hey man, ignore those assholes. they are just being negative. I myself am going up the ladder to become an F1 driver, and yes it does take a crapload of money, and yes the majority of drivers start young, and yes americans are considered a joke in F1. but that doesn't mean you can't do it. just because you are american(I'm assuming so) won't keep you from becoming an F1 driver, it will just make it harder(they don't look for drivers in america). you may have started 10 years or so later than the majority, but that doesn't mean anything. Gilles Villeneuve started racing when he was 18 or 19, so did Tiago Montiero(I belive he started when he was 20). and about not being born rich, it won't keep you from becoming an F1 driver, it will just make things harder. as far as your build, I am 6 ft even, and I weigh 170lbs with a 32 inch waist. I am a big guy, but I am still quick enough to do well in karts, so that shouldn't be a problem. as long as you have a realtively good base to start with(i.e. not 300 lbs and 7 ft. tall) you can get into shape and get into the racing driver "physique". oh, it also helps if you have talent out the wazoo, hah.
the usual ladder is start out in karts(definately a must). this is where you develop you skills, reaction, and overall smoothness when driving at speed. I suggest starting out in a 4-cycle kart, then moving up to 2-cycle sprint karts or shifters. the reason for starting out in 4-cycle karts is because they don't have a lot of power when compared to the 2-cycle karts so it teaches you to be very smooth with your inputs and teaches how to keep your momentum going into corners and coming out of corners. the reason is because if you make a mistake going into the corner(say, you lock your brakes and you slide a bit) you won't have power to make up for that mistake, so you will lose time. after a while you will start to be very consistent with your lap speeds and lines through the corners. with shifters, it doesn't matter if you go in sideways or smooth, and controlled because you have the power to make up for lost time in a slide. you don't have that power with 4-cycle karts, so it hones your skills. as a rule of thumb, people who start out in 4-cycle karts are quicker in shifter than people who just jumped into shifters w/o any previous experience. I just started out racing myself(I've done 4 races so far, never finished below 4th and already have my 1st win). for additional information, check out
www.ekartingnews.com and
www.worldkarting.com .
after karting, you can step up into Formula cars such as Formula Ford 1600 or Formula Ford 2000(1600 - no wings/2000 - wings), Formula BMW, or Formula Dodge cars at the Skip Barber racing schools. after that, there is the Star Pro Mazda series and the ChampCar Atlantic Series. and after that there is either IRL or ChampCar. that's the for the American scene though. what you can do is do 4-cycle karts - 125cc shifter karts - ChampCar Atlantic - then move to Europe looking for a single seater ride over there. over there you have chocies like Formula Renault, European Formula BMW. then you have Formula 3, and Formula Renault V6. then you have GP2, then F1. there is a series that just got started in New Zealand that is called the Formula Toyota series.
www.toyotaracing.co.nz . I might do that after I get out of shifters, then move to Atlantics, then go to Europe. It costs about $100k to do a full season. you pay the money, they pay for your ticket there, they pay for your food, place to stay, pretty much everything except spending money. this is considered a bargain in the racing world, even the cheapest open-wheel racing season(aside from Formula Dodge) costs $150k at absolute minimum. but when you add damage costs(not knocking you, just being realistic because you still have to pay for it even if it's not your fault), travel costs, food, hotel, etc. it ends up being close to $200k. yes, you do have to pay for damage in the Formula Toyota series, but it shouldn't be that much more, maybe an extra $10k-$15k.
once you get a kart, and a couple races done, start on your sponsorship proposal. go out looking for sponsors if you don't have the money for karting. and the one rule you always have to follow no matter what: no matter what anyone says, if you want it, always keep focused on getting into F1. people will say you have no chance(like above people) and all kinds of ****, but just ignore them. about looking for sponsors, general rule of thumb, for every 50 no's you hear, you will get one yes. probably even more than that. always keep your ears open and BE ASSERTIVE. ask people if they are business owners, or if they know any. call up businesses, talk to them about advertising, send out proposals to anyone you think would be suitable. do research on the kinds of people that go to races, what their interests are, how that ties into your possible sponsors. think like your sponsors. remember that all sponsorship is, is advertising. so the sponsors are interested in "how many people are going to see my product?", "will this have a positive effect on my sales?", etc. and your job is to convince them that their money spent will be a good investment. after you secure the sponsorship, it is also your job to make sure that their investment is good money spent. you have to effectively sell their product and be a moving/talking billboard to the press(see Team McLaren F1, or any NASCAR team). in your proposal, make sure it blatantly says what you will do for the sponsor and how you will benefit the company. yea, it could be called selling out, but if they are paying the bills, you better do as much as you can to keep them happy. make sure in your proposal it says what you will do for them and how the logo will be displayed(suit, side of the car/kart, helmet, etc.). another important point, you do not need to tell them what you are going to do with the money in the proposal. if they ask, give them general information, but don't get too specific. such as tell them "it will be used for spare parts, engine rebuilds, any possible damage, tires, etc. don't tell them it will be used to cover travel costs, food costs, helemt painting costs, etc. if you are going to use it for that. it is generally understood, but they don't really want to hear it. a saying I've heard along the way is "the ingredients of a sucessful racer is part racer, part businessman".
in summary, getting to F1 will be EXTREMELY HARD WORK. especially as an American, and I'm assuming an American that wasn't born into a lot of money. it will be a very, very, very, long and hard road, but ask yourself "is your goal worth all the trouble you are putting yourself through?" if the answer is yes, dedicate your all your focus and energy to it and you will achive it.
rock.
