Formula 1
Wolff says current junior racing costs are "absurd"
Toto Wolff believes motorsport needs to be made "much more affordable" for youngsters after Lewis Hamilton said Formula 1 has become a "billionaire boys' club".
Luke Smith
Edited: Jun 13, 2021, 1:32 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hamilton was raised on a council estate in Stevenage, with his father holding down multiple jobs to fund his early karting career that helped pave the way for his success in F1.
The seven-time F1 world champion said in an interview with Spanish publication AS that F1 "has become a billionaire boys' club", adding: "If I were to start over from a working-class family, it would be impossible for me to be here today because the other boys would have a lot more money.
"We have to work to change that and make this an accessible sport, for the rich and for people with more humble origins."
Read Also:
- F2, F3 to focus on cost saving instead of driver scholarships
- The lessons Mercedes will learn from its Monaco F1 mistakes
- Marko: Wolff "should look at his front wings" amid protest threat
Three drivers on the F1 grid - Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Nikita Mazepin - are the sons of billionaires, while the majority of active racers have required support from manufacturers or sponsors to make it to the top level due to the costs involved.
Mercedes F1 chief Wolff said that while every driver had their own story, he agreed with Hamilton that more had to be done to reduce costs in grassroots racing.
"What makes the sport so attractive is that it provides narrative for good soap [opera] outside of the racing too," Wolff said.
"Drivers have always come from different backgrounds, and I think there is not always, everyone has his story, and things to cope.
"I doubt that kids from a more privileged background have it easy all the time. They are fighting their own demons.
"What I think we can do is make sure that grassroots racing becomes more affordable, so kids that haven't got any financial background can actually be successful in the junior formulas.
"All the big Formula 1 teams [need to be] able to identify those kids, rather than making it so expensive that a good go-karting season costs 250,000, an F4 season 500,000, and an F3 season 1 million.
"That is totally absurd, [and] needs to stop, because we want to have access. I think we need to give access to kids that are interested in go-karting, the opportunity to race for much more affordable budgets."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Dutch GP targeting 105k capacity crowd for September F1 race
Next article Bottas has "negative" photo on desktop to "show them what I can do"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jul 22, 2025
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 19, 2023
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1 Feb 18, 2023
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Mercedes
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
7 h
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
23 h
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Latest news
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 6 min
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 30 min
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
1 h
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
IndyCar 2026 season review: Juncos Hollinger Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Juncos Hollinger Racing
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe