FIA faces fresh scrutiny as Helmut Marko calls for action on ‘unfortunate’ F1 ladder situation

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has called on the FIA to act on reducing costs for young prospects looking to climb the junior ladder.

Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has found itself in the spotlight due to their attempt to clamp down on swearing, but Marko, head of the Red Bull driver programme, has another priority which he wishes to put on their radar, that being reducing the costs of junior racing.

Helmut Marko calls for more affordable ladder to F1

Red Bull has opted to promote Liam Lawson to a race seat at second team VCARB – at Daniel Ricciardo’s expense – for the remainder of F1 2024, while Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto have come in and impressed as F1 2024 rookies, Bearman debuting for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia and returning with Haas at Baku, while Colapinto replaced the struggling Logan Sargeant at Williams.

These young drivers deserve their chance, says Marko, but he urged that the FIA cannot allow junior racing to stay so expensive.

“The GP appearances of Oliver Bearman and especially Franco Colapinto have shown that the youngsters are ready for the step up and that the old philosophy of some team bosses that only drivers with three or four years’ experience can be promoted to a top team is outdated,” Marko wrote in his Speedweek column.

“Mercedes has now proven this with its driver decision [naming Kimi Antonelli Lewis Hamilton’s F1 2025 replacement], just as Red Bull Racing has done several times in the past.

“So you can rely on youth. It’s a certain risk, but it’s manageable and worth it. You have to give the youngsters a chance to prove themselves in a GP car after they have climbed the junior ladder.

“This is basically okay, but unfortunately far too expensive. It starts with karting and continues through all classes. The FIA should start there and see how they can get the costs under control.”

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Speaking to media at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, former Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly, now racing with Alpine, said costs in the junior categories have “already doubled” in the last eight years, to the point he has heard that a season in Formula 2, the final stop before F1, will now set a driver back “two million plus”.

Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso – whose protégé Gabriel Bortoleto is leading the F2 Championship and pushing for a Sauber F1 2025 seat – agrees that the FIA needs to reassess the ladder, with even karting no longer “logical” as a starting point.

“I think we all will agree that motor sport is extremely expensive right now, not only from the top categories. I think karting became a little bit too much, you know, 200,000, 250,000 for a season in karting now, it seems not a logical starting point for any motor sport enthusiast,” said Alonso.

“So, yeah. It’s not an easy fix. And I don’t know how it could be policed in a way. But yeah, I think we are all concerned about that.”

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