Calculated Risk

Ever wondered what it costs to get to Formula 1? Well, AUTOSPORT has worked it out

There are some things you just don't want to calculate the cost of. The amount you spend on booze every year, for example. Or, more painfully, the quids that go straight out of your pay packet and into the taxman's coffers.

So how many wannabe Formula 1 drivers (and their dads) have sat down with a sharpened pencil and totted up the figure - should they have the talent, luck and timing - that it's going to cost to land a grand prix drive? Whatever the number, that doesn't matter, because we're going to do it for them.

Truth be told, we've already been through several pads of A4 trying to figure it out. It's an extremely difficult calculation and will vary from driver to driver depending on the route taken to the top. But give or take a few hundred thousand - almost loose change in this equation - we've arrived at a rough guide for the amount of cash it could cost a driver to reach F1.

Along the way, we've been helped out by team bosses and drivers from five levels of the sport: karting, junior single-seaters, Formula 3, GP2 and F1. They didn't always want to speak on the record, and they sometimes quoted wildly different figures, but their estimates are enlightening.

Helping us break down the calculations is Bailey Turbo, fictional racing driver of promising talent and wealthy father. Family money has given him a leg up and he's decided to restrict his entry-level racing to the UK so his dad can be there to cheer him on.

Business associates provide vital sponsorship along the way, and he has no qualms about paying for a test in order to catch an F1 team's eye. Sadly, he's not quite good enough to win the titles that bring free drives.

So just how much is he going to have to spend? We've kept extras such as travel, accommodation and expenses out of it - although these are always paid for by the driver - and focused purely on racing, equipment and insurance. If your wallet is of a nervous disposition, hide it in your pocket now...

It might be the cheapest way to learn wheel-to-wheel competition, but the cost of karting certainly doesn't equate to that of playing tennis or football.

But if you have the money, it's the proven way of getting into racing. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but the great and good of Formula 1 have almost all come through karting.

In the UK the earliest you can start is eight years old and if you do, then you're looking at perhaps seven or eight years in this category.

There are myriad classes, from ROTAX to TKM and Formula A, but on average in the UK you're talking £15,000 for a season at a basic level, progressing to £25,000 for the mid level and potentially hitting around £70,000 for the top rung.

Chassis may be relatively cheap - about £1700 for a top TonyKart - but you'll also go through two or three engines, plus plenty of spares. However, according to one young racer who wanted to remain anonymous, it's still a darn sight cheaper than the next step of junior single-seaters.

"The most expensive season I ever had was one year doing Stars of Tomorrow and Super One," he says. "That cost around £25,000. The average was £10,000-15,000, but that's with very limited testing.

"I raced karts for eight years and the total money we spent wouldn't have paid for one year in Formula BMW or Formula Renault. But some people easily spend a Formula BMW budget every year karting in Europe."

So if you're working to a shoestring, the more time you can spend learning your trade in UK karting the better.

For karters with the talent and cash to progress, the number of options is simply mind-boggling. If your heart's set on being a grand prix driver, then single-seaters is the only way to go and Formula Ford is a perfect proving ground.

Tony Mundy, boss of the Jamun outfit, quotes £100,000 all-in for a full season including 30 days of testing - which is going to be pretty essential. "I don't believe people can do it any cheaper for what we're offering," he says.

"It's a full-time business for seven or eight months a year. No matter what you do, you have to find the money, but to be successful you've got to have a driver you think is capable of winning the championship, so you do have to look for the drivers who have the ability.

"Ford is really good value for money. Even if you don't win the championship you get good experience."

When it comes to the next step, Formula BMW and Formula Renault offer little difference in terms of cost. The BMW cars are slightly more expensive and tend to need their engines replaced more often, but you're looking at a similar price. Top teams like Fortec, Carlin, Manor and Double R all charge between £150,000 and £180,000.

If your budget doesn't stretch to that, there are cheaper teams, but they're unlikely to help deliver the results, and ultimately you'll need a decent amount of testing - at a price.

Mark Burdett currently runs a Formula Renault team, and has done FBMW too. He says: "Realistically it costs £130-139k for a season. But the biggest thing is the testing on top of that.

"If a young driver truly wants to progress they really need some days in the car in the winter and that can cost up to £2500 a day. The drivers pay for any damage themselves. I always insure my cars but there's still a £2000 excess."

If you make it to Formula 3, things are getting serious - in terms of performance and cost. Team boss Trevor Carlin says: "I reckon Mike Conway spent £1,000,000 on two years of F3, if you consider all the extra winter testing he did.

"I guess Double R is the most expensive 'normal' team, and they'd be charging £450k. By 'normal' I mean they're not like Hitech or Fortec, which have investment from drivers' families [Walter Grubmuller and the Mansells respectively] and can offer subsidised drives.

"I'm not the most expensive anymore! We charge a little less than Double R - but but us and them can win a championship for £420,000 if we have to. The price includes all the test days allowed during the season, but no pre-Christmas testing.

"Prices vary from £360,000 upwards, but look at what you're getting with us. Part of the budget goes towards facilities like our windtunnel, which other teams don't have."

At F3 level, a season's insurance is around £10,000, probably with a £2500 excess for every accident - sometimes that's included in the deal and sometimes it's not. Another extra is hotels and travel.

Several top team bosses admit that the market has picked up and they're being approached by more drivers with a complete budget. At the end of the day, that matters - as businesses, they cannot simply pick drivers on talent.

Alan Docking says: "I'm a little choosy when it comes to drivers. I try to look for blokes who will work together nicely. But their level of support does play an important role.

"Sometimes we can offer an adjusted programme to suit their budget, for example by taking a bit of testing out of the deal, but we can't negotiate much. Our asking price is pretty much our costs."

With Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg among its alumni, GP2 has established itself as the best show window for wannabe Formula 1 drivers. As befits its status as the final rung on the motorsport ladder to F1, GP2 isn't cheap.

Despite testing being tightly controlled, the cars' high running costs mean that teams require a driver to bring around £800,000 to £1 million for a season.

GP2's track record in taking drivers to F1 means there's no shortage of hopefuls knocking on the doors of the teams, though. And with Renault, Red Bull, BMW and Toyota all having junior drivers represented in the series, those seeking a way in are fighting over as few as 20 race seats.

Because of this the teams seek to evaluate potential drivers in the three organised tests at the end of the season. A test outing costs £15,000-20,000 depending on the team, although this cost may be negotiated off the final budget if a race deal is agreed.

There are also several corporate sponsors in the series - Repsol, Marlboro and Petrol Ofisi, to name but three - which means a number of subsidised deals are out there for the right driver.

And for the first time this season two drivers - Giorgio Pantano and Antonio Pizzonia - are receiving salaries for their efforts as Campos and Fisichella Motor Sport bank on employing F1 experience to achieve success. But these are the exceptions - the others will have to shine in the tests and show the colour of their money.

Super Nova boss David Sears says: "The faster the driver, the more motivated you are to do a deal. But in the end the amount you require is the same, it just depends on what your accident bill is at the end of the year!"

If a driver has made a success of himself in GP2 and fancies his chances in F1, then his career can head in one of two directions: paid, or paid for. Of course, a drive won't land in his lap, which means testing, either under the patronage of a team or manufacturer or paid for out of his sponsors' pockets.

The likes of Renault and BMW have established routes for bringing talent up through the ranks. And they're getting their chance to show their mettle in an F1 car younger than ever. Look at Sebastian Vettel - during Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix he became the youngest ever driver to take part in a GP meeting, at 19 years and 53 days.

But if you don't have the support of the likes of BMW, you're going to need to pay for your drive. One team insider quotes us €350,000 for a test day and €500,000 for a Friday outing on a grand prix weekend. And you might want at least two of each to really get your name in the frame.

If a driver is going to make that final leap into an F1 seat, he's going to have to stump up cash - potentially bringing the total cost of his career to just under a whopping £4 million.

"At the lower end of the grid, these things are decided purely by money," says one F1 insider. "You hope some ability comes with it - but cash always comes first.

"Of course, the drivers need to have Superlicence so you know that they're not totally useless. And it can depend on the team principal - some of them have a better working knowledge of the junior categories, so they know who's looking promising.

"Drivers generally pay all their own expenses but it's become traditional to give them space on their overalls and helmet to sell personal sponsor space. That allows them to finance their expenses while also keeping some of their long-term personal sponsors happy.

"Of course, if you can get a driver with a bit of talent you might be prepared to drop the money a little - and anybody who's a real racer in F1 would still do that. But it's governed by money. That's the way it's always been."

I started karting at the age of eight, and as an independent I - or rather the family - was forking out £5000-6000. By the time I finished in karts at 15 that was costing £25,000-30,000 - and that was for only 10 race meetings in British Formula A karting!

Yes there's a little inflation in there, but mainly because as you progress it becomes more professional. Most of that budget was for engine rebuilds - and you needed three engines per weekend. £1000-1200 per weekend went just on engine hire.

Moving up to Formula Vauxhall Junior in 1995 with Team JLR cost about £50,000 for 14 or 15 races. I missed the first one because in pre-season testing at Brands I crashed due to rear brake failure and broke my wrist and ankle.

I got a scholarship with Paul Stewart Racing to Formula Vauxhall, where I stayed two years. I was second in the championship in 1996 and fourth in '97. I paid £45,000 each year but the budget was around £100,000, so they must have seen potential in me to cover the shortfall.

That wasn't an option in F3, which was something I just couldn't afford. To go to a plodder team would have been £250,000, or if I wanted to go to a top team it would have been £350,000-400,000. Out of the question.

So I went to Formula Palmer Audi for '98, which was £85,000 and winning the championship there would land a fully funded drive in Formula 3000. That's what I did, which was a major boost because that drive with Astromega was worth £450,000 in 1999. Jonathan Palmer also became my manager.

I moved to the Nordic F3000 team the next year, but had to find 'only' £250,000 because the team had sponsorship. It was still a real scrounge, though. I stayed there for '01; we were fully sponsored so that was free, and we won the title.

That wasn't good enough to land a drive in F1 and we had no money. I spoke to some F1 teams and had a test with Jordan, but nothing doing.

I got a free drive in World Series by Nissan with Racing Engineering, and then Jonathan had the idea of setting up Justin Wilson plc. So we spoke to Paul Stoddart. He was very supportive.

We raised the £1.2 million and we got the Minardi drive, which led to Jaguar (least said the better)...which led to Champ Cars!