EXCLUSIVE: Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s FIA “Wasting Time” by Forcing Radical Change – Perry McCarthy

Formula 1 is a global sport, and every driver dreams of becoming a part of the elite group of drivers who compete in it. But hardly any who start with that ambition reach their goal because the level of competition is extremely high. However, there is another problem that is blocking the entry of some extremely ambitious and talented young individuals to reach their racing goals. FIA’s President Mohammed Ben Sulayem addressed the core problem of this issue a few weeks ago. When asked to comment on the situation, having faced these problems firsthand, ex-F1 racer Perry McCarthy ridiculed Ben Sulayem’s attempts.

Perry McCarthy is one of the few drivers, like Lewis Hamilton, who did not let their passion for racing die because of monetary restrictions. McCarthy worked multiple jobs to support his F1 dream. He and Hamilton faced the same problems while rising through the ranks, which has become common knowledge now. It’s the inflated cost of karting and taking part in the feeder series.

To change that, Ben Sulayem recently told the media he will introduce changes. He said, “Who can afford to pay €275,000 [$300,000] for their 10-year-old child? That is not possible. Karting is so expensive. We therefore want to standardise the requirements and then reduce the costs. After all, we want to see motorsport grow.” 

When asked to comment on this approach by the FIA’s president, McCarthy ridiculed his statement and called this agenda a waste of time. His reasoning? One king doesn’t rule all!

“I don’t know. I think they’re wasting their time. I just can’t possibly see how the FIA can police karting budgets globally. There are so many different championships, local championships, regional championships, and national and international championships. The next problem any participant/competitor faces is, okay, they’ve taken some money off the real price of karting but it’s still unbelievably expensive,” explained McCarthy.

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This was McCarthy’s reaction to the President’s approach to the problem of inflation in the feeder series. However, this issue isn’t being raised for the first time. It’s an ancient predicament, and even Hamilton showcased his concerns for it back in the day. However, similar to McCarthy, he admitted it was out of his control.

Lewis Hamilton sides with Perry McCarthy on the issue FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is trying to solve

The Mercedes man is a champion of diversity and inclusivity, especially in the seriously lacking world of F1. He embarked on the journey to change this concerning lack of diversity in the sport a few years ago. He used his resources to pinpoint the leading cause of it and on the driver’s side of things, the high costs of karting came up as the biggest problem.

He faced the same problem when he was young and going through the feeder series. However, the support from his parents and the dedicated hard work paid off. Not everyone is as lucky as the Brit and the costs are high. However, Hamilton understood he could not change this situation on his own, as it was out of his control.

“It’s now GP3, GP2, [Formula 3, Formula 2] those things are continuously getting more and more expensive and they don’t need generally need to be. Karting’s getting more and more expensive when it doesn’t really need to be,” he pointed out.

However, he admitted, “But again it’s because the business heads are not aligned with my thought process. So I’m just trying to think of what I can do.”

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Somewhat on the same page as McCarthy, Hamilton also understands some things are out of their control and they can’t control a free market. This is exactly why McCarthy believes the FIA president is wasting his time and efforts.