How F1 drivers actually earn their license to race – Jalopnik

You not only jump in a Formula 1 car because you have set a fast round on your local karting circuit or have a billionaire that supports your garage. Becoming a Formula 1 director means earning the ultimate faith letters in motorsport bureaucracy – the Fédération Internationale de l’Athal Super License. The FIA has not been popular because of its sanctions on things like cursing, but it is serious about license rules. The Super License is a very structured, sometimes controversial system that is designed to keep F1 chairs reserved for legitimate talent.

To get started, you have to be at least 18 years old, hold an international degree A competition license and pass a theory test based on the sports code of F1, which is perhaps the driest book that you will ever read. Even for that, drivers have to complete at least 80% of two full seasons in Junior Single-Seater categories sanctioned by the FIA. Racing in F3, F2, Super Formula or Indycar, among other things, completes a driver races to earn super license points. The catch? You must bank at least 40 points during a rolling period of three years.

The FIA Awards Super License Points based on where you end in a layered Racing series list. Nailed the F2 championship? That is 40 points there, enough for a super license. Won Indycar? You are gold. Top chair in Formula E? Those are 30 points. But place third in a smaller series, such as the Japanese Super GT500 or Euroformula open, and you can only earn 12 or 10 points, so you might have to grind a few seasons to add it all.

The system is designed to ensure that drivers are both fast and experienced before they hit the schedule. Bonus points also exist. For drivers who walk 100 kilometers (62 miles) in an F1-free practice session, avoid penalty points or win prestigious one-off one-off one-off, such as the Macau GP, the FIA Awards bonuses.

We can continue to hope that the V10s will return to F1, but in the meantime, as an old F1 director (Cue cheers for Fernando Alonso, who says he is not yet ready), wants after more than three years ago, they can’t just muffle and appear. The FIA must believe that they still have the pork chops in Single-Saters, and the team that supports them must prove that the driver recently recorded at least 300 kilometers (186 miles) in a correct racing company in a current car of more than two days and within the last 180 days.

Just when you think it is all mathematics and meritocracy, the FIA likes to sprinkle some mysterious herbs. Although the 40-point rule is the gold standard, there are solutions. Drivers can increase their super license points by keeping it clean all season, winning the FIA Formula Regional World Cup or logging in trouble-free Friday training during F1 weekends; Up to a total of up to 10 bonus points if they tick the right boxes.

Then there are the exceptions for wonder children. Do you remember when Max Verstappen debuted on 17? That Maas in the law is technically closed, but even now, under special dispensation, drivers such as Andrea Kimi Antonelli can get the nod at 17 if the FIA sees sufficient adulthood and experience to make an exception, and if the stars are aligned. The logic is blurry, but if you are freakish talented and supported by a top team, the door can open early.

Getting an F1 Super License is also about the money. Drivers reportedly have a fixed $ 12,800 fee, plus $ 1,280 for every point they score in the championship. Oh, and it’s not a one-and-doe deal. The license must extend every year and newcomers are given a probationary period of 12 months where the FIA can pull it away if they do not keep things clean. However, a rookie without a full super permit can participate in a race with a flashy green light instead of the usual flashy red at the back of their car.

In the end, the super license is not about keeping slow pokes out of the paddock. The point is to manage risks, maintain standards and to ensure that when 20 cars dive in bend 1 at the Monaco Grand Prix, every driver there, there are a road to turn 2 and not turn the grid into an expensive stacking of carbon fiber.