You know better than most the circumstances (talent, career, opportunity, etc), timing, and cash that need to happen to get an F1 seat.

Plus Americans like American racing. To many a NASCAR ride or maybe even Indy is a bigger deal than F1. Think about it. No chance of winning unless you’re one of the lucky 6-8 drivers.

Paul, I do understand, I've survived all these years with very little talent ;)

Appreciate route into F1 is quite Euro-centric ie karts, F3, F2, etc but over the last 30yrs there must have been/are enough talented fledgling USA drivers that had/have more than enough financial backing.

Much smaller and more remote countries than the USA with far less opportunities for fast drivers seem to manage to keep a steady trickle of drivers flowing into F1 seats

2024 drivers there are 15 nationalities, 7 from outside of Europe

Go back 10yrs to 2014, there were 14 nationalities, 7 from outside of Europe

Go back 20yrs to 2004, there were 14 nationalities, 6 from outside Europe, interestingly 5 from Brazil

Even as far back as 30yrs to 1994, there were 14 nationalities, 8 from outside Europe

Remarkably consistent ratios of nationalities and drivers from outside Europe over the last 30yrs

Not sure where I'm heading with this but nothing much has changed in 3x decades :confused:

There have been a few shoes from the US, but unfortunately many have been run through the system by Marko, who is just a total wanker when it comes to developing drivers.

As the many great talents, like Senna or Kubica, from distant lands have demonstrated, the only way to make that work is to race in Europe. Too foreign for most Americans (remember M. Andretti and that fiasco?), many of whom have never left their own state, let alone visited another country. So unless you're another Kimi Räikkönen, forget about just plopping in the seat and go.

Reg, you might of nailed the answer

Surely as an ultra-competitive driver that believes they are the best, there must be a question mark niggling away in their heads

Ok, I'm best in the USA but can I beat the best in the world, be it F1, Sportscar, WRC etc

F1 World Champions by nationality list makes interesting reading

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/which-country-has-produced-the-most-formula-1-world-champions/

The USA needs another Dan Gurney. Got to hang out a lot @ AAR, he was my hero.
The cream rises to the top in every sport if a sponsor can recognize talent.
Le Mans, F1, Indy & NASCAR, he won in all of them.
Only F1 win for Porsche in there too.
He also showed the world how to celebrate a race win.

I loved the way Lando popped his bottle @ the Dutch GP, the guy has style.

Just knew it $500,000 per race

https://www.grandprix.com/news/colapinto-paying-4-5m-to-take-sargeants-seat.html

:rolleyes: jfc. Iknow it's the way of the world, but this just seems wrong on so many levels

100% agree

That’s a tough spot the kid is in. How can he do any better than Sargent? It’s a rental - it’s a gamble. It’s a shame.

I wonder if Carlos is feeling any better about his choice now.

Sargent has been out-qualified in every single qualifying 100% of the time session by his teammate. He is just floundering. He often starts and finishes in 20th.

But he outqualified Sergio Perez many times, remember ? ;-)

Yeah I really hope Williams pulls a rabbit out of a hat next year - Poor Carlos.

That's some large coin to pay for 9 races . If he doesn't tear up equipment maybe he will pay off what Logan racked up in repair cost . I hope the kid does well but I wouldn't bet on it .

Not crashing and acquiring race data would be an improvement.

You guys see the pace car going into the wall?

Thought maybe Logan took it for a spin.

There was an Indycar race many years ago (Baltimore?) where the pace car driver was a GM executive. He binned it.

Yeah, but oddly the Aston safety car was driven by Bernd Maylander. Wonder what caused him to lose it? Looked like a semi-Scandinavian flick attempt. Did he lose the brakes and try to pitch it sideways to scrub speed?

How is that any different from the the days when the sport was "the gentlemen's club"? We glorify "the gilded age" and vilify the modern.... The sport runs on money - EVERY driver in the late modern era brings money to the table, especially when entering the ring.

With the budget cap, every F1 team is running on a healthy profit, no team needs a 'pay driver'

In the past a 'pay driver' often meant the difference between a team surviving or going bankrupt

Wait, what? So he’s paying to drive the car?

That’s stupid