World Champion Lewis Hamilton says one of his main ambitions long-term is to help address the rising costs of competing in junior categories.
Junior single-seater budgets have risen in recent years, with youngsters required to bring extensive financial packages to teams on the single-seater pyramid towards Formula 1.
A driver seeking to race for a front-running Formula 3 team can be expected to bring in excess of a million Euros, with Formula 2 budgets substantially higher.
“I think where motorsport has gone, if you look at Formula 3, it’s not the same as it used to be,” said Hamilton.
“Formula Renault isn’t the stepping stone that it used to be.
“GP3, GP2 [sic] those things are getting continuously more expensive, and don’t generally need to be. Karting is getting more and more expensive, but it doesn’t really need to be.
“But again, it’s because the business heads are not aligned with my thought process.
“ So I’m just trying to think about what I can do, and diversity is a continuous issue, and will continue to be an issue for a long time, and there’s only a certain amount I can do.
“I am trying to think about what it is I can actually do and work with, and how I can work with F1, rather than it just be a tick on their list of things to add to we also do, you know what I mean?
“Which businesses often do, and actually have something that is really implemented and actually making an impactful difference being made.
“So I’m still trying to understand that. But it is at the top of my priorities in terms of what I want to do long-term.”
