The Weekly Grapevine
Dieter Rencken mourns the gradual metamorphosis of the traditional junior motorsport ladder and warns that it could to lead to entire lost generation of undiscovered driving talent
Saving the lost generation
There was a time when the development path for young drivers was, much like the training of budding doctors or lawyers, relatively simple. Just as the route to qualifying in more 'accepted' professions entailed some form of tertiary training followed by spells of internship, so young drivers progressed through junior ranks before hitting Formula One.
Invariably they moved from karts to Formula Ford (where chassis choice was free), then F3 and onwards to F2 or F3000 - usually combined with an F1 test role - and, finally, a seat with a back-of-the-grid F1 team, more often than not paid for as part of an apprenticeship by a front-running outfit.
Share Or Save This Story
Vettel: Last Ferrari step back to winning F1 titles will be hardest
Revealed: What F1 teams really spent in 2017
Aftermath of Hamilton Baku clash Vettel's 'worst feeling' of 2017
Why F1 is sitting on a timebomb of contradictions
Lewis Hamilton hopes Fernando Alonso is in 2018 F1 title fight
How teams lost patience with F1's new era
Michael Schumacher doubted himself, reveals ex-Ferrari F1 boss Todt
Why Todt's reign is eight years longer than planned
Skoda reveals Rally2-inspired EV race concept
FIA prize-giving in Rwanda set to go ahead despite Marburg virus outbreak
Williams to “compromise” next season ahead of 2026 rules overhaul
Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week
When a generation of drivers learned skills for life from an atypical academy scheme
The enduring power of Prodrive at 40
Inside the archive that keeps motorsport’s most closely-guarded secrets
The choppy waters McLaren has navigated behind the scenes of its F1 success
Subscribe and access Autosport.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.
