Having the money/connections also makes a massive difference to how good you can become though. It's not simply that hardly anyone gets a chance to race in go-karts, but people born into privilege and with parents willing to support them do. There is still a whole continuum within that. I don't imagine Max Verstappen simply did go-karting from a young age and turned out to be really good. He probably also did about 10 times the mileage of other go-karters, and got free training tips from his ex-F1 driver father. I remember Ayrton Senna said that he did a go-kart race once in the wet and he was awful. But then next time it rained, he went out onto the track and just practised for ages until he got a the hang of it. Well, most go-karters who only do race meetings at weekends and nothing in between aren't likely to get this opportunity. F1 has a much higher proportion of sons and relatives of other drivers getting into it than other sports, and it's not surprising.Its nothing to do with nepotism but more to do with money and long term career planning. These kids had been groomed from a very young age to follow their dads footsteps. No different from the child of a doctor or actor following their parents footsteps. However, that is not always a guarantee they will make it. I assure you many of these ex drivers have other children who were not good enough to make it in racing. The ones you see racing were the ones good enough. No team is going to pick a useless driver unless they pretty much own or buy the seat.
Because of this, I don't normally talk about drivers being more talented than others, but better or more skilled, because talent implies it's a natural thing, and really there's no way of measuring that. Max Verstappen, for example, is better than almost every other driver on the grid, but is he more talented? Not necessarily.
Edit - Interestingly there are two drivers who became world champion in relatively recent years without the traditional karting background. Both also the sons of prominent F1 drivers (a champion a a multiple winner). It's unlikely to be a coincidence. Even in cases where your F1 dad hasn't planned out your racing career, having the name can still help.
Edited by PlatenGlass, 24 November 2019 - 23:05.
