault, and he was doing really well. That category, as well as the funding, would've been difficult.  

One of the most famous stories of a sim racer becoming a real-life driver is the story of Jann Mardenborough, who the Grand Turismo movie is based on.   

Round-Garrido said: "He's made it work, and I don't know about his driving, but he must be good enough for Nissan to keep him on as a factory driver because that's a very high level.   

"Other than Mardenborough, I can't think of someone who's solely done simulator driving and then come across to motorsports driving."   

Both pathways are great ways for drivers to reach the higher rungs of the motorsports ladder, but both contain challenges. These challenges have caused different opinions on which pathway is more accessible.   

Carroll said: "Both motorsport disciplines are challenging to progress in. You can still do it in real life if you've got the backing, but in sim racing, you'd only get to a certain point where people would forget about you if you're not quick enough.  

Some people believe that one pathway is more accessible than the other.   

Round-Garrido said: "The sim racing pathway would be harder because there is less crossover between the two worlds; sim and motorsports have less crossover than karting and motorsport.   

"Look at Blakeley and Opmeer; these are two top-calibre real-life guys who have transitioned. I don't see them as sim drivers; they didn't sit and play their PlayStation and then hop into a kart.  

"I think the karting pathway would be easier."