Lewis Hamilton is best known for winning the F1 World Championship a record seven times. He has blitzed a number of records and wishes to add an 8th championship win to his belt. There is no doubt that Hamilton will always be considered one of the F1 greats (some people even think he is the G.O.A.T.). Despite being a superstar on the world stage, the Englishman did not start his career driving borderline 1000 horsepower supercars around the world. Like many of his peers on the paddock, he began his motorsport journey with competitive karting.
Competitive karting is a relatively simple form of racing that includes the racing of go-carts around a significantly scaled-down circuit; currently, the FIA manages a variety of these championships around the world. Typically directed at children ages 12-14, these events are designed to allow kids to begin to hone their driving skills. Despite this, there are individuals such as Piero Antonio Pascazio that begin driving non-competitively as young as age 3.
Those who wish to enter Formula One or other world-renowned competitions often consider karting a necessary step towards achieving this goal. Despite this being a popular belief among many Europeans and Asians, most Americans don't really consider this a crucial stepping stone into the automotive world. Why is that?
Let's discuss the reason why Americans don't really need karting to be successful in motorsport.
Many Of F1's Greatest Drivers Started With Karting
Lewis Hamilton started his karting career back in 1993 at the age of 8. He performed extremely well, and by the age of ten, had already won the British Cadet Karting Championship (making him the youngest person to ever accomplish this goal). This would prove to be a trend, as Hamilton would thrive and prosper throughout most of the events he participated in. All of this hard work and dedication would eventually culminate in a promotion to Formula One.
The Billion Dollar Man is not the only individual to make it into Formula One with the help of karting. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Lando Norris, and so many others have used karting to gain experience and make a name for themselves in motorsport.
It appears that if you want to be considered for a job in the pinnacle of automotive racing, you'll have to stop by your local go-kart track. However, F1 is not really the end goal for most American athletes.
There Are Many Ways To Get Into America's Favorite Automotive Pastime
Whether you like it or not, NASCAR is the king of competitive racing in the United States. An average of 3 million people watches a single race at a time. While this is nowhere near the 87 million that watch a typical F1 Grand Prix, it must be noted that NASCAR is typically only viewed in North America, and F1 is viewed worldwide. As a result of its popularity, most Americans who wish to partake in a Nationally/Internationally acclaimed racing series will opt for America's favorite racing pastime. Unlike F1, however, there are many ways to get noticed by scouting agents.
There is a variety of racing series in the US that are designed to allow amateur drivers to gain experience and become acquainted with track etiquette. Obviously, the end goal is usually to get recruited by a professional motorsports team. While F1's bread and butter for this is karting, NASCAR looks at a variety of leagues. This includes bandolero racing, quarter midget racing, legends car racing, sprint car racing, and even jr. dragsters.
Despite All Of These Opportunities, More American Kids Are Getting Into Karting Than Ever Before
Accessibility is one of the major hindrances to getting an American into competitive karting. While there are karting leagues in the US, few seem to be comparative to that of the ones over in Europe and Asia. Since it is difficult to get a child from North America to Europe (especially if you don't have a lot of money), most kids will settle for either a lesser-known karting series in America or utilize one of the previously mentioned racing series. Despite this, more and more American families are jumping through the necessary hoops to get their child into a European-based karting series.
Throughout the duration of 2018 and 2019, there were select European kart races that included more American children than any other nationality on the grid (excluding the hosting country's contestants). While this may not have been the case for every single race, it has become significantly more common than the likes of 10 years ago.
The reason for this change is likely due to an increase in exposure to F1 in recent years. This exposure can likely be attributed to the purchase of Formula One by American giant Liberty Media. Since the purchase, a large amount of advertising and advocating of the sport has become commonplace in America.
Karting Is Helpful, But Not Necessary
At the end of the day, what racing series someone should engage in to make it to the big leagues probably comes down to opportunity and goals. In the case of Lewis Hamilton, karting was the obvious choice to get him noticed. For NASCAR legends like Jeff Gordon, quarter midget racing was the way to go.
Therefore, the answer to the question of "Do Americans really need karting to get into professional motorsports?" really depends on what motorsport you want to engage in. If your goal is Formula One, then the answer is probably "yes". If you wish to race solely in the US, the answer is likely "not really".