Stefan Johansson: “A sad situation”

The former Ferrari driver indicated on his website that many driver managers often gave up on the idea of bringing their protégés to F1.

Published on 28/12/2015 à 09:32

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Present during the GP2 Series end-of-season testing in Abu Dhabi to support Felix Rosenqvist, European champion of F3 and winner of the Macau Grand Prix this year, the Swede Stefan Johansson spoke on his blog on the difficulties for young pilots to access the F1.

“I spoke to several driver managers in Abu Dhabi and it generally seems that many have given up on the idea of pushing their drivers towards F1. It’s too expensive to get there and it’s becoming more and more difficult to find sponsors for teams and drivers.

Instead, people begin to focus on the DTM and sports cars as alternatives for a professional racing career. It's a sad situation to see that even people in F1 admit that the best drivers have little chance of racing in F1. »

The old pilot Ferrari et McLaren considers, on the other hand, that the IndyCar Series offer a choice alternative. “There is a good system in place in America where the winner in Indy Lights gets a good portion of the budget for an Indycar program. The race there is exceptional and very close. Six drivers had a chance to win the Championship before the final event this year, and I don't know what other series was as hotly contested. »