by VALERIO BARRETTA
Ben Sulayem against the costs of karting
Formula 1, as we know, is expensive, and a driver who enters it very often needs sponsors who support him and the team from a financial point of view. But the classic pilot with suitcase it is just the tip of an iceberg that finds its base in kartingwhen pilots and especially families collide with a reality that requires sacrifices and above all high-cost investments.
The FIA has repeatedly promoted initiatives to break down ethnic and gender barriers, but little has been said about the economic one, because it is structural, and to break it you need actions and not words. Recently, however, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem took to the field to highlight the problem of karts being too expensive not only for drivers and families, but also for the Federation itself.
The words of Ben Sulayem
“Who can afford to pay 275 thousand euros per season for a ten year old child? It is not possible. Karting is too expensive. We want to standardize regulations and reduce costs. After all, we want motorsport to grow. All Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers come from karting, and this is where we want to start“.
High costs for families correspond to high costs for the Federation itself, naturally from a management point of view. But the FIA can no longer afford waste: “In karting there are many different rules. For example, football is such a simple sport, with 11 players on each side and one ball; I want to change this situation and gradually we see the light at the end of the tunnel. The FIA has been in the red for 40 years, last year running costs fell to less than eight million. But you can't cut everything, because it wouldn't be healthy: if I make someone get to the fifth floor, then I can't tell them to jump down, otherwise they would get hurt. The return journey must also be done step by step“.
#Ben #Sulayem #karts #cost #FormulaPassion