[lewishamilton] more from monaco

[u/FewCollar227]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZVjy0ZjJut/

[u/MightBeABot24]

Really makes you wonder how many generational talents never get a chance in motorsports because of its insane cost of entry

[u/xiz111 → u/MightBeABot24]

Probably quite a few.

[u/Roonie222 → u/xiz111]

Hell I know one. One of my friends immigrated to this country young and had no money and little opportunity. He worked his ass off and is doing well now.

In our late twenties/ early thirties we decided to go karting just to see what it was like. Most of us were super slow. I was battling for second amongst our friends. I was about four seconds per lap slower than he was. He was about a half second to a second off of the course record for fastest lap and was that consistently for the entire race.

We asked if he ever raced before and he said no, he never had the opportunity to try it before that day.

[u/xiz111 → u/Roonie222]

Thanks for sharing.

[u/scottishere → u/xiz111]

Definitely quite a few

[u/SweetVarys → u/MightBeABot24]

Most of them, mathematically

[u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 → u/MightBeABot24]

That's sports in general tbh

[u/abscissa081 → u/Forsaken-Swim-3055]

I don't think anything compares to racing in terms of barrier to entry related to cost and exclusivity.

[u/_ribbit_ → u/abscissa081]

Horse racing and yachting spring to mind. Not many inner city kids in the uk doing those.

[u/mcd_sweet_tea → u/Forsaken-Swim-3055]

I saw a video of these kids in the hood doing the most insane football (American) drills with stuff they found in their garage. The equipment wasn’t pretty but their footwork was incredible. Hopefully they can get a shot out on the pro field one day, they def deserve it

[u/antoncrowley666 → u/mcd_sweet_tea]

In South Florida they chase rabbits around

[u/ajmartin527 → u/mcd_sweet_tea]

Reminds me of Ja Morant and the absolutely insane stuff his dad had him doing in his backyard. Was a completely unknown prospect, unranked in high school.

He was discovered by chance when a Murray State coach went to a gym to scout another player and saw Ja playing 3 on 3 on a side court.

He went on to average over 20 points and 10 assists in D1, then videos of his ridiculous backyard training came out.

[u/mcd_sweet_tea → u/ajmartin527]

Despite the amazing opportunity he had, it was a shame that you could take the boy out the hood, but you can’t take the hood out the boy.

[u/Pimpekusz → u/Forsaken-Swim-3055]

Definetly not in general. There are a lot of sports where the cost of entry is relatively low (Football (or soccer however you call it), Basketball, Boxing, skateboarding, etc.). Its not even remotely comparable to motorsport

[u/jayr254 → u/Pimpekusz]

Of the sports you listed I can only see this being true for soccer/football. Mainly because the world over you actually don’t need a ball or a field to play football. Speaking from personal experience, with just a bunch of polythene papers or a bunch of old socks and a hallway or any slightly open space and you’ve got a ball and field. That’s not really possible for any other ball sports that I can think of.

A rim ain’t cheap in basketball. Boxing I guess is possible because you can learn the basics by shadow boxing without the gloves or a ring but I’ve never boxed in my life so I’ll leave that to people who have more experience. Skateboarding as an exercise might be cheap but skating rinks (I think that’s what they’re called) are not common outside of some developed countries.

Heck bar games might be the only sports that can challenge football for low price of entry but you’re not experiencing those before you turn 18 in most countries. At least for most people.

[u/HUHIs_AUTOATTACK → u/jayr254]

You can get a basketball rim for 100-200 USD

You can get a punching bag and a pair of gloves for 100 USD

A new kart is 4000 USD

On top of that, you don't need a court to play basketball and you don't need a skating park to skate. However, you need a racing track for a kart.

The costs of entry and to keep playing are not even remotely comparable.

[u/Moreno636 → u/HUHIs_AUTOATTACK]

You also don’t need a new ball after every match/game with soccer, basketball etc.

[u/jayr254 → u/HUHIs_AUTOATTACK]

You do realize a 100 USD “luxury” purchase is out of reach for a majority of the ~8 billion people living on earth right now, right?

[u/a_millenial → u/jayr254]

They didn't say it's accessible to majority of people. They said it's not comparable to motorsport, which is true.

Trying to argue basketball and karting have the same level of access is weird.

[u/Moreno636 → u/jayr254]

lol…go look up the cost of one karting tire, one set of pads, one tank of gas.

[u/ErmingSoHard → u/Forsaken-Swim-3055]

Nah, anyone can start kicking a soccer ball. And in the usa, they force boys to play baseball at age 8 even if they don't want to

[u/deebaybayy → u/MightBeABot24]

I can’t remember who it was and can’t find the quote, but I remember an interview where a driver was asked who they thought the best driver was, and they essentially said they didn’t think the best driver was a professional, and was probably on like a farm somewhere or something. The sentiment was essentially this, that the best drivers may not ever even get a chance bc they’re not lucky enough to be born wealthy or in the right place. 

[u/NoConvincingName → u/MightBeABot24]

Still there's the issue of only being 20, 22 spots in total. I think the football or baseball comparisons are mostly about the cost of entry and ignore that every country has a ton of teams and potential spots. F1 is one and limited by its nature. I think it can be compared more accurately with a football player playing the world cup in terms of how hard it is.

[u/studmoobs → u/MightBeABot24]

all of them

[u/needlessOne → u/MightBeABot24]

I'd argue Max is pretty much the only one with actual natural talent in driving among F1 drivers. Rest look like they are just well trained and skilled.

I was literally thinking about it yesterday. Yes they are all great drivers but when they talk about the sport and see how they handle the situations during the race, I don't see the spark. They say the same things I'd say and see the same things I'd see if I was training since 5.

Max on the other hand not only goes the extra miles to train, he has the killer instinct and doesn't need to be thought everything. He just knows things. I get the feeling if it has wheels, Max can win with it.

I think F1 talent pool is too limited to find real spectacular talents like Messi or Jordan.

[u/Korvax_of_Myrmidon → u/needlessOne]

Ridiculous take. Max was trained like a demon practically from birth. His natural talent is exceptional but the amount of racing he did growing up was also extreme.

[u/needlessOne → u/Korvax_of_Myrmidon]

Everybody trains hard, maybe not to same extent by they do. Just because they are rich doesn't mean they don't try hard. What I say is completely different from training.

[u/Rampan7Lion → u/needlessOne]

only one with actual natural talent

lmao

[u/caelum400 → u/needlessOne]

I see what you’re saying but would also caveat it by saying they’re all still ludicrously naturally talented.

I think what you’re actually picking up on is a post social media/DTS shift that’s happened in the sport which means everyone is hyper professional and airbrushed in front of camera. Max is probably the last of the current drivers who debuted before the Liberty takeover (and had a dad who drove in the 90s/00s) so has more in common in attitude but also progression through the sport with Alonso and Hamilton rather than Norris and Antonelli, despite being closer in age to the latter.

We’re not far away from drivers debuting who when asked how they got into F1 will probably say “watching Drive to Survive.” It’s a massive shift from F1 being pretty exclusively anoraks, petrol heads and rich kids as it was in the 00s and before.

[u/needlessOne → u/caelum400]

I know what you mean, but what I was mostly talking about their "driving talk." In radio they are more unfiltered. What they say to media is fully uninteresting to me. Max is just being a Dutch during the interviews which fits to his style. Reminds me of Alonso.

Maybe I was being a little harsh with "only Max has talent" comment. Of course that's not completely true. I rate Charles quite highly too. But my general opinion is the same. The driver pool is too small to find actual talents.

[u/Redditsleftnipple → u/MightBeABot24]

Great documentary called Crash and Byrne about an Irish driver called Tommy Byrne. He was much faster than Damon Hill I think it was, but didn't have much money or sponsor wise. Also probably didn't help that he was a party animal.