In F1, seven teams have invested in their young drivers’ program heavily over the last few years. They just don’t produce world-class talents but also have become a center of profit as of late. However, Red Bull and Mercedes are two teams who stand out and have benefitted the most from this investment.
Business F1, in their March 2021 edition reported that Red Bull and Mercedes make as much as $80,000,000 through their junior programme. Given this report is from 2021, this amount is likely to have increased in 2023, as the sport has gained significant momentum over the last few years.
GRANDE KIMI. 🏆
Our Junior Driver scored his third @FRegionalAlpine victory in as many rounds over the weekend, moving him to the top of the standings for the first time this season. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ZbmiIdiAiS
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 24, 2023
While Red Bull and Mercedes are making the most out of this, others aren’t particularly far behind. In the junior driver program, the drivers learn various driving skills and they are done by efficient drivers in the academy. Furthermore, the young aspirants also go through physical and psychological training, as well as simulation and media hours.
Red Bull and Mercedes’ successful junior drivers program
According to the Business F1 report, Mercedes runs their junior driver program profit free. Due to this, the drivers that are taken for training go through a rigorous selection process. Red Bull, on the other hand, charges its young drivers for the same, which makes them fairly different.
Other teams that have a driver program are the Alpine, Ferrari, McLaren, Sauber and Williams. Over the last decade or so, several promising drivers have come out of these academies, to make their mark in the highest level of motorsports.
🚨 | Red Bull wants to considerably reduce its Junior Team squad size for 2024 ( currently there are 12 Juniors)
Red Bull only wants to invest in the really promising talents
[@andihaupt1] pic.twitter.com/E9yDojcqFJ
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 11, 2023
Interestingly, Haas and Aston Martin are the only teams to not have an official driver program. But still, they end up drawing a revenue of $6-7 million annually.
The teams that run these young drivers program also get to have a controversial long-term contracts with them. Under such a contract, the teams are allowed to have a 10-year-long deal with the drivers. Through this kind of deals, the teams make sure they churn out maximum profitability.
F1 driver programs and its notable drivers
Multiple drivers came through the junior driver program of the beforementioned teams. Some notable drivers are Max Verstappen, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen, and so on.
Verstappen and Hamilton are two of the drivers who made it big in F1 and came out of the young drivers’ program. While the ever-dominant Dutchman was a part of the Red Bull junior team, the seven-time world champion was from McLaren.
Notably, the man who is credited to build modern-day F1 junior teams is Red Bull taskmaster Helmut Marko. The veteran Austrian has developed the Red Bull junior driver program which is one of the best academies around the world right now.
