Max Verstappen has been a staunch advocate of sim racing being a good avenue for promising racing talent. While the Dutchman has himself climbed up the ranks to F1 via the traditional route of karting and junior formulas, he feels sim racing can open up the doors to motorsport for a wider group of people.
“We all know go-karting and the early steps into racing, they all cost a lot of money,” Verstappen said in a recent interview with The Athletic. The 27-year-old thinks one can identify good talented racers in sim racing as well, especially with the kind of advancements modern-day simulators have seen.
Now, one would argue how purchasing or even renting a racing simulator for regular usage would be quite expensive. Verstappen feels that this is relatively cheaper and more viable than pursuing go-karting to get into real-world car racing.
“In sim racing, you can see talent already when they are driving on very easy-going equipment, what you can buy in the local supermarket and save. It all costs a lot less money,” the four-time F1 champion said. However, how much money can an average middle-class household save by not putting their racing enthusiast child into karting?
Per the Association of British Karting Clubs, buying a second-hand kart — including its engine and other equipment such as the helmet and race suit — could cost around $1,500 to $3,800 per year. In fact, these costs could easily go up to five or six figures when a youngster steps up to international karting.
One could spend the same amount as a one-time cost to purchase a decent racing simulator for their kid who wishes to pursue motorsport via karting. Verstappen feels it can open up the motorsport world to geographies beyond Europe, the USA, Canada, South America, and Mexico.
️| Max wants his own GT3 racing team to offer sim racers a route to real-life racing without the high costs of karting❤️
“It’s about being able to create a stepping stone from sim racing to the GT3.”
So that you don’t have to rely on karting to get into motorsport, because… pic.twitter.com/6MHinY8hhk
— RBR News (@redbulletin) August 4, 2023
“One driver from China, but it’s not a lot of diversity. In sim racing, there are a lot of different countries already participating, but I just want to try and open it up to many more drivers,” he added.
Verstappen weighing the costs of karting versus sim racing also underscores how much more expensive it gets for drivers competing in junior formula series such as F3 and F2, which could be a deterrent to driving talents not making it far in their racing career.
The expensive path to F1
While karting for a few years also is expensive, the costs for racing in junior formula categories in Europe are insane, from a middle-class household’s perspective. While Formula 4 sees a slight increase in expenses as it is the entry-level category of junior car racing, the costs in F3 and F2 may seem humongous to many.
The overall amount needed to compete in Formula 3 championships can easily go over a million dollars per season. This may also include the amount to be paid to a team for securing a seat with them for that season. The same goes for Formula 2.
One F2 season can incur costs of over $2 million for a driver. That is why, junior formulas and F1 often see drivers who have affluent backgrounds and enough financial backing. And drivers who don’t have a wealthy family to support their racing strive to secure sponsors who can finance their racing careers.
Verstappen’s 2025 teammate, Liam Lawson, falls into this category as he hails from a humble household in Hastings, New Zealand. So, it makes sense why the Dutchman understands the pain of splurging so much money on the traditional route of racing.
He may have seen Lawson’s climb at Red Bull and felt that sim racing can help talented drivers like him bridge the financial barriers of karting and junior formulas.
