Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok feels that the costs of a junior career in motorsports are rising at an alarming rate. He revealed that while the costs of racing in the premier feeder series like F2 and F3 haven’t gone up exponentially, adjusting for inflation, that is not the case with karting. The F1 expert revealed that a single season of karting costs a whopping $500,000 on average.
On the most recent episode of The Fast and The Curious podcast, the former HRT driver said, “Where the problem has come now is that kids are spending half a million going karting to be doing what Lando [Norris] did, for example.”
According to Karun Chandhok, the rising costs of karting are directly related to the fundamental systems governing it. Hence, he believes that if changes at a grassroots level are not implemented, F1 could become the most inaccessible sport on the globe. Currently, only the rich can afford a junior racing career.
This disparity is pretty apparent if we take a look at the 2024 Formula 1 grid. With the exception of maybe Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton, there are virtually no working-class drivers who have made it to the sport in recent times. In fact, Lando Norris himself comes from one of the most affluent British families in the country.
How rich is Lando Norris’ family?
Lando Norris’ road to F1 was arguably easier than most thanks to his father, Adam Norris. Adam was able to afford an extensive junior career for his son that helped the young Briton to eventually land a seat in F1. Lando’s father is one of the wealthiest Britons, with an estimated net worth of around $254 million.
Moreover, reports have also claimed that Adam Norris spent a whopping $44,000,000 on McLaren, from 2017 to 2021, to facilitate his son to get a racing seat in the sport. Needless to say, at the time when McLaren were facing the threat of administration, Adam’s investment came in pretty handy to save them.
That being said, Adam worked tirelessly to help Lando get into F1. Now, with Lando having got to F1, the young Briton certainly seems to have repaid his father’s investments. The 24-year-old recently also signed a contract extension that will keep him at Woking until the end of 2028.
