As academy graduates like Kimi Antonelli dominate the championship, the path to an F1 seat has inflated to an astonishing eight-figure sum. We investigate the unregulated economy of the junior ladder and the talent being priced out of the paddock.
It’s the most brutal and casually spoken figure in modern motorsport: '$20+ million to get to F1.
The path to a Grand Prix weekend is, on paper, a well-defined meritocracy governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
The inflation of these costs is directly linked to Formula 1’s surging global popularity.
As academy graduates like Kimi Antonelli dominate the championship, the path to an F1 seat has inflated to an astonishing eight-figure sum. We investigate the unregulated economy of the junior ladder and the talent being priced out of the paddock.